I was sitting in my dorm room on the computer when I first saw that my favorite band in the world was coming to my state in June. I whisper-screamed in excitement when I found out. I needed tickets with every part of me. Next step was to ask my parents if I could go. My question was answered with a yes. My night was made, as I knew I was going to get to see twenty one pilots.
My mother got the tickets during a pre-sale. She had no idea what the code to get into the pre-sale was, but guessed the name of their most recent album and was correct. We got awesome seats, under the roof of the amphitheater. I did not want to be in the pit. I tried that at a Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens concert. As soon as I got into the pit, I walked out and stood on the side with my dad. Too many people moving around, making you feel trapped, after waiting 6+ hours to get a good spot, was not how I wanted to spend my evening. I’m happy we got seats.
My dad and I left to go up to where the show was, about three hours away from home. I finished my sixth time of watching Deadpool and then listened to the setlist over and over again while playing my DS and resting. We got up there and checked into a hotel. I thought it was a fancy hotel, but dad said it actually wasn’t that fancy. We looked around, and decided we needed food. It was decided that we would walk down to the amphitheater and then go eat. On our walk to the amphitheater, we saw zero restaurants. When we got to the amphitheater, there was a huge line of people. I’m guessing that they were in the pit, so they had been there many hours to get a good spot.
We walked the other way and found a seafood restaurant on a dock. It didn’t look too good and was super expensive. I was not feeling well from walking outside in the 90°+, so dad said we could get room service and go sit in the room before the concert. Room service seemed really fancy to me, so I was excited.
While we were eating and resting, it started raining and stopped. Then it would start again. By the time we left to get to the show,it had stopped raining, so we didn’t stop at the car to get an umbrella. We walked down there right at the gates opening. We didn’t have to get bags checked, as we didn’t have them. We found our seats, and dad said to go to the merch table. The line was very, very, VERY long. I told dad that I didn’t need a shirt. He kept saying that he didn’t want to hear me complaining about getting a shirt the whole three hour trip home. Then it started raining on us, and we went throught the whole conversation again.We ended up waiting around 35 minutes, and I got a t-shirt that I love and am wearing today.
We went back to our seats and watched Chef’Special. They play alternative pop and are from the Netherlands. How cool is that? I enjoyed their music a lot.
Then Mutemath came on. I didn’t enjoy them at all. They put on a good visual show, but I didn’t like their music. At one point during their set, my dad leaned over to me and asked what their name was again. I told him that they were Mutemath, to which he replied “Why are they not just Mute?”. I slapped him on the arm but then gave him a thumbs up.
Then it was almost time. My favorite duo was about to come out and present our eyes and ears with beauty. My dad went to go get us drinks, as he thought I would dehydrate, which was probably a good idea. I was worried that he wouldn’t be back before the concert started. I kept hearing people screaming, but it was for the drums, or the workers, or whatever else needed to be set up. I was looking for a yellow hat and a gray shirt until I finally saw him. I was then able to relax.
It got black. Voices started talking over the speakers. Then, Josh Dun (the drummer) came out and started drumming. Then Tyler started singing. They were wearing orange and black suits and black ski masks (ski masks are their signature piece). They were playing the music. Next thing I know, Tyler Joseph, singer/ instrument extraordinaire, was 30-40 ft away from me on a stand right beside my row of seats. I couldn’t help it. I broke in ugly crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes and was having to suck air in. It was totally embarrassing, but totally worth it. He ran back up.
Then, when Tyler changed into his black kimono with roses on it and white sunglasses, the whole crowd knew what was happening next: Ukulele songs. This meant we got to scream “yeah, yeah, yeah” whenever he counted to three during We Don’t Believe What’s On TV. Most of us knew when to do it without him counting, but it was still fun to hear him count.
Traveling on through the concert, Ode To Sleep was played. This song goes really fast between Tyler rapping faster than a racecar and then to a slower, happier sounding part. Apparently this was the first tour since 2014 that they played the full song.
I think the next part caused the most screaming. They played some songs from the self-titled album that was made before Josh was in the band and Tyler and Josh’s first album that was self-produced and is not available for sale anymore. This was so so so cool. All of my favorites were played in a medley that flowed so well with each other.
They played some covers, with the opening acts returning to stage. They played a Beatles song, a Celine Dion song, a Justin Bieber song, and a House of Pain song. Guess which one most people were sing to? If you guessed Justin Bieber, you are right. I have to admit that I was singing along with it.
My favorite song, not just by the band, but ever, played after a few of the radio hits they’ve had lately. Guns For Hands means so much to me. He wrote it because several of their early fans struggled with mental health and self-confidence issues. The song speaks to me and I spoke right back to it, as loud as my singing could go. The video I have was taken by my father with my phone because I didn’t want to watch them through a screen.
Check out these lyrics from Guns For Hands (credit to AZ Lyrics)
Let’s take this a second at a time,
Let’s take this one song, this one rhyme,
Together, let’s breathe,
Together, to the beat,
But there’s hope out the window,
So that’s where we’ll go,
Let’s go outside and all join hands,
But until then you’ll never understand.
This song made me so happy. I have it on video right under this, which includes Tyler in a hamsterball in the crowd (with credit to my father):
Then, it was Car Radio time. This could possibly be their most popular song they have ever released. Tyler normally climbs one of the towers on the stage during this son, but after having to cut a show short because of it, he doesn’t. At the concert, he climbed a small tower with a platform on it. Once again, this one was probably about 50 ft away from me, and I cried again. This was a very tearful show, but they were all happy tears.
After the two encores, Goner and Trees, it was time to leave. I left the happiest person I’d ever been. On the walk back to the hotel, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and had to be told to be quiet when we got in the hotel. It was the best night of my life. Dad asked me if it was the best concert I had seen. I said yes, because it was the first concert I had gone to where I knew most songs within the first note, and most of the lyrics to every song. I also loved it because I felt welcome at the concert. We were all a little different, from all over, but still supportive. I had been worried all day about my concert attire. Everybody I saw was wearing a twenty one pilots t-shirt. I have a sweatshirt, but it’s a bit too hot in summer. I was wearing a Pierce the Veil shirt, and before the show, a girl walked by and said that they were going to see them soon. I missed her saying it, as I was zoned out, but my dad got me out and told me and I said thank you to the girl. We were all supportive of each other. It was the perfect concert experience. It was more than worth having to wake up at 4 am to go home.
Every time I go to a concert, I always say “I’m not going to sing, scream, or do whatever hand motion people are doing.”
This time, I sang. I screamed to the top of my lungs, and moved my hands however Tyler wanted us to (at least for a little bit). I was in a place, physically and emotionally, I had never been before. The tour as called Emotional Roadshow, and let me tell you, this roadshow was as emotional as it could get.
Beautifully Bipolar 