I saw twenty one pilots last night at The Troubadour. Today, Amanda asked me today how the evening went. I kind of exploded the following reply. She suggested I stick it up here as a show review. I don’t have time to gussy it up, but here it is; my initial and somewhat effusive gut reaction to the seeing twenty one pilots at The Troubadour:

OMG, last night. Last night. Sigh. It was amazing. Twenty one pilots is my new favorite. They put on the most thrilling live show. Plus, I am obsessed with their music. I can’t wait to see them again at SXSW. They are my top pick right now of bands to see.

Anyway, The plan was to catch 1.5 of the openers at The Troubadour, then run over to The Roxy to see Zookeeper’s Palace (my new friends from Philly), then come back to The Troub and catch the end of twenty one pilots set. However, I got to the Troubadour and I got a great spot right up front. The first act, Echosmith was very impressive for their youth. The second band, New Politics, was from Denmark and they were fantastic. The singer did some breakdancing. They had a ton of energy and great songs. Another band we’ll be seeing at SXSW. 🙂 I would have said they were the best band I’ve seen in awhile, until twenty one pilots blew them out of the water. But I was enjoying New Politics so much I couldn’t leave and I had such a sweet spot up front…I decided somewhat regrettably not to dash off to The Roxy.

It was the right decision. Twenty one pilots came out with a BLAM! It’s just two guys, but they both come out onto a fog-filled stage wearing these skeleton suits. It’s kinda creepy. Then drummer starts his beating and the singer gets on top of a piano (a real piano, not some keyboard or pseudo-piano). Suddenly BOOM! the singer leaps off the piano and starts into this massive pounding rap. Then 30seconds later, he’s at the piano playing a kind of skippy ballad. The skeleton suits only lasted a song, but the drama was enough to pull anyone in. The rest of the set kept up the energy. The guys were all over the place. The drummer did an awesome backflip off the piano. The singer scaled the walls and somehow ended up in the balcony. Of course, there was a drumming circle thing. They also put on these facemasks for one of the more mellow song. They created this atmosphere that was so fitting for their music which is really all about a struggle to overcome something and how everyone is miserable and such but we have to celebrate life…definitely fit my mood. But the best thing about twenty one pilots and their music is the versatility. You know how I love the unexpected in music and it doesn’t get more unexpected then their music. They go from rap to piano to keytar to synths to ukulele…sometimes all in the course of one song. The singer sounds like Eminem, but he also sounds like Marcus Mumford. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect show and I am now craving more.

 

I took some pictures that I posted up on LMN’s facebook page.

Needless to say, twenty one pilots are my new band love. I highly recommend checking them out, especially if they are playing a show near you.

~ Kristen