Rather than playing only in a stadium for their “big” return, bandmates Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph shuffled between venues Bottom Lounge, House of Blues, Aragon Ballroom, and United Center. 

While I could not attend any of the smaller venues, Oct. 16 I was fortunate enough to witness the breathtaking performance of Twenty One Pilots Takeover Tour at the United Center.

With opening bands of Arrested Youth and Half Alive, the audience’s anticipation was at an all-time high. 

The show began with a video montage of clips from the band’s previous concerts that week in the city. Both Dun and Joseph surfaced from opposite sides of the arena wearing identical ski masks. 

Once on the stage, the band broke out into “Good Day,” the first song from the album “Scaled and Icy.” 

Immediately after, the tone transitioned into the dark beat of “No Chances” with characters appearing on the screen in distress reading ‘you know you can’t escape’. 

Halfway through the song, the music dimmed and Joseph’s ski mask began to smoke as if it was falling apart. The singer slowly took the mask off, with the music returning when Joseph ran across the stage and jumped off. 

Dun followed by performing a drum solo while the character Blurryface sang lyrics from “Fairly Local” on the screen. 

With the appearance of Blurryface, Joseph began to continue to play songs from the album “Blurryface,” only for his bass guitar to partially stop working through “Stressed Out”.

Later on, “Morph” from the album “Trench” was performed with an amazing transition into “Holding on to you” from the album “Vessel.” Joseph finished the song on the piano rather than the guitar with the audience illuminating the arena with flashlights from their phone. 

“Message Man” made its first appearance since the Emotional Roadshow Tour in 2016, with fans hyped more than ever. Following, later on, a performance of “Mulberry Street” transitioned into a cover of Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets” with Joseph making his way from the main stage to the “B” stage in the back of the pit where he would finish “Mulberry Street.”

Remaining on the B stage, Joseph took pots and pans to create a live version of “Redecorate.” This point in the concert hit an emotional standpoint as Joseph vocalized the lines “you’ll be okay” and “you’ve made it this far.”

Since Twenty One Pilots is known for its music covering a heavier topic of mental health, the lines are meant to encourage people struggling by saying they made it this far and cannot give up now. 

After an emotional moment with the audience, Joseph returns to the stage only to humor people with a performance of the “George Lopez” theme song. 

Later on, the lights dimmed again and the duo created a campfire on stage where they would sing some calmer songs along with a cover of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros “Home.”

Afterward, the duo gained back some hype by singing “Scaled and Icy’s” most popular song “Shy Away,” but added a twist by singing part of My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).”

Finally, the concert wrapped up with their traditional celebration-styled ending of with “Trees.”

Not only did fans go home that night with pink and blue confetti, but they also left with unforgettable memories.