Live review: twenty one pilots, Manchester AO Arena

Six long years have passed since Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun last set foot in the North of England. While London has been treated to an impossibly intimate Camden Assembly shindig and several Wembley Arena spectacles in recent years, their memorable 2019 headline slot at Leeds Festival – where Post Malone joined them to cover Oasis – was the last twenty one pilots show near this neck of the woods.

“There’s a lot of music that we've been inspired by that comes from this city,” affirms Tyler tonight, with an urgency and honesty that seeps out of every word. Although The Clancy World Tour is predictably slick by design, you get the sense that, on its 71st show, the frontman and drummer remain utterly committed to this specific moment and crowd.

Before tøp grace the stage, Manchester’s AO Arena is packed to the brim for New Zealand sibling duo Balu Brigada. Their summery indie-pop sounds definitively crisper when it’s turned up to 11, with breakout hit So Cold suggesting they may have rubbed shoulders with The Strokes since they moved to New York City.

It’s energising to see an arena packed from early doors. Then again, these are twenty one pilots fans we’re talking about. Endless Mexican waves are shattered by screams when Overcompensate announces itself, although it gets off to a wobbly start as Tyler warms into his flow. To be fair, he’s probably recovering from his kangaroo-like leap over the piano, which becomes his playground for the evening (Josh promptly gets in on the act with a backflip).

The show hurries along with pace and purpose, before The Judge and Tear In My Heart allow the faithful to soak in some euphoria. Heathens joins up with Next Semester like the two have always been cousins, with the latter unlocking an unbelievable balance between grit and entertainment, while Tyler momentarily jogs on the spot like an instructor at the arena’s group fitness class.

After some B-stage cuts satisfy the duo’s itch to spend as much time in the crowd as possible, Josh guides Tyler back to the stage, flaming torch in hand, donning those signature khaki and yellow overalls. The explosion of bass that is Navigating tees up Nico And The Niners and My Blood, played out like the greatest hits they have become. Welcome back to Trench, indeed.

With all eyes on Tyler and Josh – and their ever-changing whereabouts – the production takes something of a backseat. Nevertheless, over the course of this 27-song marathon, there is enough well-rehearsed stagecraft to keep the faithful engaged. Extremely vocal but fairly temperate throughout the night, unless prompted by Tyler, Jumpsuit marks the only real moment of frenzy and pandemonium down below.

The closing trio of Midwest Indigo, Stressed Out and Trees exemplify what’s special about this twenty one pilots live show. As if it was ever going to be a challenge, they find a way to neatly tie together multiple eras, lore and imagery under the same two-hour umbrella.

Slightly too pristine for an arena rock show, but also too impulsive to contend with certain pop and rap spectacles, tøp continue to exist, fundamentally, in their own lane. Tonight is about celebrating the present and past. Nevertheless, as 21,000 fans pile out of the arena, the possibilities of twenty one pilots’ next move is probably whirring around their minds, as the Clancy victory lap appears to be winding down. We’ll be patiently waiting.

Get your limited-edition twenty one pilots Kerrang! zine now.

twenty one pilots play The O2 in London on May 13 – 14. Get your tickets now.

Read this next:

• twenty one pilots: “It’s full-circle. This was the first time I felt okay coming back to where we started”
  
• “I would rather die than fake a song”: Inside the revolutionary success of twenty one pilots’ Blurryface
• Trench: The story of twenty one pilots’ most ambitious album ever