LIVE REVIEW: Twenty One Pilots @Leeds Academy

rattlemag
Feb 21, 2016
2 min read

The first date of a tour is always something special, and Twenty One Pilots’ return to the UK after the success of last November proved no exception. The duo have always been hardworking, taking only one day off after touring solidly for three weeks in Europe, and selling out Madison Square Gardens to boot, but Thursday at the 02 Academy felt like a band about to make it big. Even if the fans who spent the night camping in the freezing cold to be first in line weren’t proof enough, the mammoth show they put on certainly was.

Transviolet may have seemed an odd support choice for a band that oscillate between “ukelele screamo” and hardcore rap, but they proved a good counterpart. Spooky and minimalistic, frontwoman Sarah’s haunting vocals and effervescent personality proved irresistible, and her offer to give out “hugs and kisses” at the merch table didn’t go amiss either. After a set reminiscent of Pvris but with more Stevie Nicks’ arm gestures they had cemented themselves as a band to watch, with their understated indie vibe coaxing the audience into action even as questions like “So who wants to kiss Josh Dunn?” whipped almost everyone into a frenzy. Yes they were gentle, but tracks like Bloodstream and New Bohemia had an effortless charm, and I expect will have got stuck in the heads of more than a view of the watching crowd.

As for Twenty One Pilots, they lived up to the hype. Opening with Heavydirtysoul had every super fan rapping along and every casual fan fighting to keep up, while firm favourites Stressed Out and Migraine proved that Blurryface’s appeal was international. As always there was an element of theatre, from everyone kneeling to “the concepts” in Lane Boy to Tyler somehow managing to climb the balcony during Trees, to even the stage crew being dressed in gas masks and Hazmat suits. It’s cliche to say that a gig can be more than a gig but in this case it is valid, it truly seemed more akin to a religious experience.

Even so, no amount of clever lighting or drums that made their way over the crowd could distract from the music. The duo were on form, the few technical difficulties that emerged no match for their sheer determination. Everything seemed perfectly orchestrated, from the live debut of Not Today that caused the audience to all but lose their minds, to tracks like Guns For Hands and Goner that ensured there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

There are few bands that can garner such a fervent following, but they are hardly any band. Tyler said it best as he closed the show: “We are Twenty One Pilots and so are you.” This is a band going big places but who will never forget the people that got them there, and the fact that they gave absolutely everything proved that.