Welcome Back to Trench: A Twenty One Pilots “Clancy World Tour” Review

The renowned alternative rock group Twenty One Pilots brought “The Clancy World Tour” to Indianapolis’ 19,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse last week. Nothing could have spoiled my mood before this event, not even the fact that Ticketmaster experienced a nationwide outage just before doors opened. I was trembling with anticipation, a longtime fan of the band who had never seen them perform live until now. The whole fandom coming together to plan outfits that complemented various eras of the band’s aesthetics and music videos was also really amazing.

Tyler Joseph, lead vocalist, lyricist, and instrumentalist, founded the band in Columbus, Ohio, in 2009 with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, both of whom left in 2011. The band began by releasing two albums independently, Twenty One Pilots (2009) and Regional at Best (2011), before signing with Fueled by Ramen. Their debut label album, Vessel (2013), which was the first to feature current counterpart and drummer Josh Dun, became the second album in history to have every track certified gold, making Twenty One Pilots the first and only band to have every song on two albums certified gold or platinum.

Blurryface (2015), the duo’s fourth album, produced the hit songs “Stressed Out” and “Ride” and became the first album on which every track obtained at least a gold certification from the Recording Industry of America. It was the start of their breakout success. When “Heathens” was released, the group became the first alternative artist in history to have two consecutive top-five singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They also became the third rock act in history to have two singles simultaneously chart in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, joining The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

The first part of the show that stood out to me was a video recorded before doors opened of fans outside in line singing “The Judge.” The emotional interaction came to an end when the video shifted to the duo performing the rest of the song live. During a medley of “Addict With a Pen / Migraine / Forest / Fall Away,” frontman and lead singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun ascended their own elevated platforms in the rear of the pit to engage with the other half of the audience.  In order to create a positive memory, Bryce, a member of “the new generation,” was asked to join Tyler on stage and sing the song’s last notes. Fans in the pit area raised Josh and the platform in the air as he completed a song during the encore.

In addition to having an unshakable link with their fans, Twenty One Pilots are skilled at putting on an exciting show. Even hours after the event ended, the beautiful production, captivating light patterns and images, and smooth song transitions left audiences’ pulses pounding and their adrenaline flowing. Visually, the design with purple and green lights during “Heathens” and the spinning carousel of skeletons during “Stressed Out” perfectly heightened the eerie atmosphere. Tyler layed down and performed the outro of “HeavydirtySoul,” allowing the rolling fog on stage to “take him away” and heighten the enigmatic atmosphere.

Twenty One Pilots had one more surprise in store for the audience after an already exciting evening. Tyler politely asked that the pit be moved out from the center so that a big red circle could be seen. Surrounded by fans, Tyler and Josh performed “Trees” while standing on their platforms in the pit. In the end, they each doused two big drums with water, using the drum heads as a symbol for Clancy. “The Clancy World Tour” came to life on the screen in all its yellow and red splendour as the confetti cannons exploded as the mallets struck the drums. “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.”

It was well worth the nearly ten-year wait to see these guys. I firmly believe that this show is among the greatest I have ever seen, and I doubt that anything else will ever come close. You can still attend the overseas dates even though the U.S. leg is over, and I strongly advise doing so if you can.