After bonding over their shared musical creativity, Joseph and Salih decided to form a band. Before their first performance, Joseph invited Thomas to join.
The trio named itself Twenty One Pilots and began playing a variety of venues around Columbus. The band became known for its attention-grabbing costumes and on-stage antics. Joseph’s mother helped promote the shows by giving away tickets outside of Ohio State.
Twenty One Pilots released its debut, self-titled album independently in 2009, recording from the basement of the house where its members lived at the time. The album peaked at number 139 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 115,000 copies.
Just two years later, in 2011, Thomas and Salih left the group to focus on school and work, respectively. Twenty One Pilots became a duo, with Joseph on vocals and Josh Dun on drums. The new Twenty One Pilots self-released its second album, Regional at Best, that July. Just a few months later, the band played its first sold-out show at Newport Music Hall, catching the attention of several record labels. The band then embarked on the Regional at Best Tour alongside the rock band Challenger, documenting the journey on YouTube.
In April 2012, Twenty One Pilots announced a deal with Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. The band released its first record under the label, an EP titled Three Songs, in July. The next month, the band joined Neon Trees and Walk the Moon on tour.
Twenty One Pilots’ third album dropped in January 2013. Vessel climbed to number 21 on the Billboard 200 charts and number 10 in the Alternative Albums Chart. The single, “Holding on to You,” became the band’s first charting single and reached number 11 on the Billboard Alternatives Songs charts.
Later that year, Twenty One Pilots joined Panic! at the Disco as a supporting act on Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock and Roll Arena Tour. The band continued to tour and play festivals throughout 2014.
In March 2015, Twenty One Pilots announced its upcoming album, Blurryface. The third single, “Stressed Out,” dropped that April. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the band’s biggest-selling single. The music video was also a hit, surpassing 2.5 billion views on YouTube.
Blurryface was released in May 2015 and became a breakout success. It was the band’s first number-one album, selling 134,000 copies in the first week. It’s also the first album ever to have every single track certified at least Gold by the RIAA. Blurryface won Top Rock Album at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Twenty One Pilots also took home the award for Top Rock Artist that year.
Twenty One Pilots’ popularity continued to surge throughout 2016. In June, the duo released “Heathens,” a song for the DC Comics film Suicide Squad. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This made Twenty One Pilots the third artist after The Beatles and Elvis Presley to have two Top 5 singles charting at the same time.
Since the success of Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots has released two more albums. Trench dropped in 2018, followed by Scaled and Icy in 2021. The latter is the band’s first album to feature Joseph’s younger brother Jay, who performs vocals on three tracks. Both albums were received positively by critics and fans alike. In 2022, Twenty One Pilots took the show on the road with The Icy Tour, to promote and support Scaled and Icy in North America.
Be sure to catch the band live on their newly announced Bandito world tour as well.
Led by Ben Gibbard (vocals/guitar), Death Cab for Cutie began as Gibbard's solo project, undertaken whilst studying at university in Washington, offering a break from his involvement in the power pop band Pinwheel. Gibbard recorded an album's worth of material in 1997, which eventually found release as a cassette, "You Can Play These Songs With Chords." The release found local popularity, with Gibbard deciding to expand the lineup into a full band. Death Cab for Cutie was then born, before signing to Seattle-based label, Barsuk Recrds, the following year.
Their debut album, "Something About Airplanes," was released in 1998, after which a short break ensued, with Gibbard becoming involved with the Postal Service. In 2000, new material arrived, in "We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes," with their third, "The Photo Album" appearing a year later, building a sizable following in the process. Their emotional yet hook-laden indie rock continued to find success, with 2003's "Transatlanticism" gaining critical praise and mainstream airplay on radio and television. Atlantic Records then snapped up the band, with Death Cab for Cutie signing a major label deal in 2004.
"Plans" became their major label debut, debuting at number four on the Billboard charts. The album eventually became certified Platinum, gaining three hit singles and a Grammy nomination by the end of the year. Continuing to tour and release well-received albums, Death Cab for Cutie became one of the most popular indie bands of the decade. After a short break, the band returned in 2011 with renewed focus, finding a number three album in "Codes and Keys." In 2012, Gibbard released his first solo album, "Former Lives," before his band began work on their eighth album, "Kintsugi," for a release of March 2015.
Twenty One Pilots is an indie rock band that hails from Columbus OH comprised of Tyler Joseph, singer, songwriter, piano & ukulele player, and drummer and Josh Dun, drummer extraordinaire. I first saw twenty one pilots on April 8, 2013 when they opened up for Neon Trees at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre PA.
I had no idea who they were and when they came out on stage in skeleton masks I was like WTF!, hence their fans are called the Skeleton Clique. After their set I went onto their web site as I found the music to be "different" and wanted to know more about them. It's really tough to classify the music as their songs contain bits of poppy & melancholy lyrics intertwind with soft rap in a melody that takes you on a roller-coaster ride, best example is Car Radio. So after reading their philosophy on the site, I became very intrigued as it is very cerebral.
What I truly like about twenty one pilots is the uplifting message Joseph provides at the beginning of every show such as "are you happy to be alive tonight" or "leave all your problems at the door". As I have said many times, when you go see twenty one pilots it's not just a concert it's an experience that Joseph & Dun make you feel a part of and after every show you can't wait for the next one, plus the crowd becomes like family.
My three favorite parts of their shows are when Dun (the drummer) plays his drums over the crowd on a platform held up by the crowd, when Dun does a back-flip off the piano and the finale, when both play a kettle drum on a platform over the crowd. What is truly unique about this duo is that after almost every show, Joseph & Dun will come out and meet their fans to take pictures or sign an autograph, provided they don't have to be somewhere early the next day or the weather is bad.
Just find Mike Gibson (a truly nice guy) their tour manager and ask if they will be out. Take it from a fan who has seen them 10 times over the past year, if you haven’t seen their show I highly recommend going at least once, but be prepared to get "hooked!"
Death Cab always brings the crowd to it's knees. Their sound has progressed in a more poppy way over the years, but it's the old nostalgic songs that they lean on in every show to connect with the audience and then ultimately, tear them open. On top of that, they sound a lot bigger and louder than you would expect from their albums.
There is always some sort of unique experience, too. Whether it's jamming out at the end of a random song for 15 minutes, bringing extra musicians or instruments on stage, or even by touring with a full experimental orchestra, DCFC shows are always memorable and powerful. Lastly, lead singer Ben Gibbard can really pluck at your heartstrings with a good acoustic set. If you want to feel something when you go to a show, DCFC won't let you down.