The Chainsmokers have been accused of ripping off elements of Twenty One Pilots’ stage show.
Fans have vented on social media that parts of the pop duo’s World War Joy Tour, which launched last week, are strikingly similar to the Pilots’ year-old The Bandito Tour – especially the use of torches and a floating stage.
Many are including video clips or photos that compare the two shows.
“twenty one pilots tickets got sold out? no worries! the chainsmokers are gonna put on a show exactly like the one you wanted,” one person tweeted.
twenty one pilots tickets got sold out? no worries! the chainsmokers are gonna put on a show exactly like the one you wanted pic.twitter.com/bp21kvtfKt
— ghada (@plaincab) September 26, 2019
@ the chainsmokers, when tyler said "we're twenty one pilots and so are you" he didn't mean THIS pic.twitter.com/Pc10wq2UGI
— tiz misses tyler and josh ⊬ (@odetokeons) September 26, 2019
Late last week, The Chainsmokers responded to the accusations via Twitter. “we debuted the flares in march 2018 at ultra and have used them at 200+ shows since but sure keep saying we stole it.”
we debuted the flares in march 2018 at ultra and have used them at 200+ shows since but sure keep saying we stole it pic.twitter.com/GSF1M3yv5h
— THE CHAINSMOKERS (@TheChainsmokers) September 26, 2019
It’s not the first time Alex Pall and Drew Taggart have been accused of emulating Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph. In January 2018, Maria Sherman of TrackRecord compared The Chainsmokers single “Sick Boy” to Twenty One Pilots’ songs like “Lane Boy” and “Stressed Out.”
In a post headlined "Uh, When Did The Chainsmokers Become Twenty One Pilots," Sherman opined: “If these dueling duos were in high school, Twenty One Pilots are your art-room weirdos and the Chainsmokers are, 100%, for sure, the cool kids, skipping class to smoke weed and figure out how the heck they’re gonna get to Coachella next Spring. They are diametrically opposed, but also maybe everyone is the same, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS DAMN SONG IS ABOUT.”