On the night of September 30, 2025, over 25,000 members of the skeleton clique united in Hartford, Connecticut, to experience “The Clancy Tour: Breach,” the extended second U.S. leg of the original Clancy tour headlined by Twenty One Pilots and supported by Dayglow.

As my friends and I walked into the venue and began to explore the merch tables, food trucks and other activities before Dayglow’s set, I admittedly felt underdressed for the occasion.

Sporting combat boots, black jeans and a vibrant red t-shirt, I was surrounded by fans in near-perfect recreations of frontman Tyler Joseph and duo-drummer Josh Dun’s outfits from previous tours, music videos, or in-jokes within the band’s fandom. The most consistent aspect of everyone’s outfits was bright red or yellow duct tape, which is synonymous with the band’s lore they have been constructing over the past ten years (more on that later). 

While searching for a spot on the lawn, I stumbled across The Bandito Camp, located in the far center of the arena, only accessible to those with lawn tickets. The camp, according to fans, serves as an interactive experience to extend the overarching story for fans in the lawn.

The camp featured a Hartford banner that fans were invited to sign (which Dun later carries to the stage before “Jumpsuit”), keepsakes, and a plethora of yellow duct tape, which answered the question of where everyone was getting it from. After settling on a spot near a fenced-off portion of the lawn, I chatted with other eager fans while exchanging trinkets and phone numbers with those around me.

Shortly after receiving a “Guns for Hands” bracelet from a teen in a red bishop’s robe, Dayglow took the stage. Dayglow, also known as Sloan Struble, is an indie-rock artist from Texas who is best known for his smash hits “Can I Call You Tonight” and “Hot Rod” off his debut album “Fuzzybrain,” which was released in 2019.

Dayglow started his set off with “Ricochet,” which comes off the remastered edition of his self-titled album “Dayglow (Superbloom)” which dropped this past summer. Following this, Struble played the aforementioned hits “Can I Call You Tonight” and “Hot Rod” along with other tracks from “Fuzzybrain,” like “Harmony House” and an original song for “The Minecraft Movie,” which got a laugh out of me.

Dayglow’s short but sweet set got the crowd’s energy up and ready for the main act. Although they weren’t on the set, I highly recommend “Every Little Thing I Say I Do” and “Listerine,” which were cut from tonight’s set.

Faster than you could say “we will try again,” the house lights dimmed, causing fans to erupt as their anticipation boiled over. The pit, seats and lawn were illuminated in red floodlights as the intro to “Overcompensate” began. As the jumbotrons flickered on in monochrome, yellow spotlights focused on Dun playing at his drumset, much to the crowd’s excitement.

Before we finished cheering, the spotlights lit up a piano on the right of the stage. In the blink of an eye, Joseph ran up on top of the piano, leapt off, and broke into song as pyrotechnics went off behind him. In this moment, it became obvious to me that this wasn’t just a concert; it was an interactive, elaborate experience from start to end. 

The duo rode through the beginning of the show with “The Contract,” “RAWFEAR” and “We Don’t Believe What’s On TV” off “Blurryface,” which made me a bit emotional to hear live since it was my favorite song in middle school.

Before “Tear in My Heart,” Joseph proclaimed, “This [show] is going to be a good one, I can feel it in my bones.” For the bridge of “Tear in My Heart,” Joseph and Dun split the audience in two, challenging each to see who could sing the bridge louder. I’m proud to say that Dun’s side (the side I was on) was the champion. “Who knew the drummer and his side could sing?” Joseph added, following his loss.

Alongside killer visuals and stage effects like confetti, CO2 machines, and pyrotechnics, Twenty One Pilots continued through their set with fan favorites “Backslide,” “Lane Boy,” “Shy Away,” “Next Semester” and “Heathens” from the 2016 film “Suicide Squad.”

To my amusement, the crowd screamed “ROBLOX! Hands up, hands up! Sway, sway, sway,” along with Tyler in reference to an online Roblox performance from 2021 that has recently resurfaced on TikTok.

In a move that caught me totally by surprise, Dun and Joseph exited the main stage and began walking through the crowd while performing “Routines in the Night.” While this happened, the fenced-off portion of the lawn mentioned earlier was revealed to be a B-stage, which I was a couple of yards away from.

On the B-stage was a drum kit, black paint for the “Message Man” ceremony, and most notably, a car in the center. Once atop the B-stage, the duo played “Message Man,” “Pet Cheetah” and “Polarize”. My favorite part of the B-stage set was when the car in the center was set ablaze, with a tower of fire shooting out the roof to the beat of the music. They wrapped up the B-stage set by walking back to the mainstage while singing “Chlorine.” 

Back on the mainstage, they kept the hype going with “Jumpsuit,” ”Nico and the Niners,” “Heavydirtysoul” and “The Line,” which was written for season two of the animated series “Arcane: League of Legends,” released in 2024. The visuals during this song were incredible, consisting of an ever-expanding galaxy correlating with the scene “The Line” was played over in the television show.

Now seated at a piano, Joseph claimed the next song would be dedicated to the fire marshals of Hartford: “[they are] some of the most entitled, power-hungry fire marshals…what do they lack in their lives that they take it out on us. This next song is for them.” After this shoutout, he sang the intro to “Garbage,” which got roaring applause and laughter from the crowd.

At this point, we were nearing the end of the show. They wrapped things up with “Doubt,” “Tally,” “Ride,” which featured a young fan named Jase to sing the bridge, and “Drum Show.”

During “Drum Show,” fans hoisted Dun and a drumset atop a platform, dubbed ‘drum island’ by fans. WQAQ’s own Aleena Graveline was one of the lucky fans holding up the impromptu stage. This was another move to make new and old fans alike feel included and a part of the performance, made possible by the infectious energy Joseph and Dun bring to their concerts.

For the encore, they began by playing the entirety of the “City Walls” music video on the screen, which serves as the end to the decade-long story the band has crafted. The music video wrapped up a story of hope and ‘staying alive,’ a sentiment that has become synonymous with the band and their clique. Once the video concluded, they launched into a trifecta of classics to round out the set: “Guns for Hands,” “Stressed Out” and “Trees.”

”Trees” is traditionally performed last at every Twenty One Pilots concert, representing universal connection and understanding between the audience. The consistent repetition of “is anybody out there?” and “hello” represents calling out for a community and finding hope despite your struggles. This powerful song is my favorite from Twenty One Pilots, which made its final performance that much more impactful for me. 

As I walked off the lawn and towards the exit, thousands of other fans and I gushed about how incredible the performance was while clutching merchandise, confetti, and other trinkets scooped up during the show.

This was my first Twenty One Pilots show, and I hope it won’t be the last, because it was really something special that I would love to experience again. As Tyler Joseph put it, “We are Twenty One Pilots and so are you, until next time, peace.”