There won't be a dull moment—see you next week at the Atlas Arena for the Twenty One Pilots concert.
It’s sometimes hard to categorize them clearly. Too alternative for pop and too pop for alternative. In their music, they mix, blend, and experiment. Indie rock, electronic, rap, reggae, pop, pop-rock, indie-pop, rap-rock, electro-indie—or maybe something else entirely. Looking at the genre descriptions of their albums, you can find some strange combinations, and listening to their music, you can pick up on further inspirations and new elements outside the typical bubble many people put them in. Always somewhere on the border, perhaps afraid of overdoing it in one direction, or perhaps finding a happy medium in it. I myself wasn’t entirely convinced by them for a long time, precisely because of this maneuvering between different styles and flirting with the mainstream. By listening to just a few tracks, you only get a glimpse of what they do. At some point, I simply set aside those preconceptions and let myself get carried away. And I hope this mix will be confirmed in a live setting.
Even from their debut, it was clear that these pop melodies served as a foundation for sonic experimentation. Subsequent lineup changes and collaborations on various releases helped bring order to everything related to the project known as Twenty One Pilots. It ultimately became a duo led by Tyler Joseph, with drummer Josh Dun providing support, and they began making their presence felt on the music scene more and more. “Vessel” and the single “Car Radio” from 2013 drew more attention to them, and their image began to be associated with the balaclavas they wore in music videos and live performances. The follow-up “Blurryface” brought them worldwide fame, mainly thanks to the hit “Stressed Out,” which simultaneously feels so out of place with their style yet defines that style so perfectly. And listening to “Heavydirtysoul,” “Fairly Local,” “Tear in My Heart,” or “Lane Boy,” one might wonder if this is still the same band. Though we’ll certainly hear Josh’s signature drumming and Tyler’s compositional flourishes in each of them. Once again, we could also see that there’s a concept here not just for the music, but for the whole package, where the figure with black paint on their neck and hands—contrasting with the red color—will now be associated by many solely with Twenty One Pilots.
If they hadn’t won over the skeptics by that point, they certainly did so with their next album, *Trench*, where they took their experimentation with a complex concept to the next level. Playing games with the audience by teasing a new story, doling out snippets of information, and encouraging exploration—yet ultimately delivering a cohesive album that’s a pleasure to listen to from start to finish, with each successive track adding more and more to the mix. And even if you look only at the first few tracks, which present completely different sounds, it all creates a shared world that you want to explore. The powerful and rock-driven “Jumpsuit,” the rap-infused “Leviate,” the groovy and soothing “Morph,” or the electronic and uplifting “My Blood.”
Their next release, “Scaled and Icy,” showed us a colorful, sweet, and downright sugary side, with the musicians opting for simpler, more accessible compositions—a departure from their earlier experiments and musical explorations—resulting in perhaps their least ambitious album. Fortunately, this was compensated for by “Clancy,” released in 2024, which drew more heavily on their best period, once again striking a better balance between alternative and radio-friendly sounds defined by a mellow tone, returning to what worked best for them. And I won’t reveal any more here, because this album will be promoted on April 9 at Atlas Arena in Łódź, and we’ll hear many tracks from “Clancy” live.
This will be TOP’s fourth performance in Poland. They previously played at Torwar in 2016, at Atlas Arena three years later, and most recently at the Open’er Festival in 2022.
The band itself doesn’t like boring or monotonous concerts, and their diverse music certainly helps with that. Rich and ever-changing visuals, special effects, walking and playing among the audience, and great chemistry with their devoted fans all suggest that during their stop in Łódź, we’re in for over two hours of intense and successful music. I don’t foresee any boredom here. And we’ll find out exactly how it goes in Łódź this coming Wednesday.
Photo by Artur Kraszewski
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