Santina Cerquetelli
Staff Writer
On Sept. 14, 2024, I had the opportunity to attend twenty one pilots’ “Clancy World Tour” at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA, and to say it was amazing would be an understatement.
I will not lie, I consider myself a seasoned concert-goer, especially a seasoned twenty one pilots fan. This was my 25th time seeing them perform live, and I can confidently say they impress every time without fail. The tour, which began on Aug. 15 in Denver at Ball Arena, was one that I, along with many other fans who were lucky enough to attend, found to be exciting as the band is known for their showmanship and audience engagement. The concert began with the opening song of their latest album, “Clancy,” and hearing the bass-boosted phrase “Welcome back to Trench” set the scene for what was to come in their show. Using various methods of entertainment, including but not limited to pyrotechnics, fire, and confetti, the energy was kept at a high from start to finish.
Their music is highly conceptual, and each song can have several hidden messages, so the songs they played during the show were not only entertaining but also told a story.
Tyler Joseph, the lead singer, has stated that this tour is to be considered a “rewind” of how they got to where they are today in anticipation of what will come in their music and story as a band and as people in the future. That being said, I would like to pay some attention to some things they did differently on this tour as opposed to others.
In all of the tours I have seen twenty one pilots on in the past, there were some general trends that were followed regarding their setlist and when certain songs were played. On this tour there was a diversion from their “normal” that I found to be shocking; that being the placement of their song “Car Radio.”
“Car Radio” has always been a song that is played towards the end of their show, always being within the last five songs of the concert. This time around, however, “Car Radio” was the fourth song played out of their 28-song setlist. Prior to the show, I tried to stay away from spoilers as I wanted the show to be as surprising as possible to me, but I heard some rumors that “Car Radio” would be towards the beginning, and I was somewhat skeptical. Unsurprisingly, however, it made sense. The placement of the song in regard to the story they were told throughout the show fit in perfectly.
Another notable difference from previous tours was their crowd engagement. While they would interact with the crowd before, this tour brought it to a whole new level, and I even found myself within a few feet of both members of the band several times throughout the show. They made B-stage appearances three separate times during the show and made a clear effort to be as close to their fans as possible.
Overall, this concert is definitely towards the top of my list, and twenty one pilots yet again impressed me more than ever before. I look forward to their future concerts and would recommend their concert to anyone willing to go, as it was truly a treat to experience the “Clancy World Tour.”