Twenty One Pilots’ new album Breach is seen by many as a love letter to their fans, and “The Clancy Tour: Breach” can be put right up there with it as duo Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun take us through the cycles of their musical success. It’s not every day you release an album and have it fly to #1 on the Billboard charts shortly after. But that’s what happened with Breach, and that’s what happened with the band’s breakout album Blurryface ten years ago in 2015. Last weekend, they brought their show to the Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in New York.
It’s shows like these where I toe the line between being a fan and a journalist, because there really is no better feeling than getting to capture the magic of those first three songs. Seeing this era evolve over the past year and a half has been a true gift for myself and other fans, for whom “Clancy” was previously just a faceless character in a story told by the band over the last ten years. An allegory for mental health, fans immersed themselves in the land of Dema as protagonist Clancy (portrayed by Tyler Joseph) fought against the city’s corrupted religion and leaders known as bishops. The album Clancy, released in May of 2024, was the beginning of the end of this story and left us on a cliffhanger with its final track. Breach officially brings the lore to an end with its opening track “City Walls,” bringing us back to the idea of cycles and showing us Clancy becoming a bishop himself as an attempt to take control of his mental health and try to do better.
It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at the beach, but anyone coming to the venue unaware of the unofficial dress code may have been slightly blindsided by fans’ dedication to dressing up for the show. Fans came fully costumed in red and black, or in camouflage with yellow tape. Some were in banana suits, and others did their best Clancy and Torchbearer (Josh Dun’s lore character) cosplays as the line to get in grew and grew throughout the afternoon before doors finally opened.
The lights went down for an intro video comprised of clips from the band’s music videos related to their storytelling before Tyler Joseph jumped off his piano to go into the opening track “Overcompensate.” New songs “The Contract” and “RAWFEAR” followed, making for a high energy opening to the show. Fans waiting in line earlier in the day sang “We Don’t Believe What’s On TV” over a video played on the screens before Joseph and Dun were back to finish up the song themselves. “Tear in My Heart” saw a battle between “Tyler’s side” and “Josh’s side” for who could sing along to the bridge the loudest. After “Backslide” and a real throwback to “Lane Boy” (crowd stand and smoke gun dudes included), we went back to back to back with “Shy Away,” “Heathens,” and “Next Semester,” with each transitioning flawlessly into the next.
Next up was “Routines in the Night,” where both Joseph and Dun made their way to a b-stage at the back of the pit. Previous dates saw a burning car on this stage, but sadly there wasn’t enough room at this venue to fit it. After “Routines in the Night” it was time for a bunch of throwbacks, starting off with “Message Man” off of Blurryface. There was also the return of what fans call the “Message Man ritual,” which has Tyler Joseph re-painting his hands and part of his neck with the black paint he wears during shows. We then heard part of “Pet Cheetah” and “Polarize” before Joseph started making his way back to the stage singing “Chlorine,” stopping to dance with some fans along the way.
The next part of the set included some heavier songs like “Jumpsuit” and “Heavydirtysoul” that led into a beautiful performance of “The Line,” which did a wonderful job of showcasing Joseph’s vocals. “Garbage,” a new song, was up next, where Joseph was able to talk to the crowd a bit and thank them for listening to the band for all these years. There was a bit of a vibe change for “Doubt” which had Joseph in a skull mask and Dun in a ski mask among some dark strobe lighting. “Tally” hyped up the crowd before “Ride,” where the band invited up a young fan to sing with them. “Drum Show” closed out the main set, featuring Josh Dun on vocals for the bridge and a drum solo all the way up in the stadium seating at the end of the song.
The encore began with “City Walls” played against the backdrop of the music video released for the song. This led into “Guns for Hands” and, of course, a reimagined version of “Stressed Out.” Before the last song, which has Joseph and Dun standing on top of the crowd on platforms with drums, Joseph took time to talk to the crowd once more, joking about how its not every day that your crew has to have discussions about when high tide is. “Trees” ended the set, before the duo bid farewell to the crowd with the famous line “We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you.”
As someone who was fortunate enough to see both the original “Clancy Tour” and now its “Breach” counterpart a handful of times, it’s hard to come up with a lot of criticisms of the show. Though, maybe a common one going around is the lack of songs from Breach and Clancy on the setlist despite the tour’s name. While Joseph explains that the band want to make sure they play all of the songs that fans “originally fell in love with,” Breach has very clearly become an immediate favorite, especially with tracks like “Downstairs,” which revives a 14-year-old demo, and “Center Mass,” which samples a handful of viral moments from fans from the previous tour. Fan-favorite “Tally” made its debut a few shows into the tour, and it has clearly become a highlight of the show.
With nine songs from Blurryface on the setlist, only four from Clancy and five from Breach, perhaps this tour should also be seen as a nod to the ten year anniversary of the band’s breakout album. It even has them playing many of the same (slightly strange) outdoor venues they played on the “Emotional Roadshow” tour back in 2015. There’s also a lot of walking around the venue. Like, a lot of walking. But what other band puts a bunch of extra stages throughout all different sections of the crowd to include as many people as possible? The way that Twenty One Pilots make an effort to include every single person in the venue is truly something special, and I hope it continues for years to come.
Twenty One Pilots will be playing a handful of festivals next summer, many of which will be overseas in Europe. After that, they’ve announced that they don’t currently have any concrete plans for a tour anytime soon. Josh Dun is about to become a father with his wife Debby Ryan, and both he and Joseph have talked about wanting to take some time away to be with their families. Though seeing this show, I don’t think fans need to worry about a breakup or a really long break. Live shows are what make this band who they are, and I don’t see either of them wanting to give up that connection with fans anytime soon.
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