When Twenty One Pilots titled their 2021 tour in support of their flash foray into colour album Scaled And Icy the Takeover Tour they weren’t playing about. Whether it be taking over living rooms and streets from the Stressed Out sounds of Blurryface to the mountain tops and industrial cities of Trench, Twenty One Pilots have a talent for taking over new soundscapes, colour schemes and in every inch of the concept. And now the duo can add All Points East, a week long festival fronting acts from the world of pop-rap and rock to their tick list of takeovers.
As soon as you enter the vicinity of Victoria Park the loyally adorned Skeleton Clique are dripped out head to toe in Twenty One Pilot gear. A surge of red and yellow tape, band tees or Breach utilitarian dark toned streetwear of some variety on every single pilots fan at this festival.
But Twenty One Pilots ain’t the only band to be contended with today. On a self-curated festival line up, British bands Hot Milk, Mouth Culture and girl boss duo Nova Twins dominated the festival’s various stages. Meanwhile Twenty One Pilots’ fellow Americans Honey Revenge and PVRIS repped the US side of the line up across All Points East’s six stages. Oh, and did we mention the dust situation basically being a prominent act at All Point East? Perhaps Twenty One Pilots’ previously heavily bandana themed era’s approach to things was a practical solution to a dust saturated gathering.
Once dusk descended onto All Points East Festival, it was time for Twenty One Pilots to fully take over Victoria park, it wasn’t just the duo but their tens of thousands of Skeleton Clique die hard fans welcoming the band. They were treated to a career spanning setlist covering Vessel, Blurryface, Trench, Scaled And Icy, Clancy and Breach on their only UK appearance this year.
Spanning two hours and fifteen minutes and two torrential downpours, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun didn’t let the rain put out their Trench torch-bearing flames for the song “Jumpsuit.” There were brief portaloo visits on the band’s B-stage walk, and Ned-themed gatherings of fans dressed as the “Chlorine” mascot. None of these special moments, however, topped the Ferris wheel stunt Tyler Joseph pulled off during the band’s set at the Colours of Ostrava Festival. Ironically, during “Ride,” Joseph rides around a Ferris wheel.
But where there was a lack of ferris wheels there was an abundance of transitions, as the band crammed an impressive twenty eight song setlist into a just over two hour runtime. Where some mashups like Pet Cheetah and Polarize pop off, others such as Jumpsuit into sections of City Walls crumbled. However with the classic appearance of Jack White giving the band his blessing to blitz through a cover of The White Stripes unmistakable Seven Nation Army, all was saved.
In the early stages of the Twenty One Pilots; set Tyler says “Its just me, Josh and you” and its this close knit community between the band and the clique that have kept Twenty One Pilots’ nearly two decade long ride alive. No matter the sonic change this band embark on, their fanbase will always follow. Like Josh the torchbearer guiding the way for their army to move through, that feels like the perfect sentiment to accompany the bands outro “We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you”.
Photos by Bethan Miller, provided by the All Points East team.
