Authors of the decade's album and stars of live shows with a huge army of fans. Everything you need to know about the headliner of Atlas Weekend 2020

Twenty One Pilots are returning to Ukraine.

On Thursday evening, the name of the second headliner of Atlas Weekend 2020 became known — it will be the American group Twenty One Pilots. This will be the 2nd visit to Ukraine by one of the most popular bands of today — their debut concert took place in Kyiv this winter.

Who are Twenty One Pilots?

A Grammy in 2017 for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, billions of YouTube plays, and Billboard's Album of the Decade — all of this belongs to the American duo from Ohio. Over the course of 10 years, the group, made up of 31-year-old Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, has achieved all of this.

During this time they have released 5 albums, the last 2 of which brought them incredible fame. Blurryface, released in spring 2015, received high praise from Billboard, the following year brought Heathens, a soundtrack to Suicide Squad that has already become cult, and in 2018 Trench finally won over the last skeptical fans.

How popular are they?

From October 2018 to July 2020 — that is how long the Bandito Tour of the pilots lasted in support of the Trench album. Over the course of the tour, they traveled across America, Europe and Australia, played at nearly all of the world's biggest festivals, and gave almost 123 concerts.

Their popularity is easy to gauge in Ukraine as well: tickets for the group's debut concert at the capital's Palace of Sports, held in January this year, sold out 2.5 months before it took place. Their second visit is unlikely to be met with any less enthusiasm.

What do people love them for?

Music

Loud drums and bass guitar — check. Rap — also check. Ukulele playing in Hawaiian shirts — yes, please. Electronics and synthesizers — plenty. Piano ballads — those too. Screaming at full strain — and that as well!

In an era when all musical boundaries are completely erased, Twenty One Pilots are one of the few bands that have managed to successfully combine almost all of the popular genres that exist.

Live performances

There are only two of the pilots, and given their musical diversity and richness, this makes performances without a lot of playback impossible. For this they are heavily criticized. But their live shows are genuinely a performance.

Acrobatic dancing on a burning car, platforms with performers rising in turn, illusion tricks with a fall in one place and an appearance in another, light shows, and the drum kit and drummer being carried out onto the hands of the audience — over roughly two hours on stage, these guys give their all and work well with the crowd.

Their own legend

Through the voice and thoughts of Tyler Joseph, Twenty One Pilots often reflect on life's hardships and raise themes of depression, anxiety and suicide, but beyond that they skillfully create a fictional universe, the development of which devoted fans follow closely not only through lyrics but also through music videos. There is a main character named Clancy and a fictional city of Dema with nine bishops led by Nico. Add a heap of symbolism, for example hands and necks painted black, or the now-signature yellow color — and that is the formula for success.

Vasyl Obaraz