On Sunday June 5, I saw my favorite band headline the Allstate Arena in Chicago. This show was the fifth stop on their Emotional Roadshow that will travel all across the United States and Canada this summer.
If you've read my articles in the past, you know that I'm a huge fan of Twenty One Pilots. Emotional Roadshow Chicago was the fourth time I've seen them in the past 10 months (sorry, Mom). I had big hopes and expectations for this show, and I was not let down.
The evolution of Twenty One Pilots is pretty extraordinary: At this time six years ago, Tyler and Josh were traveling the country in a van with barely even a crew for their Regional At Best tour. The more recent years have seen their Vessel and Quiet Is Violent tours, as well as many festivals in-between, playing to an increasing number of people. Their Blurryface tour in 2015 quickly sold out larger theaters and ballrooms, so the next natural step was an arena/amphitheater tour. The Emotional Roadshow was definitely one for the books.
My favorite aspect about Twenty One Pilot's biggest and best tour yet was simply this: I could tell how much time and effort they put into this show, and how the show was so representative of them as a band.
First off, the opening acts — Chef Special came out and played for about 25 minutes. Their music was fun, and their set definitely was not boring. Mutemath came on after Chef Special and played a significantly longer set, but their music was also fairly entertaining and lively. On the Blurryface tour, Finish Ticket and Echosmith opened for Twenty One Pilots. They were OK — I like both bands moderately, but not together and not opening for Twenty One Pilots. The combination of Chef Special and Mutemath definitely fit the genre/feel of Twenty One Pilots a lot more.
The show began with "HeavyDirtySoul," but mixed with their first single off Blurryface that they rarely played live up until this point, "Fairly Local." Tyler and Josh donned their typical black ski masks, but as a throwback to early Twenty One Pilots, they wore their matching red suits. Throughout the show, the boys changed outfits a few times, but more typical TOP garb.
Their initial setlist was similar to that of the Blurryface tour: a solid mix of songs from "Vessel" and "Blurryface." They played "Hometown" and "Ode To Sleep," two other rare songs to hear live until this tour. Similar to the Blurryface tour as well, TOP did a medley of older songs off of the self-titled album with Tyler on a smaller piano and Josh on another drum set. On Emotional Roadshow however, the medley was played on a B stage in the back of the arena. This medley quickly became a fan favorite. They played various songs off "Regional At Best" that haven't been performed since 2012 or 2013, such as "Kitchen Sink." I think the concept of a B stage is phenomenal for fans who couldn't get closer seats, and to change up the pace of the show.
Going off of that, the level and quality of the performance that Twenty One Pilots put on cannot be beat. Comparing Emotional Roadshow to the Blurryface tour, you can tell the amount of detail and thought that the boys gave this tour. The songs, the outfits, the layout of the stage, the special effects and lighting, the video transitions, the classic crowd-holding-the-band-up moments (during "Ride," "Holding Onto You" and "Trees"). Even Tyler Joseph running into the pit in a ginormous blown up hamster ball — everything about this tour was next level.
The mood of the concert as portrayed by Tyler and Josh onstage was excited, energetic and thankful. Tyler noted multiple times that both of them love Chicago dearly, the city and the fans, that it's one of their favorite places to play. And I will definitely, definitely be there again the next time they return.
