Twenty One Pilots Headline 97x Next Big Thing

December 5th, 2015. This day had been circled on my calendar for the past 3 months. The annual 97x Next Big Thing. This 1-day festival is always one of my favorite days of the year and has a great track record for booking young bands before they break through. (2014 full review here) A prime example was this year's headliner - Twenty One Pilots. The Columbus, Ohio duo started this very show back in 2012. This year they closed things out. 

In the past three years the transformation for Twenty One Pilots has been huge. They went from a hard working club band that couldn't sell out the Ritz Theatre to one of the most demanded bands in music. They're the most voted on artist on the 97x app and were the perfect headliner given their prior experience playing shows in the Tampa Bay area. 

The venue for Next Big Thing had to be increased to the 20,000 capacity Amphitheater in Tampa to match demand. All of the seating was sold out within a few days and the lawn eventually sold out weeks before the show. Basically...expectations and anticipation was at an all time high.  

When the day finally arrived, here is who I was able to see: Glass Animals, Saint Motel, X Ambassadors, Robert Delong, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, The Neighbourhood, Walk the Moon, Of Monsters and Men, and of course Twenty One Pilots. Here is the review. 

Out of the early bands on the day, I'll give the best credit to Saint Motel. The Los Angeles based indie pop band has a unique sound, most credited to their saxophone use. Lead single 'My Type' helped them have a breakthrough year. They also have great contributing singles in 'Cold Cold Man,' 'Benny Goodman' and 'Puzzle Pieces.' They remind me a bit of Capital Cities, and definitely have a bit of a different sound to help them breakthrough the alternative seen. I'd love to see them in a club gig. Look for these guys to release a full length album in 2016.

The other stand out act from the day time bands was the incredibly talented Robert Delong. I've seen Delong once before, opening up for the Pilots back in 2013, and man has this guy come a long way. He has had two radio singles this year - 'Long Way Down' and 'Don't Wait Up.' By hearing these songs on the radio, you wouldn't expect that Delong is in fact a one man band. He plays keyboard, drums, some kind of video game controller, and everything in between. He kind of combines the alternative and electronic genres and is very fun to watch on stage. I gotta see this guy in a club next year. He was awesome!




If it were not for the eventual headliners, 97xNBT would have been won by fellow Ohio based group Walk the Moon. I reviewed a club show by this pop-alternative favorite earlier in the year, and was excited to see them again in a festival setting. Right from the start they came out with crazy energy, opening with 'Jenny' off their self titled debut album.

Of course, the album that's brought them to their current level of high popularity is sophomore effort Talking is Hard. This is one of my favorite albums on the year, and Walk the Moon performed 5 tunes off it, including 'Different Colors' which fit very appropriately as fans raised their various colored thunder sticks. Between hit single 'Shut Up and Dance' and greatest song 'Anna Sun' to close the set, these guys showed they could headline this festival one day. Look for them to return in two years.




Poor Of Monsters and Men probably had the worst time slot of the day. They were stuck in between the high energy Walk the Moon and the much anticipated headliner - Twenty One Pilots. Therefore, it was tough for the Icelandic indie rockers to match the excitement of those two. The large band sounded good, but were very mellow, losing the crowds attention. These guys would be great in a club, but unfortunately, Next Big Thing wasn't their best performance.

The 20,000 crowd was still going strong at 9:45 when Twenty One Pilots took the stage. I've had the pleasure of seeing these guys two times already in 2015, (reviews here and here) so I was familiar with the opening of the set.

Current single 'Heavydirtysoul' set the tone well for the Pilots performance. I've always thought of these guys more as entertainers rather than your standard band. Lead singer Tyler Joseph raps the verses from a suspended microphone while Josh Dun provides the rhythm on drums. Joseph then stepped away from the mic for the chorus, giving Tampa a chance to show off how well they know the lyrics.

For those unfamiliar with the Pilots, some aspects of the set may seem strange. Sure, the skeleton suits worn by the band members come off as a bit odd in the Florida heat. And the Elvis cover thrown in the middle of the set might have been unexpected. But for the Tampa 'skeleton clique,' they were prepared and ready. I was consistently impressed with how well the crowd knew the music. Everyone knew each rap verse of 'Migraine,' and screamed the chorus with Joseph on 'Holding on to You.'

Per usual, set highlights were the visual aspects displayed by the Pilots. Josh Dun used a separate drum set that got pushed on top of the crowd during 'Ride.' Joseph departed into the pit and climbed a lone piece of truss to sing the final chorus of 'Car Radio.' And of course, nothing topped the expected encore of 'Trees.' Both members of this talented duo were in the pit for the final notes of the evening, closing the show with their signature drum off.

As I said, Twenty One Pilots have come a long way in three years. And I'd like to think that they were reminded of that on this night. Joseph seemed very genuine thanking 97x and the boys seemed a bit taken back as they gave their bows following 'Trees.' It was definitely my favorite 97x show of all time. Man...97x has their work cut out for them next year. I don't know how they're going to top this.



Twenty One Pilots Setlist:

1. Heavydirtysoul
2. Stressed Out
3. Guns for Hands
4. Migraine
5. Polarize
6. We Don't Believe What's on TV (House of Gold intro)
7. Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover)
8. Lane Boy
9. Holding on to You
10. Ride
11. Tear in My Heart
12. Car Radio

Encore:
13. Trees