Ohio Stadium has hosted bigger stars. None put on a show like Twenty One Pilots
Ohio Stadium has hosted bigger stars. None put on a show like Twenty One Pilots
Jordan Laird, Columbus DispatchSun, October 18, 2026 at 12:06 PM UTC
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A sold-out Ohio Stadium became a love letter to Columbus as Twenty One Pilots came home. Read our review.
After Twenty One Pilots spent months building anticipation for the biggest show of their career, the Columbus duo proved it was more than capable of headlining at Ohio Stadium.
Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph, who got their start in intimate local venues like The Basement, have long demonstrated they can command arenas. Despite having just two band members, the band and their production crew engage large crowds, including at Nationwide Arena in 2024, with pyrotechnics, lights, costumes, crowd surfing, stunts and a signature blend of alt rock and hip-hop.
But an open-air venue the size of the Horseshoe is another challenge. The venue demands a production scaled to reach the upper deck and a performance that makes all those Skeleton Clique members, many of whom flew in from around the world, feel like they got their money's worth.
The band delivered and then some.
And it wasn't just the gimmick of the light-up wristbands that have gained popularity at concerts turning the audience into part of the light show. Over the course of an impressively long three-hour set, the headline act featured three different stages, a drone light show, fireworks and heartfelt performances.
The concert was a love letter to both the band's hometown and to the dedicated fans who know all its lore and deep-cuts.
Among the many homecoming tributes, Dun, as his torchbearer persona, carried a flag with the word 'Columbus' on it alongside the signature torch. But the biggest tribute to the location of the concert came when the Ohio State Marching Band drum line joined the duo on stage to perform The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army." For a Columbus fan, it was special to see perhaps the two most famous musical groups from the city collaborate (and on literal home turf).
But even if the significance of a TBDBITL guest appearance was lost on out-of-town fans who made the pilgrimage to Columbus, there were plenty of moments meant to reward hardcore fans. For one, the band surprised attendees by performing "At the Risk of Feeling Dumb" live for the first time. The 2024 song is a fan favorite but never really topped the charts.
For longtime Skeleton Clique members, Dun and Joseph resurrected their Halloween Store skeleton hoodies for one of their many costume changes.
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Overall, the concert was theatrical, exhilarating and action-packed. But there were also sincere and earnest moments. Hearing a packed Horseshoe sing the vocalizations from "Next Semester" was evocative of a religious experience.
But the performers that were once most known for accepting their first Grammy award in their underwear also didn't take themselves too seriously. At one point, Dun crowd surfed with his drum set about 50 yards from the middle stage to the main stage. It was impressive. But then the song ended and he was maybe halfway there, so Dun had to riff and Joseph cracked jokes about how everyone in the pit wanted to touch his boy.
The pair poked fun at themselves repeatedly in multiple prerecorded videos and a reoccurring bit where they pretended to be sports news journalists reporting on the band. In one man-on-the-street video, Dun and Joseph asked Ohioans who clearly didn't recognize them to name the most famous band from Ohio or think of an act that could sell out Ohio Stadium. None of them mentioned Twenty One Pilots.
The fake sportscast bits were more than a little weird and felt disconnected from the rest of the concert. But Twenty One Pilots is weird.
The Horseshoe is so massive that usually only the most commercially-successful juggernauts headline shows there. Twenty One Pilots, whose front man painted his hands and neck black for the show and cycled through masks and other costumes, may be one of the most alternative acts to play a show there in years.
In the end, Twenty One Pilots didn't just fill Ohio Stadium. They transformed it into a three-hour celebration of Columbus, their fans and their unlikely journey from The Basement to the Horseshoe.
Yes, the stadium has hosted bigger rockstars. But few of those acts could match Twenty One Pilots' flair for outlandish spectacle, and none could match the band's passion for Columbus.
Reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Stadium has hosted bigger stars. None put on a show like Twenty One Pilots
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