Twenty One Pilots Kick-Off ‘The Clancy Tour: Breach’ Outing: Every Song From the First Show

Twenty One Pilots kicked off their The Clancy Tour: Breach world tour at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium on Thursday night (Sept. 18), treating their Skeleton Clique die-hards to a two-plus hour blow-out run through their catalog, including the live debut of five songs from their just-released eighth studio album, Breach.

Though the LP is barely a week old, you’d never know it from the cord-straining howls that greeted such instant favorites as “The Contract”, “Garbage,” “City Walls” and a song that is sure to be a forever staple from now on, the thunderous “Drum Show.” As you’d expect from the title, that one was a thoroughly thumping showcase for drummer Josh Dun, who made his vocal debut during the song’s sweet breakdown as the crowd screamed in delight.

Touching on fan favorites and some deep cuts for those who know, the rare concert at Cincinnati’s MLS soccer stadium was heavy on the lore-soaked Blurryface saga, which kicked off with 2015’s Blurryface album, and continued on subsequent LPs Trench (2018), Clancy (2024) and Breach, which dropped last Friday, Sept. 12.

Singer Tyler Joseph joked near the end that he hated his longtime rival major league soccer club FC Cincinnati, which matches up with his beloved Columbus Crew every year for a fierce “Hell Is Real” series of intra-state grudge matches. But when the concert went over curfew and he said city leaders gave him the go-ahead to play the duo’s heart-bursting traditional finale “Trees” after 11 p.m., well, he made an exception for his now “second-favorite” Ohio town.

As usual, the Clique came dressed to play, with a huge portion of the 21,000 in attendance dressed in their 21P finest. From throats and hands coated in the black paint that Joseph has been sporting throughout the decade-long Blurryface project, to homemade costumes riffing on the characters from the knotty tale, including furry Neds in honor of the alien-like creature form the “Chlorine” video, the show was as much in the stands as on stage.

The fan-service set list reached back to the duo’s 2011 sophomore album, Regional at Best, for another encore standard, the emotional “Guns For Hands,” and included some absolute chest-throbbing bangers such as “Lane Boy,” “Jumpsuit” and the explosive “Heavydirtysoul,” during which two 50-foot sound towers in the middle of the stadium floor blasted massive columns of pyro into the humid night sky.

Having just wrapped the world outing in support of Clancy in May in London, the five-month lay-off was seemingly enough for Joseph and Dun to recharge their batteries for the ambitious Breach outing, which moves on to two shows in Toronto on Saturday (Sept. 20) and Sunday (Sept. 21).

From there it will make its way across the Midwest, East Coast and South to Florida, Alabama and Georgia next month. With indie pop opening act Dayglow in tow, 21P will continue their march across the country through Arkansas and Texas before winding down this initial run with a series of shows in Chula Vista and Los Angeles, California, concluding with the second of two gigs at BMO Stadium in L.A. on Oct. 26.

Check out the Breach tour setlist, as played at the Thursday night TQL Stadium kickoff, below.