TWENTY ONE PILOTS AT WELLS FARGO CENTER IN PHILADELPHIA
“We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you!” a voice booms over the roar of 20,000 screaming fans. Boasting several sold out shows on this run of “The Bandito Tour”, the duo are no strangers to playing crowds this large. With support from MisterWives, Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph hit the Wells Fargo Center to bring Philadelphia this epic tour.
MisterWives took the stage first to a very large crowd of people. Regardless of the weather conditions that fans waited in for the show, they bopped along, sang, and danced to the poppy tunes that MisterWives laid down. Getting to watch the band on stage is always a huge treat, as you see how colorful the backdrop and their outfits are. To top it all off, vocalist Mandy Lee jumps and dances across the stage with such finesse. You couldn’t help but dance along with her as she sang through some of their hits such as “whywhywhy”, “Find My Way Home”, and “Our Own House”. They even included a cover of Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts”. In just a short set, MisterWives was able to captivate the audience and have them all ready for Twenty One Pilots. In addition to being on tour with Twenty One Pilots right now, MisterWives will be heading out for their “No Place Like Home” headlining tour starting November 6th. I really urge you to try to make it out to see them if you can, because you are bound to have the absolute best time!
Twenty One Pilots are more than just a band. Right now they have what is arguably one of the most dedicated fanbases in the scene. To many of those fans, Twenty One Pilots represents a safe place, an outlet, and a true connection to those around them. I was able to have a chat with many of the fans on the barricade to discuss the camping out culture surrounding the band. If you know the band well, then you know that getting that barricade spot is not easy. Fans camp out at venues many days in advance. After asking a set of fans on barricade how long they were camped out for they had told me, “Four days!! But the people further down there have been here since Monday!” The show was on a Sunday, meaning those fans camped out in Philadelphia for nearly a week leading up to the show, even in the poor weather conditions! You honestly can’t beat that type of dedication. The front row all donned outfits that replicated the band’s for this Bandito era, and many had the band’s symbol written on their body.
When the venue went dark and the curtain on the stage fell, a deafening roar of screams boomed throughout the venue. The duo rose from a platform on the floor, with drummer Josh Dun carrying a torch onto the small catwalk jutting out from the stage. As the entire car on stage lit on fire (yes you read that correctly: a whole CAR), vocalist Tyler Joseph stood on top playing the easily recognizable bassline to one of their first singles of this album cycle, “Jumpsuit”. Fans were immediately off of their feet, screaming and crying as they watched the band perform. To start the performance off, the band had their signature looks and covered up their faces with either the famous ski mask, or bandana. By the end of “Heavydirtysoul”, Tyler Joseph ripped the ski mask off his face to reveal himself and everyone lost their minds. Before the fourth track, the band had shown a video of fans who waited outside, which was such a nice nod to how much they appreciate their fanbase.
Throughout the performance the duo played a lot of really great tracks such as “House of Gold”, “Tear in my Heart”, and “Pet Cheetah”. The band also features an entire part of the show with a B-Stage where they performed a great deal of tracks as a chandelier of LED light strips moved up and down around them. You can’t forget there’s the classic “backflip off the piano” and “pole vault over the piano” moves during “Holding Onto You”. The band brought on MisterWives to perform “Cut My Lip” with them, which was awesome to see how they incorporated their fellow musicians on the tour.
Tyler Joseph mentioned towards the end of the set that he likes to make sure there’s always a stand out moment at each show, and tonight was certainly no different. Earlier in the night when Josh Dun threw a drumstick out to the crowd, Tyler had mentioned seeing multiple fans grab onto it. He watched a fan give up the drumstick to another fan as a nice gesture, and he remembered the fan who did it. He pointed the fan out in the crowd and asked that people open up space for the fan to walk up towards the barricade so that he could give a drumstick to them. It was honestly such a touching moment.
The band ended their set with “Trees” as is the tradition when you see them. Confetti bursted into the venue and fans danced their tails off one last time while being absolutely covered in the yellow pieces of paper as the guys drummed on platforms on top of the crowd. Twenty One Pilots truly puts on one of the most memorable performances. I could honestly go on and on about the night. If you have the chance to see them, it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!