Twenty One Pilots: The Takeover Tour (Takeover London) 23/06/2022

Where: O2 Academy Brixton – London (Brixton), England (UK)

Venue rating: 8.5/10 (Dangerous location but quirky building with beautiful interior)

Who I went with: Myself and my saint-like patience

Where I stayed: OYO Huttons Hotel (My room was on its own floor and HILARIOUSLY small – I thought it was cute though)

How I travelled there: Plane, train, bus

Beverage of choice: Sparkling water! And then water, water and more water in the venue because it felt like fifty degrees celsius in there!

SETLIST:

Good Day
No Chances
Stressed Out
Migraine/Morph/Holding On To You
Heathens
The Outside
Message Man
Lane Boy (And some Nico And The Niners)
Chlorine
Mulberry Street
Bennie And The Jets (Elton John cover)
I Can See Clearly Now/My Girl (Josh Dun)/Home (Campfire Medley with a bit of ‘Careless Whisper’)
House Of Gold/We Don’t Believe What’s On TV (Campfire Medley cont.)
Halo Theme (Martin O’Donnell Cover)
Jumpsuit
Heavydirtysoul
Saturday (Josh on Drum Island)
Level Of Concern
Ride
Car Radio
Shy Away (Encore)
Trees (Encore)

I knew people were queuing extremely early for this because I saw them talking about it on Twitter. I wasn’t sure it would be worthwhile standing in the queue for several hours as there must have been two hundred people waiting by the time I got there but I’m glad I did, as they packed so many people into the venue the queue ended up wrapped around several blocks. I flew down to London from Inverness at 7am and dropped my bag off at my hotel as it was too early to check-in. I had a massive breakfast at Wetherspoons to keep my stamina up but it was too big to even finish. At least it kept me going. I struggled to find the bus to Brixton because the stops are overly complicated in my opinion and the first one was closed. I found one in the end by following Google Maps and trying not to look too much like a tourist. I’m still a bit nervous of the tube, though it would have made a lot more sense to take it than a bus. I prefer travelling by bus most of the time because I’m more used to them and you get to see more of the city that way.

The queue had already reached the end of the street by the time I arrived just after 12pm and the people ahead of me already looked exhausted. It was a hot, muggy day. Not ideal weather for standing around and there was nowhere to hide in the shade when the heat became too much. I sat down by the wall so I could have something to lean against and regretted not bringing a bag of snacks since there was a bin right next to me at that point, before we got shifted forward. The people around me all seemed friendly and in good spirits but I didn’t really interact with anyone, except when someone asked me what was happening when everyone rushed to the stage door in anticipation of seeing Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. They didn’t arrive until 7:15pm because they were at an awards show but we saw Half Alive arrive hours earlier. The band manager (I assume) told us they were running late and seemed a bit stressed. A girl questioned why they were late and asked if they were being knighted by the Queen. I was originally in prime position to see them enter but we had been shuffled down by that time. I still saw them go in but lots of people were videoing them, which made it difficult to see. I saw some of the fans watching the videos over and over again. I get the impression their fans are pretty obsessive.

While we were waiting, the main security guy introduced himself as “Daddy O” and constantly got us to do warm up exercises to keep our blood flowing. He’d ask us to do the “Twenty One Pilots Wave” (whatever that is supposed to be) and “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, which the band hilariously recreated later onstage. Most people were happily going along with it but I saw on Twitter the hardcore fans who had camped overnight (yes, in Brixton) were becoming fed up. I thought he was quite funny and felt sorry for him when people started ignoring him, especially when he was asking them to keep their legs off the road because cars were still passing by. He came around with a green box and was getting people to guess what was inside it. He said only 3% of people guessed correctly and assured us the mystery contents will be revealed during the show. I couldn’t tell whether he was being serious or having a laugh but they did actually reveal later that it was a salt drum! He also got us to wave to the people queuing on the other side of the road! It was by far the longest queue I have ever seen.

The venue was good and the staff had a lot of personality but getting inside was a shambles. People were flying past me when I was trying to get my ticket scanned and bag searched. The woman was suspicious of my poncho and I had to explain to her what it was. I’m glad I took it as it rained briefly but wished I’d thrown it in the bin as I didn’t fancy keeping it after using it to sit on the ground. I had to run to the toilet, so I fell behind another few spaces. I didn’t befriend anyone in the queue to ask them to keep my spot earlier so I could run off and find one, though I’m sure they would have helped me. I stood in the middle first of all but changed my mind and moved off to the left-hand side. The venue is nice because it has a slanted floor, so everyone can see the stage clearly. I haven’t seen anywhere else with that feature yet but think it’s a fantastic idea. I’m happy I decided to move over because most of the drama always happens in the middle, as well as mosh pits sometimes! I felt too old and tired to deal with all that. Less people were over that side (Josh’s side) so I got about fifth row from the stage, which wasn’t bad. I was also tall enough to see over everyone and nobody pushed much.

I didn’t listen to Half Alive before going but they blew me away and their songs are very catchy. Definitely my favourite opening act so far and they make the same style of music as twenty one pilots so they were the perfect fit. I knew I had found a new band to love, just from the few songs they performed. They had a ton of energy and interacted with the crowd. During one of the songs, they spray painted a large cloth (I assume with their logo or a reference to one of their songs) and threw it for some lucky fan to catch. They also performed behind the cloth for ‘Tip Toes’, which was very artsy and impressive. I love the shadows which were cast during that performance. Lots of people seemed to be familiar with their songs already, which makes sense if they are big TOP fans.

twenty one pilots were as amazing as I thought they would be. I only fell in love with them recently and struggled to get a re-sale ticket for this, since all of the London shows had completely sold out by the time I had become a fan. I heard ‘Stressed Out’ on the radio when it first became big but never looked into their other music until I took a chance on ‘Trench’ when I found it in a charity shop and thought the cover looked interesting (it has a vulture on it, if I am identifying the bird correctly). I would have gone to more than one if I had the chance but am so happy I got to go to this one, as the setlist was incredible. The only song I would have liked to have heard is ‘Guns For Hands’ but they don’t do that one very often. Their shows increased in size with each event. They did The Camden Assembly, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, O2 Academy Brixton (this one) and The SSE Arena Wembley. All iconic venues. The Camden Assembly only holds about four hundred people, so that was a very intimate show! I heard they over-sold tickets and people were having problems getting into the venue but I don’t know if that’s true – I’m just going by what I read on Twitter and I know people love to complain.

They had lots of costume changes and plenty of props and strobe lighting. This concert was by far the most immersive experience out of all the ones I’ve gone to so far, with the crowd going wild and singing/shouting every word of the lyrics. They showed off during the long rap segments, which the band respected and appreciated. It got really hot, though. The security guards kept handing out drinks and watered us down like flowers with a giant hose, which was hilarious. I was close enough to the front to benefit from that. The temperature got so disgustingly high, my bottle of water turned properly hot by the time we left! I couldn’t drink it.

TJ said the venue is a special one to them because it was the first place they had ever performed songs from ‘Trench’ and that it is a perfect shape. He addressed the people up on the balcony a few times and said he could hear them from where he was standing. At the beginning of the campfire medley, he said this is the only time there has been nice weather in London when they’ve visited and he’s going to pretend it’s always like that. They performed a few Summer-themed songs – a compilation they put together just because of the good weather. They also sang ‘My Girl’ and changed the lyrics to ‘Josh Dun’. When TJ mentioned it was Josh’s birthday recently everyone burst out singing, wishing him “Happy birthday!” They didn’t stop, even when he tried to discourage them saying “No… We’re not going to sing…” because his birthday was a little while ago and not on the day.

TJ made a heartfelt speech about how they attended the Kerrang! Awards earlier and won “Best Live Act”. He said the fans should have been invited and he should make the speech standing up and not doing “whatever this is” as he perched on top of the piano. He even brought the award out on stage to show us. He was skilfully hiding it until he announced they had won, to surprise us. Everyone was rightfully excited for them and the place exploded with cheers. He said we make an American band feel very welcome here and there were a lot of nominees including bands they have looked up to for a long time. He said they will come across the pond and play for us any time.

Before ‘Trees’ (the song they always end with), he said he gets the feeling lots of us have been listening to their songs for a long time. Sometimes they crowd would sing full verses on their own. TJ encouraged this by looping the beginning of the songs over and over again until people caught on and started singing it all themselves. It was a great show and felt completely surreal. I was one of the last people out since it took so long to get out from the front few rows. I barely had time to make it to the merch stall before it closed and there wasn’t a lot left. I got a gorgeous blue London Takeover hoodie but regret not buying a Half Alive t-shirt when I had the chance. Buying merch from American bands is tricky online unless they have a UK store because of all the import tax which gets slapped on to it. Some people hung around outside but I wanted to get back to the safety and comfort of my hotel. Brixton can be quite a dodgy place. The band came out around 1:30am and handed out cans of Coke and fruit and veg. I saw the group photo and comments from ecstatic fans but there was no way I was staying up that late. Maybe next time!

GALLERY: