The Icy Tour: Twenty One Pilots Show Review
9.7.22 NASHVILLE, TN
SCALED AND ICY ALBUM COVER ART
Grammy-Award-winning alternative pop duo Twenty One Pilots overcame Nashville on September 7, 2022, in Nashville, TN at Bridgestone arena. Inspired by Arther Miller’s play All My Sons evolving the death of 21 pilots, the duo’s story is built from an organic upbringing in the music industry. Starting in Ohio in 2009, their growth of revolting admiration originates from their timeless, down-to-earth interaction with the world. Members Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun marked their mainstream breakthrough with their fourth studio album, Blurryface, in 2015. The album featured the Grammy-winning singles "Stressed Out" and "Ride," concluding the multi-platinum album's noble status as one of the best-selling albums in the world during 2015. Their next album, Trench, reached number two on the charts as the duo released another batch of hits leading up to Scaled and Icy in 2021.
Twenty One Pilots shows are one of those concerts with a line twisting for miles hours before the doors open. Wrapped in jitterbug energy, the fans flashed smiles that stretched across the north and south poles. They expressed their pride with devoted cult tattoos, branded merchandise, exclusive apparel, and Scaled and Icy bubblegum-pink locks. I decided then that I'd never seen a fanbase so happy to be patiently waiting in a line longer than the earth’s equator for anything.
The arena vitalizes the crowd as long-distance friends reunited, new relationships sparked, and memories were recorded and celebrated.
The anticipating buzz in the room elevated to shrills as the lights dropped and the convex LED wall presented a visual of Tyler and Josh trudging through an ice storm. The wind tears and roars at their white coats as they approach a blue door— a symbolic illusion conveying the duo to enter center stage of the arena. An isolated spotlight lingers over the floor of the stage as the two climb out the door. Arriving at The Icy tour.
Snow feathers down as the mirror image of Tyler and Josh direct their path to the piano and drums. The room is filled with recognition and speculation about the duo’s ski masks and glasses. It’s believed to represent a possible theory of being under the fictional city of Dema’s control. The story derives from the band’s concept LP, Trench.
The drums roll predominantly to the introduction of “Good Day” on the Scaled and Icy album. A burst of new genesis pervades the crowd’s last moment of awe and wonder. Hips and hearts bop and sway to the night's late 70s Billy Joel-inspired bouncy premiere. And with every song, the fans received and gifted the same energy back. An intimate fan-to-artist relationship and connection like no other.
The set makes an exciting transition to “No Chances.” Known as a sequel to the 3-part music video trilogy from Trench, “No Chances'' is understood to be a metaphor for mental illness as Tyler struggles to escape from the city of Dema. The sci-fi synths & bass hum brightly in your chest while a retro clip from the duo’s Livestream Experience exhibits on the LED walls. The top-line synth pulses into clattering heartbeats as white spotlights synchronize with the song’s chest-dropping rhythm. The stage is breathing with excitement and fully submerged in purple and red hues as dark, sentimental voices chant the refrain, “We come for you. No Chances.”
The pair transitions so smoothly between songs and even mixes multiple songs and their parts to create a seamless illusion of a never-ending story. The “Holding Onto You” set began at the bridge as fans started singing “Entertain my faith” until the band climaxed and pivoted to the second verse of the song resetting the vibe, feel, and picture of the room.
Near the middle of the showing, the session players impressed the crowd with interludes of guitar sweeps, licks, jazzy trumpet solos, and drum lines. Spotlights dance around the band and their moments reveal the importance of the staff to the Twenty One team. It was humbling to attend a show where every member on and off stage was recognized and appreciated. Even the security staff were thanked. Another similar intermission occurred later in the night as the band played an instrumental interlude to the Halo video game theme song. A mysteriously intriguing choice. The pair took this time to make a flamboyant wardrobe rotation. Tyler enters the stage in a long, consuming black velvet coat; a modern statement teasing french-gothic embellishments fully decorated in spellbinding sparkles.
The full-band set for “Mulberry Street” bursts with color as Tyler continues to move to the second stage located on the opposite end of the arena. Stating that he wanted to perform one song from each released album, he described the fans as being the “glue” that attached their songs and stories to one another. Hence, the signature transition-bleeding in between every song at a Twenty-One Pilots concert. These moments were intimate as he invited the audience into his mind, exploring dark memories provoked by the songs while also encompassing his childlike vitality and humor in other moments. Creating memories.
Like a humbled hero in the middle of the crowd, he takes “Mulberry Street” to the opposite end of the venue to a high-rise platform accompanying a grand piano and ukulele. Tyler casually tosses his talents on the table like a deck of cards. Like a magician, he plucks piano keys like charming little magic tricks. He further engaged the crowd by conducting a coordinating routine divided into the four primary sections of the arena; the general admission ticket holders, the stage left and right fields, and then the front-facing section. With our flashlights switched on, each section plays their role by lifting their lights on the instructed syllables when cued “Mul-berry-street. So good to see you…”
His companions augment the main stage as warm lights lay on the rest of the band with violins, acoustic guitars, a box drum played by Josh, and other tasteful acoustic enhancements alike. With a campfire vocalizing center stage, the group settles into a unique, cozy tale of “Migraine” - a version that has yet to exist in any master recording. While on his way back to the main stage to join the rest of the group, Tyler faces a conflict once arriving. “I need my ukelele to play this next song and I accidentally left it on the other stage.” The fans held their breath as Tyler paused. “Actually, can you guys mattress surf it back to me?” as his eyes followed a white Scaled and Icy branded mattress. “Be gentle!” With looks of shock, fluffy laughs filtered the air. Eyes glued to the prize as the floor fans hand-tossed the mattress serving the ukulele clumsily back to the stage. “If you drop her, the show's over!” Tyler added.
The room obsessed over “Jumpsuit” as the stage was tailored to the music video. Shots of the music video are anchored across the video displays. Fire fiercely garnishes left and right in this song and in “Heavy Dirty Soul” as the bass hammered proudly with Josh’s drumming pulse. For “Ride,” Tyler made sure he visited everyone he could that bought tickets to the show - running up and down the aisles of every section greeting fans. Another rare connection often neglected in concerts between the artists and their fans.
With each set resembling their idiosyncratic themes, stage design, and lighting choreography, the performers raised the temperature of the room by ending the show with “Trees,” a deeply beloved fan favorite. Smoke explodes during the bridge as confetti slowly showers in the bright, beaming flashes overhead. Your blood is pumping, your heart is soaring, and your mind is processing the world around you in slow motion.
This concert was an experience where gravity fails. A feeling of coming apart, but staying connected at the same time. A moment where your mind, body, and spirit unify. You can feel your emotions and all of their layers piece by piece as they collide. With an infinite power for gripping hope, you find yourself in an unexplainable out-of-body experience of meeting yourself as the person you always wanted to be. Being there that night made me feel like I am the person I’ve always wanted to be.
What’s unique about this musical pair is that rather than exhausting their energy or crashing after blastoff, Tyler and Josh rechannel their energy and the fan’s energy into the next set with clean, crisp transitions. They never missed a beat, nor gave room for a dull moment. The pair calculates our levels of adrenaline by reading the energy of the crowd. We felt understood. We felt assured that we would find the freedom and groundedness we came here for.
“Slow and steady wins the race” was the verdict. The pace was thrilling, polished, and felt just right. There was an exquisite orchestration of variables repurposing sentimental video clips, and visual art cultivating story themes to vamp the tone and energy of the show. Tyler and Josh always synced up and connected with non-verbal cues. The sound quality was stellar as the room was engulfed in rich tuning, scaled harmonics, and euphoric vibrations. Overall, it was a metaphysical audio-visual experience. A cohesive compilation story of the life, journey, and identity of the adored duet. A live-action thriller about all of their albums put together.
Even for an individual with advanced ADHD, it’s completely impossible to be bored at a Twenty One Pilots concert.
