Twenty One Pilots – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul MN – October 21st 2018

Twenty One Pilots came to a sold out Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul on Sunday October, 21st with the
Bandito Tour.

Outside of Xcel you could see masses of people in yellow tape, wrapped around shirts, pants, arms, legs,
and whatever else they could. This is based from Twenty One Pilot’s recent album release ‘Trench’, and
featured in their music videos. The atmosphere around Xcel outside and inside was super hyped and you
could tell everyone was stoked for this show.

Max Frost from Austin, Texas opened the show. He has a very diverse alternative sound which fits very
well with Awolnation and Twenty One. Frost’s single “Good Morning” has appeared in the advertising
campaign for PepsiCo’s bubbly sparkling water and commercials for ESPN’s show ‘Get Up!’.
Awolnation is an eclectic mix of alternative, electropop, indie, dance, and electronic rock and have been
around since 2009. ‘Megalithic Symphony’ was the band’s first studio album which hailed one of their
most popular singles, “Sail”, which peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 4 on the
Billboard rock songs chart, and number 5 on the Billboard alternative songs chart. The song has now
been certified six times platinum by the RIAA and has sold 5,500,000 copies in the United States, in
which now the album itself has how been certified platinum. Lead singer Aaron Bruno has been with
numerous bands before he created Awolnation, in which he says the name derives from a nickname in
high school. This was my first time seeing these guys live and I was highly impressed. They have a very
magnetic presence to them; you are drawn to their every move and can’t help but dance or sing along.
Each member is exceedingly energetic, which keeps you entertained and wanting more. I would
definitely recommend seeing these guys live, I can’t wait to see them again.

Twenty One Pilots set was on fire, literally. Tyler Joseph, lead singer, walks around the stage with a
flame torch then disappears, up from the bottom of the stage comes out flames and Tyler in the middle
and you realize that it’s the frame of a car and the sides of it are ablaze. Next pops up Josh Dun,
drummer, from under the stage, drumming alongside. They are from Columbus, Ohio and have been
around since 2009. The band’s first two album releases, Twenty One Pilots (2009), and Regional at Best
(2011), were actually self-released. In which they are now signed with Fueled by Ramen. Twenty One’s
fourth album created their breakthrough success, Blurryface (2015), in which holds the singles,
“Stressed Out” and “Ride”. The duo recorded a “Heathens” for the soundtrack to the film Suicide Squad
which brought them to have two concurrent top ten singles in the U.S. they are the third rock act to
have two singles simultaneously chart in the top five Billboard Hot 100, linking them with the Beatles
and Elvis Presley. In 2016 the album won them Top Rock Artist at the Billboard Music Awards. The
accomplishments of the band are undeniably because of hard work, dedication, and talent. These guys
work hard to give you a show and you can tell through their performances, they care about their fans
and wanting to please them. This was also my first time seeing these guys live and they are incredible, I
will definitely give them credit where credit is due because they deserve it.

Review and photos by Kaila Turck