Finishing up the second weekend of this year's All Points East Festival at Victoria Park, Twenty One Pilots delivered their only UK performance of 2026, joined by a stellar lineup that generated plenty of buzz and anticipation in the lead-up to the day. The headliner’s presence extended far beyond the stage, with their community, the ‘Clique’, gathering from all corners of the world, dressed in some seriously impressive outfits and exchanging gifts at the ‘Bandito Camp’, highlighting the deep bond between fans that has upheld the Ohio duo for many years.

A late but welcome addition to the lineup, Josie Edwards started the day off at the West Stage. Despite being given a rather unfortunate set time, where the main entrance had only just opened 10 minutes prior, she still drew in a decent-sized crowd for her first-ever festival gig. Performing with a band she had only met earlier this week, the Noah Kahan-esque folk-pop singer-songwriter from Indiana reeled off a number of songs, with much of the set drawn from her recent EP ‘Greetings From Bleak St.’. One of those tracks, the “happy-sad” ‘Gravedigger’, was played on the ukulele, which Edwards explained was purely “out of convenience for travelling”. The other instrument options were either “too angsty”, “not the vibe”, or simply “not fun for fellow passengers”. It was clear those watching agreed with the energy emitted, clapping and dancing along, warming themselves up for the day ahead. 

Continuing at the West Stage, rock duo half•alive welcomed us to their “show”; a word that felt extremely fitting for the theatrical masterpiece that unfolded. Opening with the live debut of ‘Billions’, the title track from their EP released just days earlier, they swiftly captivated the audience with visually stunning choreography, drawn from their music videos. Asking for some help during ‘The Fall’, singer Josh Taylor divided the crowd in half, inviting each side to sing along to the interlude. Offering a sense of nostalgia for fans, that track featured on their setlist during the 2022 Takeover Tour, where they supported Twenty One Pilots, creating a moment where the connection between the band and their listeners was palpable. The remainder of their set had the crowd bouncing along to songs such as ‘The Wolf’ and their breakout single ‘Still Feel’, with bassist J. Tyler Johnson acting as an anchor to the beat throughout.

Moving over to the North Arena, Kid Kapichi drastically turned up the energy, with Jack Wilson on vocals and guitar and Eddie Lewis on bass giving us a heavy dose of punk-rock. Hailing from Hastings, the band got to work quickly with songs such as ‘Stainless Steel’, described as the bridge between their older material and their new, more emotionally raw, introspective album it features on, contrasting with the very matter-of-fact ‘Rob The Supermarket’, which, unsurprisingly, was “about robbing supermarkets”. Bringing it “down for a couple” meant playing the groovy ‘Leader Of The Free World’ and moody ‘If You’ve Got Legs’, both met with swaying arms across the tent. Nevertheless, it wasn't long before crowd favourite ‘New England’, written with Bob Vylan, soon had people headbanging, before ‘Get Down’ closed their set with a fittingly chaotic circle pit.

Emi Grace brought an infectiously heartwarming yet explosive presence to the E3 stage. At a point in the day where there were a number of brutal clashes across the site, it was clear that plenty were still keen to check her out - potentially influenced by her upcoming support slot for Twenty One Pilots in Ohio, which will be their biggest show to date. The LA-based artist made her All Points East debut, sporting space buns and a pretty sick guitar, launching headfirst into a set full of trashy bass and thumping drum beats, successfully moving the audience to tracks such as ‘Known Better’ and ‘Mr. Melodramatic’. Her infectious charm and commanding stage presence made for a memorable performance, leaving no doubt that she is an artist with plenty more to come.

Swiftly moving over to the Rising Stage, Leeds DIY outfit Artio brought their genre-blending sound, refusing to sit neatly within one style. What followed was just as unpredictable as it was infectious. From Rae Brazill’s soaring melodies and Jai Akhurst's crushing riffs, to Rob Arkle's electronic flourishes and Ieuan Jones' punchy bass, all underpinned by Louis Gage's thunderous drumming, the band delivered a set that showcased exactly why they are gaining momentum. As huge fans of the headliners themselves, the significance of this particular performance was apparent, treating us to their dynamic cover of ‘Hometown’ and bringing As It Is on stage for ‘Full On Fight For Fun’; they made sure that it was just as special for those watching as it was for them.

With Ren’s name having appeared time and time again in conversations surrounding this year’s lineup, taking the coveted slot before the headliner on the East Stage meant he had a lot to prove. Rising to the occasion, he made full use of the stage’s wraparound screens for animated visuals, which, combined with the set design, brought his storytelling to life in a performance that felt more like theatre than a typical festival set. ‘Sick Boi’ offered a particularly intimate insight into the cathartic nature of his music, transforming the environment into what resembled a therapy session for over 40,000 people. 

The emotional weight continued through his rendition of ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, closing with ‘Chalk Outlines’, joined by CHINCHILLA; his set was heavy yet equally liberating, offering those who cared to watch a space to find solace in their own struggles. 

Having visited all the other stages that All Points East had to offer, it was time to go to the X Stage, where grunge-rock duo Witch Post were up next. Think Pixies with a tinge of Perfume Genius, the duo, consisting of once-solo musicians, Dylan Fraser and Alaska Reid, worked together in perfect harmony, blending gritty guitars with melodic vulnerability. Their name, taken from 17th-century carvings believed to ward off witches, was instead adopted by the pair as a way of honouring them. This sense of mysticism seeped into their performance, with tracks such as ‘Ragged’, ‘Dreaming’ and ‘Witching Hour’ demonstrating their ability to shift between raw intensity and softer, more tender moments. 

Kicking off an over-two-hour-long set with a bang, opener ‘Overcompensate’ saw Josh Dun take to his station, sporting a cropped version of their exclusive t-shirt for the day, as Tyler Joseph launched himself rather gracefully over his piano, decked out in his full Clancy fit, setting the bar high for the spectacle to come from the get-go. Wasting no time in getting closer to his fans, Joseph hopped onto a platform in the crowd for ‘The Contract’, where he could be seen swinging his glowing microphone rather precariously. “Would you give it up for Josh Dun on the drums?” Joseph asked, before reflecting that, outside of their own, the UK is the country they’ve played the most shows in. It's clear they see it as a second home, and the masses gathered before them proved how welcome they were to be here. “It’s just me, Josh, and you”, he added, making the moment feel much more intimate than it should have, before the pair took centre stage for the synth-pop track ‘Shy Away’. 

The moody bassline and marching drumbeat of ‘Heathens’ were met with a familiar “watch it!” chant, with Joseph encouraging those who may not have known, “All Points East, this is how it goes - just two times in a row”, before the song exploded into a barrage of pyro. Taking a brief pause to thank and name all of the artists who had played throughout the day, apparently all from memory, Joseph was then met with roars from the audience as he announced that Emi Grace would be joining them on stage for the live debut of ‘Robot Voices’. Walking through the pit for ‘Routines In The Night’, Joseph halted to go in a portaloo, making himself laugh in the process, finishing off the song with embellished ad-libs, “The layout / In the night / Stay out / In white / All the world asleep”. Before we knew it, the pair were now alongside the soon-to-be burning car featured in many of their music videos. 

‘Message Man’ had his “people singing” its quintessential “eh, eh, eh, eh” all across the park, before its ‘ritual’ saw Joseph dunking his hands in a pot of black paint, smearing it across his shirt, carrying on the visual nod to the Blurryface persona. Seamlessly transitioning the bridge into ‘Pet Cheetah’, the car now engulfed in flames, he finished off at the B stage with the introspective ‘Polarize’ and ‘Chlorine’, the latter’s ending completed alongside a group of fans dressed as Ned, a fictional character from the band’s complex lore. Dun, now decked out in his Torchbearer fit, graced the stage alone, holding a torch in one hand and a flag, signed by members of the Clique at the Bandito Camp throughout the day, in the other. As his theme song came to an end, the duo burst into their heaviest track ‘Jumpsuit’, complete with a chorus from ‘City Walls’, before Joseph was on his ukulele for ‘Nico And The Niners’, a setlist requirement given the festival and stage they were playing: “East is up”.  

Heading towards the end of their immense set, ‘Drum Show’ saw Dun climb a tower while Joseph covered Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, revealing another drum kit at the top, upon which Dun did in fact put on a drum show, and it was an impressive one at that. Up next, ‘Drag Path' featured the most perfect example ever seen of pathetic fallacy: as the climax of the song hit, it started to rain, creating a beautifully sentimental moment. Meanwhile, ‘Ride’ welcomed Lucas, the security guard, to the stage, with Joseph joking, “if we go over curfew, that’s your fault”, and commenting that “he might suck”, which, thankfully, he did not. After performing a few more of their recent tracks, ‘Tally’ and ‘Downstairs’ from their album ‘Breach’, the pair went back in time for ‘Stressed Out’ and ‘Guns For Hands’, which had the crowd erupting, immediately putting their hands together to the beat. Before closing out with ‘Trees’, Joseph revealed that they had spent time during the day walking around the site “incognito”, reflecting on the fact that this was “probably the most beautiful group of people” they had ever seen. He promised, “we’ll always be back if you’ll have us”, before posing one final question: “until then, do you have one left in you?”, which was answered by a sea of people bouncing and holding up their drum islands, trashing out the final beats like their lives depended on it. 

Returning to the stage for one last statement, “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you”, a sentiment that went far beyond the words; they are a band built by their community, and there was no clearer proof than what surrounded them in that very moment.