On May 31, the Emotional Roadshow World Tour started making its rounds. First stop – Cincinnati, OH. Twenty One Pilots performed at the US Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati, where fans lined up as early as 8 p.m. on Memorial Day in order to pen their spot right in front of the main stage.
Pictured Above: Tyler Joseph of twenty one pilots on the B-Stage
I was fortunate enough to attend the concert with my best friends – shout out to Casey P. for the best tickets in the land: you the real MVP! – With general admission tickets; through the show, we stood right at the barrier of the B Stage, but I’ll get to that soon enough.
The Emotional Roadshow Tour featured openers Chef’Special and MuteMath, who raised the bar for opening bands in the future.
Band Chef’Special hail from the Netherlands, and I hadn’t heard of them before we lined up in anticipation for the concert. That being said, they blew my expectations away and brought fresh music to the stage reminiscent of the style that Twenty One Pilots portray themselves. Front man Joshua Nolet has a very distinct voice, not totally obvious until their final song “In Your Arms,” the perfect song due to its raw emotionality.
Next up were MuteMath, who played seven of their songs while hyping up the crowd for the main event. MuteMath has a very different style, and personally I’d never listened to them before the concert, however, I’d say they were reminiscent of a mashup between Walk the Moon and The Maine. MuteMath also puts on a fantastic light show, bringing out what seem to be oversized "cups" to one of their songs, “Vitals,” and lighting them up in rhythm to the beats and synths on the back track.
Soon the lights were coming down and a curtain was put up, lit red from the back and quite eerily still. Fans took it to themselves to "fake out" the audience by creating a finger countdown via iPhone flashlight, however, soon the music started reverberating and the show had begun.
I anxiously awaited as the intro to “Fairly Local” started, but was surprised as the curtain dropped and the song had actually faded into “Heavydirtysoul.” As a Twenty One Pilots "virgin," I wasn’t quite expecting Josh or Tyler to come out donning their iconic red suits and ski masks, but I was pleasantly surprised to see so.
Next up were “Migraine,” from their second album, “Vessel” followed soon by “Hometown.” I’d never seen a show quite so artistic as at the end of “Hometown,” singer Tyler "appeared" within the crowd. With a special Emotional Roadshow Intro, “Polarize” was the next song performed, one of my favorites from the bands newest album, “Blurryface.”
I don't really want to spoil the rest of the setlist, thought the internet is chock full of it already. However, I will say that out of the multitude of shows I have been to over the course of the last five years or so, this has by far been my favorite.
The energy was perfect, the fans were exciting and it felt like one big community coming together to celebrate two wonderful artists. From their humble beginnings to now, I'm very excited for Twenty One Pilots and their future with Fueled By Ramen. Here's the highlight reel from the opening for those who are interested.
If you haven't checked out Twenty One Pilots before, I would definitely recommend you do so. In an industry sold on drugs, sex and living a high lifestyle, these guys are one-of-a-kind, down-to-earth artists and their music is such an inspiration.
What are your favorite Twenty One Pilots songs? Have you seen them live before? If so, where? Sound off in the comments below, and have a great week!
