Twenty One Pilots ‘The Clancy World Tour’ in Birmingham, UK
On 06th May, multi genre-bending duo Twenty One Pilots brought their ‘The Clancy World Tour’ to the newly re-named venue BP Pulse Live in Birmingham (formally known as Resorts World Arena).
Dedicated fans had arrived on site and started queuing around midnight on the day of the show, eighteen hours or more before the doors to the venue actually opened. This was the first tour they had performed in England in around six years and I hadn’t seen an arena show in Birmingham as full to the brim as I did in Brum that night, ever. Barely any seats or standing arena remained visually empty. They also performed one of the longest sets I’d been present at, with a 2 hour and 15 minute performance.
Arriving on stage first was Josh Dun as he kicked off the show drumming to one of my favourite records ‘Overcompensate’, before lead singer Tyler Joseph appeared to fans as he back flipped off his piano. The duo were incredible showman’s as they effortlessly performed, sung, done frequent backflips and made sure fans were included in every area of the arena as they performed on the main stage, two b-stages either side of the soundboard, walked around the standing area touching hands with fans and even performed amongst the sea of fans in the standing area, with one of the most epic moments I’ve ever witnessed at any concert. The intimacy they give their fans is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
With the amount of people in the standing crowd, the duo were able to be held up by fans on platforms as the performed, even Josh Dun was able to be held up by fans as he played the drum kit. The amount of trust they invested in their fans, allowed them to do moments like this. Both B stages weren’t visible from where I sat seated, until the duo left the main stage. First was drummer Josh who made his way to the drum kit and then second Tyler as he performed whilst walking to his stage as visuals of them both were projected from the live camera footage on the main stage. The B stages allowed them to be elevated above the standing fans slightly. Lead singer Tyler voiced that the only time he gets to touch an instrument on tour is in front of a crowd, and that ‘sometimes I want to just play for fun’, later he thanked the arena for allowing him to fool around as he experimented with the piano notes.
The main stage had their signature logo placed above them in the centre, often being lowered and risen to allow different lighting equipment to be move around. Stage pyrotechnics consisted of; lasers, smoke, fireworks, fire and more. The fog on stage at points, almost resembled a waterfall as it slowly creeped off the stage into the pit in front of the barrier. The crowd control of fans was impeccable; making Mexican waves move effortlessly in sequence around individual sections of every corner of the arena, lighting up the room with fans flash lights moving from one side of the arena to the other, back and forth multiple times in succession and at one point I remember, Josh took off his vest before performing topless for the remainder of the show as he taunted various angles of the crowd pretending to throw it and eventually ending up centre of the main stage as he threw it backwards over his head to one lucky fan as multiple held their hands up hoping it was them that caught it. The vest which Josh threw to fans was earlier first displayed to the arena as he took his hoodie off and shown the arena camera it stated Birmingham on it during the song ‘My Blood’.
Both of the duo were as energetic as each other throughout the evening but lead singer Tyler was a little more so, as he paraded and made use of every angle of the main stage. Tyler often changed outfits and wore masks/baklava’s which link to their artistic vision of the bands music videos and album storylines. One of which was a feline inspired balaclava which he wore as he first appeared to fans and later in the night a skull headpiece. I like it when artists do this as it makes it a bit more interesting to photograph as photographer myself.
A pivotal moment towards the latter part of the set was when Tyler made his way back to the B stage and invited a young fan named ‘Jonas’ on stage with him. They both performed ‘Ride’ together as Jonas made the crowd fall in love with him and his cute demeanour. Jonas got a round of applause from the packed arena before the camera panned to him hugging his family member.
At around 10:30pm the main stage went dark as ambient sounds of wildlife (birds chirping) played before a guitar chords were heard as they put on the most epic finale encore that consisted of fire, confetti falling and explosions. They played an encore of around twenty minutes.
The most memorable moment for me was when a spotlight shone on an area of the standing crowd as Tyler asked fans to work together and take steps back to make a huge red circle appear that they placed earlier before fans filled the floor. Tyler told fans that they needed the entire red circle to be visible for them to finish the show. Soon after their team carried a piano and drum kit to the circle as the duo made their way to the area and the crowd closed in, surrounding them and they ended the show with the most epic finale I’ve ever seen at any concert ever. The dedication and showmanship of the duo is unmatched and you can tell they really trust their fans by performing so intimately amongst them.
I was throughly impressed by the duo and they clearly have the most amazing fanbase to perform to. I highly recommend catching them on tour, you will not be disappointed!
