Midway through the fourth song of Twenty One Pilots’ concert Saturday night at Target Center, lead singer/rapper Tyler Joseph pulled off quite a trick. With a ski mask covering most of his face, he approached one of the cameras and looked directly into it. He then walked over to a platform and jumped into a hole in the stage as the lights went out. A moment later, he reappeared standing on another platform in the 200 level halfway down the bowl of the downtown Minneapolis basketball arena, ripped off his mask and continued singing. I’m still not entirely sure how he did it, but it says a lot about the alt-rock duo’s approach to making music. So did what followed, a video montage of fans who showed up before dawn and waited in line all day to ensure prime spots on the general admission floor. Nearly all of them, including the fans holding a sign that said they flew in from South Africa for the show, were dressed for the occasion with outfits and accessories that referenced various images and in jokes from Twenty One Pilots album sleeves, lyrics, photo shoots and music videos. Together, they crooned an a cappella take on the pair’s 2015 hit “The Judge” that led into Joseph’s return to the main stage to sing the very same song. Musically speaking, Twenty One Pilots don’t really fit into any one genre, because they touch on pretty much all of them, often within the same number. The pair dabbles in emo, reggae, hip-hop, metal, synth pop, glam rock, EDM and funk and deliver their songs with a certain brainy snottiness. If that sounds like an acquired taste, well, it totally is. And yet, Twenty One Pilots filled Target Center to the rafters with fans who appeared to know every nook and cranny of every song in the set, including the many drawn from their seventh album, “Clancy,” which came out in May. And they were happy to sing along, which Joseph encouraged. The duo performed on their biggest, boldest stage to date complete with roaming spotlights, pyro, rolling billows of smoke and giant screens that showed both live footage and electronic effects. Joseph and drummer Josh Dun are part of the spectacle as well, with costume changes and physical performances from both of them, whether it’s Joseph’s incessant hopping around or Dun’s now-legendary back flip off the top of a piano. What they didn’t do as much was play music. When we last saw them two years ago at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, a full backing band augmented them off and on during the show. Saturday night, it was back to just the two of them, which meant they played live to prerecorded backing tracks full of synths, additional vocals and electronic beats. When he was actually playing his drums, the muscular Dun pounded them ferociously, giving even the slower songs a real arena-rock punch. At one point, he stepped away from his kit, stripped off his tank top, locked arms with Joseph and strutted across the stage before tossing his tank into the crowd. For his part, Joseph took turns accompanying his often nasal vocals (and Eminem-style rapping) with keyboards, bass, ukulele, keytar and tambourine. He wasn’t shy about amping up the drama, either, like when he got down on his knees and elbows to plunk out a synth solo during “Vignette” as a bank of lights descended from above to illuminate him. Midway through the show, Dun and Joseph took to separate satellite stages on either side of the floor. They proceeded to play a stripped-down medley of their early songs “Addict With a Pen,” “Migraine,” “Forest” and “Fall Away.” Joseph then launched into the bouncy, Elton John-esque piano rocker “Mullberry Street” that ended with Joseph conducting the crowd through a synchronized bit with the flashlights on their phones. Yeah, it was a cheap gimmick, but like Twenty One Pilots themselves, one couldn’t help but appreciate the brazen weirdness of it all. Related Articles Music and Concerts | At breast cancer fundraiser Sunday, catch music by The Goombas, a.k.a. Mancini’s and Cossetta owners and friends Music and Concerts | Concert review: Cody Johnson brings ’90s country roaring back at a sold-out Xcel Energy Center Music and Concerts | Review: Julie Albers’ enthralling cello solo heightens SPCO concert filled with grand sounds Music and Concerts | Review: The songs, not the story, are the draw for the Temptations musical ‘Ain’t Too Proud’ Music and Concerts | Due to undisclosed ailment, Donald Glover cancels Childish Gambino tour, which included a stop at Xcel Energy Center