On May 5, 2019, I attended my first Twenty One Pilots show, The Bandito Tour, at Manchester Arena.
Manchester Arena
The arena is operated by SMG Europe, being one of the busiest venues in the world, along with being the largest indoor arena in Europe.
Manchester Arena was opened in 1995, since then they have hosted the biggest names within the live entertainment industry, which includes U2, The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Lady Gaga.
As well as having live music performances, some of the biggest UK sporting events, such as several 2002 Commonwealth Games’, 2012 Olympic basketball warm-up match (USA v GB), 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships and international boxing match (Mike Tyson, David Haye, Joe Calzaghe, along with local champions Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan and Anthony Crolla).
Local bands such as Take That, Oasis, Elbow, New Order, James, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, M People, Doves, Inspiral Carpets, The Verve, Simply Red and the Courteeners have played at the arena, giving it a key part in the city’s musical heritage.
Having over one million people attend each year, the arena has a 21,000 capacity, making it a former winner of the International Venue of the Year award.
The atmosphere at the arena all started while everyone was queuing up. Everyone had yellow tape (in reference to Trench, yellow is an important colour, duct tape was worn by Tyler and Josh first in the Jumpsuit video, followed by them wearing them in the majority of photoshoots) on their jackets and jeans, everyone was starting to get excited and ready for the show.
As we entered the arena itself, we headed to the merchandise stall, where they were selling tour shirts, hoodies, Trench vinyl and CD, flags, bandanas, beanie hat, posters, etc. I was lucky enough to get one of the Bandito Tour drawstring bags and the tour shirt.
It then came to the point of walking in to the main arena itself. The majority of the seats were filling up, considering it was a sell-out show, they filled up fast.
Not long after we got there, the support band came on. I managed to get a good couple pictures of them performing.
After they had finished, the stage went black for between half an hour and an hour, giving the crew enough time to set up the stage for Twenty One Pilots to come on. At around 8:10pm, the band came on. I was able to get a video of the intro and them coming on, as well as many other pictures and videos from throughout the concert.
The atmosphere grew bigger throughout the show, the energy given off on stage was passing on to everyone standing, even in the seating areas. After one song in particular, the whole area went dark, however everyone turned on their flashlights and lit up the arena, they then all started singing while Tyler got back on to stage and in to position after running to the other end of the standing area and climbing up a small scaffolding tower.
It came to the last song, which is the most extravagant part of the show. At the near end of the song, they put two drums onto the crowd, along with a platform the fans hold up for Tyler and Josh to stand on. Tyler and Josh make their way up to the drums, as soon as they start hitting the drums to the beat, confetti fell from the ceiling and on to the crowd. Everybody was taking in this moment and the atmosphere at this point was amazing.
When the show had finished, the band went off stage and the lights in the arena came back on, everyone still had the buzz from the concert, even when they got out of the arena, despite the rain.
I managed to get a couple bits of confetti from a friend of a friend who was standing, this is now being displayed in a frame, along with my vinyl, ticket, wristband from the signing and a couple other bits.
I edited my favourite images that I took after I got home, I then had them printed on to photo paper, so I could put them on the wall alongside my frame and posters of the band.
As well as attending the concert, on February 27, 2019, I travelled to Birmingham for a signing with the band. Even though it took about 3 hours to drive there, I managed to get in line within the first 100 to go in. The build up at the back of the line to being in the shop queuing was an experience I never knew I would have. As I got around the corner and saw them at the table, along with everyone else, the atmosphere was so positive. It was only a quick in and out job, however it was the best experience I could have ever had. We decided to stay behind after I got the art card signed (which is also in my frame), I got a clip of the band leaving and saying goodbye to us all, I also got a few pictures from the queue outside to inside, as well as a couple of the band themselves. As we weren’t allowed cameras while we met them, I wasn’t able to get any of them close.
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