Live Review: Twenty One Pilots, Safia

As a sea of punters in bright red Twenty One Pilots beanies began to fill Qudos Bank Arena, Canberra trio Safia took to the stage, delivering some of their fun electronic tracks such as My Love Is Gone, Counting Sheep and the slower Listen To Soul, Listen To Blues (which saw iPhone torches lit up all around the arena). A performance of their Peking Duk collaboration Take Me Over had the crowd well and truly warmed up and ready for what was to follow.

After a short interval, the arena became deafening as the black curtain the masked the stage fell, revealing Ohio duo Twenty One Pilots, clad in matching red suit jackets and black balaclavas. They kicked off their set with Heavydirtysoul, and it became immediately apparent that it was going to be one of those concerts where the entire crowd sings, raps or screams every word of every song. An energetic Tyler Joseph swapped his tambourine for an upright piano for the next two songs (Migraine and Hometown), then a stage hand covered him with a black sheet as the lights went out. Just seconds later, he appeared up on one side of the arena, a spotlight shining on him as he removed his balaclava - magic.

Following the first of many outfit changes, Joseph demonstrated his bass skills on a few songs including their hit from the Suicide Squad soundtrack, Heathens, and then put his ukulele talent on display for the next three tracks - the last a goosebump-producing cover of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love, which completely mesmerised the audience.

The theatrics continued with Lane Boy, during which people wearing gas masks came on stage and sprayed smoke into the crowd. Twenty One Pilots showed no signs of slowing down. For the next few songs they moved to a small stage set-up within the mosh pit then, upon returning to the main stage, Josh Dun's insane drumming talents were showcased in what can only be described as a drum battle with himself (thanks to a video recording that played on the arena screens). Their live show, full of entertaining quirks and surprises, complemented Twenty One Pilots' combination of hip hop, alternative, electro-pop and rock, and gave off a fitting popular-but-not-pop vibe.

Dun played trumpet for the opening bars of their cover of House Of Pain's '90s hip-hop classic Jump Around before a drum kit on a platform was carried into the crowd, fans holding him up to perform Ride. A standout rendition of their hit Stressed Out preceded Guns For Hands, with Joseph encased in a giant red ball, the singer and rapper running on top of the audience before returning to the stage for Tear In My Heart and set closer Car Radio.

After answering the crowd's demands for an encore with emotive slow burner Goner and Trees, the undoubtedly talented, entertaining, theatrical and expectation-exceeding pair bowed as red confetti rained down and Joseph concluded, "We're Twenty One Pilots, and you are too".