Twenty One Pilots, 2021
Mason Castillo/PressTwenty One Pilots’ frontman Tyler Joseph has compared touring during COVID to the quest undertaken in The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring in a pre-show speech.
Speaking to the crew before their first show at Milwaukee’s Summerfest at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, Tyler Joseph used a quote from the film to describe how vulnerable touring during a pandemic still is. Watch it below
“I’ll make this quick. This is happening. We’re actually going to be playing shows. I could not help but think of one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite movies, Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring,” he said.
“Galadriel says ‘This quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail’.
“Why am I telling you that,” he continued, “Well, we’re not in the clear. I know that you guys know there’s a lot of risk involved in going and playing shows right now.”
London four piece Keo are on course to land their first UK Number 1 album with Put A Smile On For Me. After building a loyal audience over the past two years, the London band now lead this week’s Official Albums Chart update. Their debut record explores love, guilt, and self destruction.
Nothing But Thieves are close behind at Number 2 with their fifth album, Stray Dogs. The Southend band are hoping for a second straight Number 1 after Dead Club City reached the top in 2023. Taylor Swift is at Number 3 with The Life Of A Showgirl, helped by the expanded The Encore edition. Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In sits at Number 4, while Soft Cell’s Danceteria opens at Number 5. It is the synth pop duo’s final album together following Dave Ball’s death last year.
Europe could reach Number 9 with Come This Madness, giving the Swedish rock band its first UK Top 10 album in four decades. A 30th anniversary reissue of Alice In Chains’ MTV Unplugged is at Number 13 in the midweek update, with Orbital’s Glastonbury 1994 set at Number 14. Julia Jacklin is heading for her first Top 40 album as The Gem reaches Number 18, while Suede’s Coming Up returns at Number 23 after its 30th anniversary physical release.
Also on track for Top 40 places are Nessa Barrett’s Tough Love at Number 29, the companion soundtrack to LINKIN PARK: UNSHATTER at Number 30, and Dublin band Gurriers’ Nobody’s Coming To Save You at Number 31. Blondshell, Kneecap, Tina Turner, and Leon Bridges also appear in the lower half of the midweek chart.
The official positions will be announced when the final Albums Chart is published on Friday.
