Why twenty one pilots will be using a live band on tour for the first time ever

Fresh from the announcement of their huge 2021/2022 Takeøver Tour, twenty one pilots have confirmed that, for the first time ever, they'll be joined on the road by a full backing band.

If you've seen any of the pair's pandemic activity over the past few months – from their incredible Scaled And Icy livestream, to a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – you'll have noticed that Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have been bolstered by the help of several live musicians: bassist Skyler Acord, keyboardist / guitarist Todd Gummerman, keyboardist and frequent collaborator Paul Meany, guitarist Dan Geraghty, trumpet player Jesse Blum, and back-up vocalists Kenyon Dixon and Danielle Withers. And now, speaking to Billboard, Tyler says they'll be coming on tour with them.

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"The truth is twenty one pilots as a band will always be Josh and Tyler," he says. "It will always be that, [but] there are moments for me as a frontman when we add different players at different moments for me to really lead that moment. It frees me up to really grab the moment by the horns and really lead that group or that crowd."

The frontman stresses that their shows won't be featuring these backing musicians the whole time, though: "It's not going to change the band," Tyler adds. "It will be just us at the beginning, then we'll bring them on for certain songs at certain moments to bring that energy, but then it's us again."

Catch twenty one pilots – and their live band – on the Takeøver Tour at the following:

September 2021

21 Denver Bluebird Theater
22 Denver Ogden Theatre
23 Denver Mission Ballroom
25 Denver Ball Arena
28 Los Angeles Troubadour
29 Los Angeles Wiltern
30 Los Angeles Greek Theatre

October 2021

2 Forum
12 Chicago Bottom Lounge
13 Chicago House Of Blues
14 Chicago Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
16 Chicago United Centre
18 Boston Paradise Rock Club
19 Boston House Of Blues
20 Boston Agganis Arena
23 Boston TD Garden
29 Columbus Nationwide Arena
30 Columbus Nationwide Arena

November 2021

2 Atlanta Center Stage
3 Atlanta Tabernacle
4 Atlanta Coca-Cola Roxy
6 Atlanta State Fram Arena

June 2022

21 London Camden Assembly
22 London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
23 London O2 Academy Brixton
25 London SSE Arena, Wembley

Tickets go on sale next Wednesday, June 23.

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