These two are the future of music. I was a latecomer (in terms of Columbus fans anyway), not giving TOP a good listen until last spring. Once I did, however, I was irreversibly pulled into this crazy... thing. Calling it a band would never do it justice. In Columbus, it's more like a movement - a weird family of sorts. It's amazing. I have several friends who know the guys personally, so it's easy for me to see them as "real people". Still, I feel like the band themselves get that point across beautifully. Tyler and Josh are undeniably brilliant and talent, but equally transparent and personable. They're "just two guys trying to figure it out, you know?" as Tyler told me after the concert. They're very personal and honest. They'll admit a transition is awkward. They'll make fun of their label's expectations of how "impressive" and media-friendly they're required to be onstage. Sure, many fans are the typical starry-eyed mob of screaming, drooling teens and twentysomethings. But Tyler and Josh don't eat up the attention narcissistically (like pretty much any other band would, no matter how down-to-earth they are). They play with it. They laugh at it. They remind us all frequently, "we're just a couple of guys like you". They announce how much they got paid for the concert. They trust us to crowd-surf gift cards to their mothers. And then Josh backflips off a piano.
Lifestyle Communities Pavilion @
- Columbus @
, OH @
- Fri, Oct 19, 2012 @
Favorite moment: Tyler's keyboard medley of older songs while standing in the middle of the crowd. @
Setlist: Pretty much song they've ever done. Longest set I've seen one band do. @
Opening act(s): The Kraze (they were very bland), Come Wind (look out for these guys; talent abounds). @