AOTW #2 TWENTY ONE PILOTS - VESSEL
Vessel was the band’s first “Major Label” release in 2013 which shot them into the spotlight with incredible hits such as “Holding onto You”, “House of Gold”, and the song that hooked me right away, “Car Radio”.
2014 at a historic place in Philly called Tower Theater was where me and some friends finally got to see them for the first time and still to this day is in my top 10 shows ive ever attended. We wound up getting to the show late thanks to Philly traffic and the opener was already playing. We wound up in the back, lower lever. They had a guard rail that separated the GA section from the rest. A few songs in I had noticed a security guard would wave his flashlight and a few people would make a dash. Little bit later he would do it again. I knew we had to get closer. The next time he let people pass all 3 of us made the dash. By the time T.O.P would go on, you could hardly move. it was awesome.
They opened the show with “Guns for Hands”, followed by “Migraine” which immediately set the tone for the night that this show was gonna be something to see. The crowd was electric and everyone seemed to feed off each other. Mid set they would break into a medley of “All i do is Win”, “Drunk in Love", “Bugatti”, and the Elvis classic, “Cant Help Falling In Love” which had the entire audience singing along.
The Followed the medley immediately with “House of Gold” which took the show to another level. You could feel the energy build getting closer to the end of the set. A Few songs later was the hit “Holding on to You” and they ended the set with “Fake You Out” and a cover of Lana Del Ray’s “Summertime Sadness”.
They opened the 3-song encore and immediately pulled out all the stops with a version of “Car Radio” that blew everyone away seeing lead singer, Tyler Joseph, sneak away only to reappear standing on the railing of the second-floor balcony to lead the second verse. They followed that up with “Truce”, then ended the night on an incredible high note with “Trees” where they came out onto drum platforms held up by the crowd for the breakdown. Smoke and confetti cannons shot off as the entire building seemed to jump up and down completely in sync. It was really something to see.
Vessel would go on to become certified 2x platinum in the U.S., platinum in Canada, and gold in the U.K. and Denmark. It peaked at #4 on the U.S. Top Alternative chart, #6 on Top Rock charts, #1 on Top Catalog albums, and #3 on U.S. Vinyl Album Charts. It also hit #1 on the Mexican Albums charts and each individual song is certified gold or higher.
The style of music might not be for everybody and that’s okay. But I highly recommend giving it a real listen and seeing if there isn’t at least one song that gets you tapping on the steering wheel.
