Twenty One Pilots Rock Hersheypark Stadium – Concert Recap & Review

A light rain was not nearly enough to spoil the Twenty One Pilots concert at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was a show to remember for the almost thirty thousand people who showed up and packed the stadium, giving it their all.

Twenty One Pilots, the chart-topping Columbus, Ohio-based alternative duo of singer/multi-instrumentalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, are on what I could describe only as a “victory lap.” They’re coming off their second album in two years, Breach, which hit #1 on the Billboard charts – their second number one after 2015’s Blurryface. The album concludes a ten-year story that fittingly began with Blurryface.

The story, known affectionately to fans as “the lore” or “the Dema story,” starts out following the character, Blurryface. In the 2018 follow-up Trench, it transitions to the character Clancy and the city of Dema, located on the continent of Trench. The city is ruled over by the Nine Bishops, of which Blurryface is one of them. I won’t get too much into the story – that’s not the focus here – but the story is continued in 2021’s Scaled and Icy, 2024’s Clancy, and finally, 2025’s Breach. Here’s a good explanation of the story here, it’s crazy.

Their aforementioned “victory lap” is the Breach leg of their recent Clancy World Tour. This fall, they’re playing outdoor amphitheaters and stadiums across the country, and Hersheypark Stadium was one of them.

The Concert

I attended the concert with my best friend, Elliott, and my mom. We’ve all been Twenty One Pilots fans for a while – Elliott for the longest (since the Blurryface era). Actually, it was our second time seeing the Pilots together; we went to their Clancy World Tour concert in Newark last year. We sat towards the back, which you’d think would be miserable, but it was anything but. As we arrived, ushers around the stadium handed out LED wristbands, saying to take the tabs out to activate the lights during the show. I was very happy about this: I’d never experienced this before, and was excited to see what they’d do with the lights.

As a light rain began, the sun set behind us and opener Dayglow took the stage. Dayglow is the indie pop project of singer-songwriter Sloan Struble, and he put on a fun show. My mom stole my flannel and put it over her head to avoid the rain; Elliott and I didn’t mind it. 

Two minutes before the Pilots took the stage, they built anticipation with a line from Clancy’s “Midwest Indigo” – “What’s your ETA? / Two minutes.” The whole crowd cheered. Elliott said he couldn’t breathe from excitement. Neither could I.

At 8:45 p.m., the lights dimmed and turned red, and the song “Overcompensate,” one of my favorites of theirs, began. Tyler Joseph entered the stage dramatically by jumping over the piano on stage – much to everyone’s delight – and began singing.

From “Overcompensate,” they transitioned into the similarly fast-paced “The Contract” from Breach, then slowed it down with “RAWFEAR” – also from Breach. During “RAWFEAR,” the whole crowd raised their hands as the LED wristbands lit up in a fun crowd engagement moment.

Then came Elliott’s favorite moment: “We Don’t Believe What’s on TV” from Blurryface. Interestingly, we’d heard that song in a Five Guys on the drive down, and it happens to be Elliott’s favorite song from that album. The band introduced it with a lovely fan video of people outside the stadium singing it earlier in the day.

From that, they went into their Blurryface hit “Tear In My Heart,” then Clancy’s “Backslide.” During “Lane Boy,” also off Blurryface (sensing a theme?) Tyler Joseph had the crowd get down low in a shockwave, then jump up and dance during the song’s climax. The LED wristbands lit up frenetically. There was nothing like it.

The next major highlight came three songs later (after “Shy Away,” “Heathens,” and “Next Semester”). During Clancy’s “Routines In The Night,” Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun walked to a second stage (the B-stage) in the middle of the stadium.  On that stage, they set an old car on fire (a reference to “Heavydirtysoul” and its music video) and performed a mashup of “Message Man” and “Pet Cheetah” alongside “Polarize.” Tyler went back to the main stage during Trench’s hit “Chlorine” and danced with a group of people dressed as Ned, a cute, original animal/creature from the band’s lore.

The main stage’s return was far from uneventful: the band transitioned right into their heavy song “Jumpsuit” from Trench. They revealed a set piece, a giant recreation of the city of Dema, on the stage. Then came “Nico and the Niners,” which transitioned right into “Heavydirtysoul.” Neither Elliott or I could get that song’s intro rap right. (I’m surprised anyone can do that.) During the song’s instrumental bridge, some of the heavy drum beats were punctuated with massive pyrotechnics coming from towers around the stadium. It was – for lack of a better word – amazing.

Then, the band went into “The Line,” a song from the animated series Arcane that became a fan-favorite thanks to Tyler Joseph’s iconic performance at The Game Awards last year. I’ve been hoping they’d play that song. They did it justice: Tyler did the same scream he did at The Game Awards, which made me, Elliott, and my mom incredibly happy.

Then came Breach’s “Garbage” – were they trying to make me cry? – into the demo version of their Blurryface song “Doubt” which had gone viral on TikTok earlier in the year, prompting a formal release from the band.

After “Doubt (demo),” Tyler Joseph gave a speech about how proud he was of the fans for their #1 album, saying: “To be able to release a new record and for it to go #1 on Billboard [...] Thank you so much for supporting us in that way.” He treated us in Hershey to a live debut of their song “Tally” from Breach, which had become a beloved song among their fans.

Then came their smash hit “Ride” which is always a wholesome moment in their concerts. Tyler Joseph selects a young fan – this time a young girl named Elizabeth – to come and sing the song’s bridge. It always makes me happy to see artists engage with their fans in this way.

To end the main set, they performed Breach’s “Drum Show,” featuring vocals from Josh Dun himself (just like on the actual song). From there, the venue went dark, the band disappeared, and we all waited for the encore singing Breach’s “Downstairs.”

The encore opened with “City Walls,” the opener of Breach – and a song nothing short of epic. On the screens, they played the song’s music video, which cost $1 million, making it one of the most expensive music videos of all time.

Then came “Guns For Hands,” a song I always love when they play live. During it, everyone in the pit jumps up and down, and it’s a very surreal thing to see.

Then came their mega-hit “Stressed Out” off Blurryface. I don’t have much to say about the song; it’s not really my favorite of theirs, but they had some cool visuals on the screen.

After that, we were down to our final song of the show. Since they started, they’ve always closed with the song “Trees” at every show. For “Trees,” the band has the people in the pit move back several steps and reveal a giant red circle painted on the ground. From there, a crew sets up two platforms in the middle of the circle – one for Tyler Joseph and one for Josh Dun. They perform the song as usual, then bring up giant drums to bang on during the outro. 

At the end of the song, fireworks and confetti lit up the night, to everyone’s surprise and delight. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun posed for a picture with the fans. Joseph said, as usual: “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.” They walked off stage, the lights came on, and Clancy’s fan-favorite “Lavish” piped through the speakers as we walked out, prepared to sit in traffic.

Actual Thoughts on the Concert

As someone who’s seen Twenty One Pilots before, I had a baseline to compare it on. In all honesty, they do so much better outdoors in a larger crowd. Since they’re outside, they get more liberty with fireworks and pyrotechnics, which enhances the experience to a nearly-transcendental experience (I am not exaggerating!). My mom isn’t a repeat concert-goer, neither am I or Elliott, but we all agree that we will always go see Twenty One Pilots when they’re playing somewhere nearby.

In terms of the setlist, I liked it, but I do wish they’d have played more songs from Breach (5 songs) and less songs from Blurryface (9 songs). Blurryface was ten years ago, and while I’m sure they played many songs from it to commemorate its anniversary, it is still the Breach tour.

On an overall level, though, this was the better concert of the two Twenty One Pilots concerts that I have seen. It’s also the biggest crowd I’ve ever been in, with almost 30,000 people – the second biggest I’ve been in was 25,000 for Hozier in Camden, New Jersey this summer. The crowd and Hersheypark Stadium staff were both incredibly kind – Twenty One Pilots fans are always great people, and the people at the venue were incredibly helpful and understanding. Elliott, who had seen Green Day last year – also at Hersheypark Stadium (I’m jealous) – agreed with me.

In all, I will always go see Twenty One Pilots whenever they tour somewhere near me. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take Elliott with me, since he’s just as much of a fan as me, if not more.

Overall, it was a near-perfect concert. I think it needed more songs from Breach and maybe less from Blurryface, but considering it’s their last tour for a while, maybe it’s a good idea that they played some fan favorites and classics. The band has earned a well-deserved break, and I hope they spend it well. I know I will go see them whenever they come around next.