Twenty One Pilots Round 1 (Hamburg) - why I almost did not get in after 27 hours of waiting

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Twenty Øne Piløts (shortened: TØP) is an American musical duo from Ohio. They were formed in 2009 and after one switch in 2011, now consist of lead vocalist and keyboardist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun. By today the released four albums. They achieved their huge breakthrough with their Singles "Stressed Out" and "Ride" from their latest album called Blurryface (2015), but they are also known for their song "Heathens" from the Soundtrack of the movie Suicide Squad. They have become one of the most famous alternative bands and nowadays sell out some of the biggest arenas worldwide.

I saw Twenty One Pilots in February 2016 for the first time, in a small venue for a little more than 1000 persons. On October 31st and November 9th 2016, I got to see the, I'm way bigger venues, with more people and a bigger show. They came back with their new tour The Emotional Roadshow, which started in May 2016 in the United States. Little did I know, that one of these two shows would turn out to be trip right into hell on an emotional roller coaster. But let's just start with the day before the first concert:

October 30th - The day before ERS in Hamburg
It was around lunchtime when I woke up to get ready and pick up Dina, who was on her way to Hamburg for the tøp show on Halloween. We hadn't seen each other since the Leeds festival in England, so we were more than pumped to see each other again.
Shortly after I woke up I got a message of Dina telling me that her friends said that there are already around 30 people at the venue - the day before the concert. She also said that she was thinking about maybe going and staying there over night, because she wanted front row. So I told her I'd pick her up so we could discuss everything. By the ti,e she reached Hamburg she had already decided to stay there over night, so I went to the with her and shortly after decided to also stay there, as I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Dina, but also didn't miss my chance for front row. So we went home, got some stuff, called my mom and stayed at the venue.
We spent the rest of the day drinking wine, talking to the others and making ourselves comfortable in the tent before we eventually fell asleep, with the numbers 45 and 46 written on our hands.


October 31st - The day of the Hamburg concert
I woke up from my friends voice around 5am. I had met her at a concert of The NBHD and knew she was coming early in the morning, so I went out of the tent and said hi to her. When I got out I realized that most of the people were awake already. It was pretty loud and I knew I couldn't go back to sleep, especially since I had to go to school anyway.
I ate something and talked to my friends and Dina before I packed up my stuff, ready to school for a few hours. Shortly before I left I found out that I didn't have classes, so I went back into my tent and to where the others were. It was a pretty cloudy and rainy day in Hamburg. Around 10am we put our tents a little bit further away from the entrance I the security wouldn't stress around later, while building up the barriers in front of the doors. At that time we were already around 100 people and I could not believe how many people were really willing to wait so long for the concert.

Around 1pm, Dina, her friend and I went to buy some drinks and food. When we came back there were even more people and the mess just got bigger and bigger, so we decided to finish our beer and then bring the tent and all the stuff we won't need, inside our friends car - including our ID's because they told us we wouldn't need them if we're older than 16. After we had done that, we sat down again to where the new friends we made were. I also met some people I still knew from the nbhd in March, what made everything way more chilled than I thought it would be.
A few hours later the security started building up the barriers in front of the doors and everyone got up. We still had around two hours of waiting left, but since there were so many people already, we went to the barriers with everyone else and waited there. It was a pretty fun time and the two hours passed by fast, but already before the entrance started I knew it would be a complete mess, since people were already pushing you around and from each side, but I didn't expect what would happen once the entrance started.
At 6:30pm the doors opened and everyone went crazy. As it was Halloween a lot of people came dressed up - mostly as Joker or Harley Quinn and so did three girls who came jumping from the side, jumped over the barrier and ran inside, completely ignoring everyone who was in front of them and that's when everyone noticed that this would be more like a war than entrance, since the security had already lost control before even opening the doors.
The entrance where Dina and I were standing wasn't really moving as the security woman just stopped in between, so for a few minutes we had to watch everyone run inside the venue while we were still standing outside. Once it was dinars turn I was positive that we would finally get in, after 27 hours of waiting, but all my dreams crashed when they didn't let her in because she didn't have her ID with her. She broke down crying and I couldn't believe that two hours earlier they told us we would only need if we look like were younger than 16 and now they wouldn't let us in - but my fear also became bigger as I didn't have my ID with me as well.
They also didn't let me in. I asked them why and they said because of my missing ID and the fact that I'm 18 and obviously older than 16, didn't bother them at all; so now we were two girls crying right in front of the entrance. I couldn't believe this was happening to us. While everyone else went inside, some even without their ID, we were stuck in the cold.
At one point Dina just ran inside but I didn't notice, so I was alone outside. I called my mom and asked if she could help me but since she also had a ticket for the show and almost didn't even get my sister in with her, she couldn't help me. I looked through my phone trying to find a photo of my ID, while I was still crying and without a clue of where Dina was. After about twenty minutes the security wanted to send me away but I didn't give in and eventually found a photo of my ID and ran in, crying.
By then I knew Dina and a few others of my friends were at the B-Stage, in the back of the venue, so I went there and broke down. I suddenly saw my mom and my sister coming in shortly afterwards and I ran up to them to hug my mom and tell her about everything that happened and how I could've come with her and it wouldn't have changed a thing about my spot. We talked and she offered me that I could go to Düsseldorf on the 9th of November and try again.
I went back to the B-Stage and waited for the show to begin. I was absolutely not in the mood for a concert at that point and just wanted to leave, but I knew I would regret that.
In my anger I barley noticed anything of Bry, an Irish singer, who was tøp's support act on the European tour. I heard some good songs but was still so caught up in everything, that I couldn't enjoy it, just like Dina.
But then the lights went out again and we knew the show would start soon. Even though we were barley able to see anything, I suddenly forgot about everything that had happened before, all the tears that were shed and all the stress we went through. As soon as the curtain fell and the show began I was brought to tears and I remembered why I do all of this, why I take so many risks.
The show was absolutely incredible, as always. Everyone jumped around, sang along and screamed. Emotional Roadshow is exactly how I would describe the show. During those almost two hours they performed, I went through all emotions possible. Shock, sadness, happiness, euphoria.
When they played Heathens, their, by then, most actual song, the lights went out and Tyler started playing the beginning of the song on his piano and slowly sang along, before the beat set in and the lights went one, for as long as the beat lasted. It was an incredible moment and I suddenly had goosebumps all over my body and couldn't believe what I was just witnessing, even though I had already seen it two times in summer.
At about the middle of the show Twenty One Pilots switched the stage and came to the B-Stage for their medley, what finally gave us front row.
The B-Stage was a really small stage surrounded by barriers and people, really close to the stage. Tyler and Josh came on wearing skeleton masks and costumes, as they both sat down in front of their instruments.
The Medley consisted of a lot of old songs from their self titled album, such as "Addict With A Pen" and "Fall Away", what made the B-Stage to a really special and unique place. I felt more than happy and safe there and had suddenly even forgotten how unhappy I used to be with that place.
After the Medley was over they showed some clips on the big screen, like always when they left the stage for a short time, to distract the crowd.
When they were back on the stage, they started playing mostly party and famous songs, like "Stressed Out", "Guns for Hands" - where Tyler would step into a big hamster ball and run over the whole crowd in the pit - and "Ride", which made each and everyone in the venue dance and sing along. The venue was filled with and incredible vibe and such happiness, that I was scared to leave the venue again.
As usual, they ended their show with "Car Radio", where Tyler suddenly again switches the side and stands on a pillar and sings the last part of the song, while at least 70% of the crows is crying, because it's such an emotional song. After Car Radio ended they left the stage and after a few minutes came back to play "Trees" as their encore.
The whole venue became quiet and Tyler began thanking us for everything and holding a little speech, before he slowly started playing the song on his piano. After had had finished that, the lights went completely out and the song started.
The closer they came to the end, the more hands were up in the air showing the symbol of Twenty One Pilots, when Tyler and Josh ended the song, held it up to and ended the whole show with "We are Twenty One Pilots and so are you", before they left.
After the show was officially over my friends and I sat down on the floor, completely covered in sweat and speechless because of what we had just witnessed. Twenty One Pilots once again proved me, that out of all bands I have ever seen in my life - they are by far the best one. No matter what age you are, from where you are, what music you listen to and where you're standing in the venue - this duo will blow your way and put on a show you will never forget.
We stayed a little at the back of the venue after the concert, until Josh went into the bus and said bye, before we left, ready to see them again only 9 days later in Düsseldorf, which turned out to be completely different from what we had experienced in Hamburg...

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