The first Twenty One Pilots song I heard was “Car Radio,” sometime in 2013. I remember playing it over and over again, then falling in love with their album Vessel on the first listen. Some other TØP memories of mine: watching them live at Weekend One of Austin City Limits 2015 and fearing for frontman Tyler’s life when he climbed on top of the main stage structure; go find the video on YouTube if you’ve never seen it, it remains one of the craziest moments I’ve experienced at a show. Until a few weeks ago, I had seen them play live three times: at ACL after Blurryface released, on the Bandito Tour in 2019, and on the Clancy World Tour in 2024. TØP is one of those bands that, if you don’t like one of their albums, seeing them live will change your mind. They’ll make your most disliked song become your favourite in a matter of minutes. And because I had just seen them a year ago, I was going to skip this tour… until they made it impossible to miss.
Their latest album, Breach, came out just over a week ago on September 12, and the Clancy: Breach Tour began on September 18. Night One in Toronto was only the second stop of the tour. The album release was followed by a few big announcements: frontman Tyler Joseph posted that after this tour, the band didn’t know when they would be touring again, and drummer Josh Dun and his wife, actress Debby Ryan, shared their pregnancy news.
Not knowing when I’d be able to see them live again made me realize I just couldn’t miss them in Toronto. On the night of my 37th birthday, with one week to go before the show, I bought the tickets.
On Saturday, September 20 (the day of the show), we drove five hours from Montreal to Toronto. For me, that kind of trip is reserved for only a handful of bands: Oasis, My Chemical Romance, Paramore; and now, Twenty One Pilots joins the list. Much like with Oasis and MCR, the closer we got to the venue, the more the excitement built. Fans in their best Clancy or Torchbearer outfits filled the streets, making it easy to find the path to the entrance. We just followed the red-and-black sea of people.
I had never been to the Budweiser Stage before, but I was excited to know it was an amphitheatre. Venues like this almost always deliver the best audio experience, and as I entered the grounds, they truly felt top-tier, creating a great pre-show atmosphere. Maybe my surprise was heightened in contrast to Rogers Stadium, where I’d been a few weeks earlier; that experience had felt extremely underwhelming.
As I found my seat, fans were passing around small red papers: part of a fan project for the song “The Contract,” meant to be held over phone flashlights so the band could see a sea of red lights. I grabbed a couple and passed them along, completely underestimating how far that little ziplock bag of papers would travel.
The night started with a burst of energy courtesy of Dayglow, the indie-pop project from Texas. They featured songs from their latest self-titled album, Dayglow, setting the tone for a bright, energetic start to the night. They played a handful of their biggest hits, including “Close to You,” “Can I Call You Tonight,” and “Change Song,” which had the crowd nodding and dancing along in anticipation for the main act. There were a few minor sound hiccups: at one point, the speakers to the left of the stage cut out entirely, only to return a few moments later. But the band carried on without missing a beat. While not the main reason most of us had gathered, Dayglow’s set provided a pleasant, upbeat lead-in to the chaos and excitement that was about to hit when Twenty One Pilots took the stage.
Having peeked at the setlist of the previous tour stop, I knew they most likely weren’t going to play their Clancy song “Midwest Indigo,” so I wondered if they were going to keep up their Clancy Tour tradition of playing the lyrics “What’s your ETA? Two minutes.” exactly two minutes before the start of the show. And what a wonderful surprise: they did. It was a great way to get hyped for the start of the show: the crowd sang along and screamed at the top of their lungs.
More punctual than most pilots, and exactly at the two-minute mark, Josh Dun came out on stage and started the intro drums for “Overcompensate,” a song from their previous album Clancy. A few moments later, Tyler Joseph ran onto the stage, jumped on and off his piano, and dove straight into the first verse. And just like that, we were off to an unforgettable night. As the two-man band launched into “The Contract,” the lead single from their latest album Breach, I pulled out the fan-project red piece of paper and held it behind my flashlight. Then I turned around. It was a crazy sight: from where I was seated all the way to the very back of the venue, I couldn’t find a single area without red lights. The fan project worked to perfection, and it was beautiful. It is a true statement of how devoted this fanbase is. I’ve never seen a fan project this successful. And next, they played “RAWFEAR,” easily my favourite song off Breach. It’s a track that just makes you want to dance, and I was not alone. The entire crowd danced and jumped along.
During “Tear in My Heart” from Blurryface, Tyler talked to the crowd about his wardrobe struggles: his shirt just wouldn’t stay buttoned. What started as a funny moment turned touching: the shirt he was wearing had belonged to his stylist Laura’s grandfather, who had recently passed away. These are the moments that make fans feel connected to the band; they clearly care about each other, their crew, and their audience.
After a few more songs, the band launched into “Heathens.” If there’s one positive thing the 2016 movie Suicide Squad gave us, it’s this track, which plays over the end credits. Perhaps it helped that the song signalled the end of that forgettable film, but it’s now a fan favourite and has remained a staple in all their tour setlists since its release. And to close their first set on the main stage, they started “Next Semester” from Clancy, an upbeat track about wanting to give up but learning to accept second chances.
I did not shy away from any spoilers, so I knew about the B stage they had in Cincinnati. When I entered the lower stands at Budweiser Stage before the show started, I looked around and couldn’t see a B stage, or any space for one, really. So I assumed there wouldn’t be one in Toronto. And then it happened: at the end of “Next Semester,” Josh got off his drumkit and began walking through the venue, all the way to the back lawn, where the B stage had been set up in full view. The crowd erupted. Then, Tyler followed on the long trek, singing “Routines in the Night” and interacting with fans along the way, making the journey even more electric.
From the B stage, the crowd at the back of the venue got a few bangers as they gathered around a burning car: “Message Man,” “Pet Cheetah,” “Polarize,” and closing with “Chlorine.” As we caught our breath and watched our Torchbearer Josh carry his torch back to the main stage with a massive “TORONTO” flag covered in fans’ signatures, it hit me: we were only halfway through the set, and the night had already blown my mind.
With the boys back on the main stage, we launched into non-stop beats: “Jumpsuit,” “Nico and the Niners,” and “Heavydirtysoul.”
Next came the moment I had been waiting for all night: my very favourite song, “The Line.” My heart raced as the opening notes filled the venue, and I braced myself to be completely undone. This is another case of Twenty One Pilots knowing the assignment and overperforming it. “The Line” is a song from the Arcane series soundtrack, which I must confess I have not watched. But I can tell you the first time I heard it: when they played it live at The Game Awards 2024, almost a year to the day after my grandfather passed away, a time when I was struggling with lingering grief. Is there a song that made you cry the first time you heard it? This is it for me. The song reached into that unprocessed grief in ways I didn’t expect. Tyler’s scream toward the end of that performance was a cathartic release I didn’t know I needed. Now, every replay brings tears to my eyes and him to the forefront of my mind. But hearing it live in Toronto was something else entirely. It tore me apart, broke me down, and I sobbed like I have never done at a show before. I will treasure that song for the rest of my life, and I’ll be forever grateful I got to experience it live.
With hardly any time to recover from my emotional breakdown, the band played “Garbage” off their new album, kickstarting the last third of the setlist. For “Ride,” as is tradition, Tyler brought a kid on stage to sing with them. The lucky boy in Toronto was Holden, and he did an amazing job, even getting the crowd to chant his name. I can’t imagine what a moment that must be for a kid that age: to sing alongside your favourite band and hear thousands screaming your name at the top of their lungs.
For “Drum Show,” Josh ran back to the rear of the venue and climbed atop a set of drums held up by the crowd; another TØP tradition that is always an incredible sight. We got one last song from Breach: “City Walls,” accompanied by their latest music video on the main stage screen, perfectly synced to the music.
As the night drew to a close, we got the last three songs: “Guns for Hands,” “Stressed Out,” and the band finished with “Trees,” the song they’ve closed shows with for over ten years, as red confetti rained down across the venue. The energy, the emotion, the spectacle: it was the perfect ending to an unforgettable night. But the magic didn’t stop there. Even after the final note, fans lingered, connecting with the people around them and making new friends. We exchanged friendship bracelets marked with our favourite songs, small tokens that carried the night’s memories in a way no merch could. In those moments, the community Tyler and Josh have built felt just as powerful as the music itself.
Twenty One Pilots is an incredibly unique band, with an equally unique fanbase. No one sounds like this band, and no one plays shows like them. They slowly grew to be the one band I just can’t miss, not because they’re my favourite band, but because their shows are more than concerts; they’re performances and experiences like no other. They might not be my favourite band, but their show is my favourite place to be, and I really hope the wait to be there again isn’t long, because I already can’t wait.
Setlist
- Overcompensate
- The Contract
- RAWFEAR
- We Don’t Believe What’s on TV
- House of Gold
- Tear in My Heart
- Backslide
- Lane Boy
- Shy Away
- Heathens
- Next Semester
- Routines in the Night
- Message Man
- Pet Cheetah
- Polarize
- Chlorine
- Jumpsuit
- Nico and the Niners
- Heavydirtysoul
- The Line
- Garbage
- Doubt
- Ride
- Drum Show
- Paladin Strait
- City Walls
- Guns for Hands
- Stressed Out
- Trees
- Lavish
Review – Ilse Martinez
Photos – Andres Amaya
