The Bandito Tour (stylized as THE BANDITØ TØUR) was the sixth concert tour by the American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, in support of their fifth studio album Trench (2018). The tour began at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on October 16, 2018, and concluded at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois on December 13, 2019. An additional tour date was scheduled for June 24, 2020, in Dublin, Ireland, before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background and promotion On July 11, 2018, Twenty One Pilots ended their hiatus by releasing two singles, "Jumpsuit" and "Nico and the Niners". The same day both their album, Trench, and its accompanying tour, The Bandito Tour, were announced. It was later revealed that indie rock musician Max Frost and electronic rock band Awolnation would join the band for the first North American leg of the tour. Due to overwhelming demand, the band added a second North American leg to their tour including shows in Canada, Mexico and the band's hometown, Columbus.
The band documented the tour through a series of videos including rehearsals for the tour, as well as clips from the tour itself.
Concert synopsis
The Bandito Tour is set in three parts: an opening on the "A-stage" followed by a performance on the "B-stage" and concludes with a second "A-stage" performance and an encore. The show begins with Josh Dun, alone on stage, his face obscured by a yellow bandana and holding a lit torch. As he sits down at the drums, Tyler Joseph rises from below the stage onto a burning car and begins singing "Jumpsuit" followed by "Levitate". During "Fairly Local", Joseph seemingly falls on stage, only to appear a few seconds later in the upper bowl before removing his ski mask. A brief interlude plays over the song "Today's Your Day (Whachagonedu?)" by Fatlip, showing the journey of Tyler's red beanie from many of the music videos supporting Blurryface. The beanie is then dropped down from the ceiling by a wire, and Tyler puts it on. The band then plays their breakthrough single, "Stressed Out", followed by "Heathens", on which Joseph plays a piano intro. The duo then plays "We Don't Believe What's on TV" and "The Judge", Joseph dressed in a floral kimono, before performing "Lane Boy" during which two masked men run on stage to shower the crowd with smoke. Joseph sings and walks across a suspended sky bridge to the b-stage while singing "Nico and the Niners".
Joseph sits down at the piano while Dun runs through the crowd to the b-stage to play "Neon Gravestones" before singing "Bandito" with the crowd. He then walks back on to the bridge singing "Pet Cheetah" and incites the crowd to jump around to the final drop. Dun then returns to the stage and battles himself on the drums, with the other Dun projected onto the screen. During "Holding On to You", Joseph raps the first verse held up by the front row of the crowd before Dun performs his trademark backflip off the piano. Joseph performs a soft piano intro that leads into "Cut My Lip." After singing "Ride", Joseph divides the crowd in half during "My Blood" to sing along to the falsetto chorus of the song. The band then performs "Morph", which is ended with Dun playing a miniature drumset held up by the crowd. Joseph climbs and stands on top of a narrow scaffolding tower during "Car Radio", before leaving the stage. They return for the encore, performing "Chlorine" while rising into the air on platforms. They then perform the final track off the tour's associated album "Leave the City" before singing the show's final song "Trees", as is traditional during their shows, and closing the song off on top of the audience playing drums as yellow confetti flies through the air.
Critical reception First North American leg Gab Ginsberg, writing for Billboard, called the show a "must-see" following the band's performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City, saying "From gravity-defying jumps and flips, to sprinting around and under the arena, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun continue to prove that they're one of the hardest-working — and most athletic — bands out there." Forbes' Steve Baltin also gave the tour a positive review following the band's performance at The Forum in Inglewood, calling the duo "such a vital band for rock", writing "The show ended, as it has for the past few years, with the moving "Trees," which involves the whole audience singing along. It's a powerful moment that encapsulates everything that makes Twenty One Pilots so special — the connection with the audience, the songs and the passion of everyone involved." Various local reviews were similarly positive.
Oceanian leg Mark Beresford of The Music gave the band's show at the RAC Arena in Perth a positive review, saying "this band is a live act who only care about one thing when performing, which is to outshine even the loftiest expectations, and based on the deafening screams from the Perth fans, they've nailed it." Stuff's Melanie Earley was similarly positive and said "Twenty One Pilots have helped to bring hope to an entire room full of people, and within there lies the real magic."
European leg Zoe Watson of Belfast Live gave the band's show at the SSE Arena full marks, hailing it as "one of the most exciting and exhilarating shows she had seen at the SSE." Following their show at the SSE Arena in London, Stevie Chick of The Guardian stated that the band delivered "their hook-studded songs and polymorphic pop with a showmanship that would impress even PT Barnum", and gave the show four stars. Elizabeth Aubrey gave the show the same score in her review for the Evening Standard, writing that "while occasionally the aesthetics could detract from the band's lyrical message, the ambition of their striking Bandito Tour impressed and was clearly adored by fans." Anna Smith of Gigwise praised the show, stating that "Tyler's voice exceeds expectations the whole show through, and Josh's seemingly inhuman ability to smash drums for 120 minutes straight allays any doubt that these guys have tricked their way to the top", and added that the band is "A truly phenomenal act deserving of such a committed, devoted fanbase." James Hall of The Daily Telegraph was more critical of the show, giving it three stars, stating that "anything goes in this streaming world" as "an evening that starts with a burning car can actually turn out to be a night of wholesome, fun and unthreatening entertainment."
Controversy Following the band's performance at the SSE Arena in Belfast on March 2, 2019, Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, a unionist political party, condemned the show for its "inappropriate" imagery, which included a burning car and the donning of a balaclava, due to the history of the Troubles. He stated that "balaclavas still speak loudly in Northern Ireland of the evils of terrorism, with many still struggling to cope with the devastation and murder wrought by balaclava-clad killers," and added that "we also have to bear in mind the age profile of probably an impressionable audience – that's another reason why this imagery was inappropriate." This prompted numerous fans of Twenty One Pilots to defend the band as "they should not compromise one stage of the tour to cater to Northern Ireland sensitivities."
Commercial performance According to Pollstar, in 2018, the first North American leg of the tour grossed $10.2 million in total, averaging 12,597 tickets sold and $929,070 per show. From the 6th to the 27th of February 2019, the tour grossed $6,676,182. The tour grossed $23.1 million during the first half of 2019, ranking at 30th place for that time period. The tour ranked at #36 on the Billboard 2019 Top Touring Artists and grossed $49.1 million in total, averaging 726,952 tickets sold. The tour ranked, respectively, at #47 and #55 at the Pollstar Top 2019 Worldwide and North American tours list.
Set lists
Shows +List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening acts, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue Date City Country Venue Opening acts Attendance RevenueNorth AmericaNorth American Boxscore 1: Nashville and Inglewood: Houston and Tacoma: Dallas: October 16, 2018 NashvilleUnited States Bridgestone ArenaAwolnationMax Frost 13,490 / 13,859 $987,875October 17, 2018ChicagoUnited Center rowspan="14" rowspan="14" October 19, 2018St. LouisEnterprise CenterOctober 20, 2018MilwaukeeFiserv ForumOctober 21, 2018Saint PaulXcel Energy CenterOctober 23, 2018ClevelandQuicken Loans ArenaOctober 24, 2018DetroitLittle Caesars ArenaOctober 26, 2018BostonTD GardenOctober 27, 2018UniondaleNassau ColiseumOctober 28, 2018PhiladelphiaWells Fargo CenterOctober 30, 2018New York CityMadison Square GardenOctober 31, 2018Washington, D.C.Capital One ArenaNovember 2, 2018AtlantaState Farm ArenaNovember 3, 2018TampaAmalie ArenaNovember 4, 2018SunriseBB&T CenterNovember 6, 2018HoustonToyota Center11,503 / 11,503$825,217November 7, 2018DallasAmerican Airlines Center12,487 / 13,168$845,836November 9, 2018PhoenixTalking Stick Resort ArenaNovember 10, 2018InglewoodThe Forum14,464 / 14,464$1,340,387November 11, 2018OaklandOracle Arenarowspan="3" rowspan="3" November 13, 2018Salt Lake CityVivint Smart Home ArenaNovember 15, 2018PortlandModa CenterNovember 16, 2018TacomaTacoma Dome19,613 / 19,613$1,216,541November 17, 2018BoiseTaco Bell Arenarowspan="4" rowspan="4" November 19, 2018DenverPepsi CenterNovember 20, 2018LincolnPinnacle Bank ArenaNovember 21, 2018Kansas CitySprint CenterOceaniaOceanian Box score: Sydney: December 7, 2018PerthAustraliaRAC ArenaDraphtrowspan="3" rowspan="3" December 10, 2018AdelaideAdelaide Entertainment CentreDecember 13, 2018MelbourneRod Laver ArenaDecember 16, 2018SydneyQudos Bank Arena9,722 / 10,362$784,315December 18, 2018BrisbaneBrisbane Entertainment Centrerowspan="2" rowspan="2" December 21, 2018AucklandNew ZealandSpark ArenaEuropeEuropean Box score: Cologne: Paris: London: January 30, 2019KyivUkrainePalace of Sports rowspan="3" rowspan="15" rowspan="15" February 2, 2019MoscowRussiaVTB ArenaFebruary 4, 2019Saint PetersburgIce PalaceFebruary 6, 2019HelsinkiFinlandHartwall ArenaThe RegrettesFebruary 8, 2019StockholmSwedenAvicii ArenaFebruary 9, 2019OsloNorwayTelenor ArenaFebruary 11, 2019CopenhagenDenmarkRoyal ArenaFebruary 12, 2019HamburgGermanyBarclaycard ArenaFebruary 14, 2019BerlinMercedes-Benz ArenaFebruary 15, 2019ŁódźPolandAtlas ArenaFebruary 16, 2019PragueCzech RepublicO2 ArenaFebruary 17, 2019ViennaAustriaWiener StadthalleFebruary 21, 2019BolognaItalyUnipol ArenaFebruary 23, 2019ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionFebruary 24, 2019StuttgartGermanyHanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleFebruary 25, 2019CologneLanxess Arena15,026 / 15,026$943,832February 27, 2019BirminghamEnglandResorts World Arena rowspan="5" rowspan="5" March 1, 2019DublinIreland3ArenaMarch 2, 2019BelfastNorthern IrelandSSE ArenaMarch 4, 2019GlasgowScotlandThe SSE HydroMarch 5, 2019ManchesterEnglandManchester ArenaMarch 7, 2019LondonWembley Arena31,347 / 31,347$1,934,480March 8, 2019March 9, 2019March 11, 2019ParisFranceAccor Hotels Arena 15,285 / 15,900 $843,400March 12, 2019AmsterdamNetherlandsZiggo Dome rowspan="5" rowspan="5" March 13, 2019BrusselsBelgiumPalais 12March 15, 2019BilbaoSpainBizkaia ArenaMarch 16, 2019MadridWiZink CenterMarch 17, 2019LisbonPortugalAltice ArenaNorth America - Leg 2North American Boxscore: London: Montreal: Mexico City: New Orleans: Orlando and Austin: Brooklyn: