Live Review

Panic! At The Disco – Manchester Academy

• 31st May 2011

Anticipation to see your favourite band is always high, and the fans in and outside Manchester Academy tonight had waited longer than most to see their favourite, Las Vegas rockers Panic! At The Disco. A postponed April show meant fans of “Panic!” had had a whole extra month to build up their excitement, and entering the sold out venue, the expectation was certainly high.

As the lights dim the crowd is tempted, and screams are heard, mixed with chants of “Panic, Panic, Panic!”. The few minutes teasing time that followed must have felt like an age, but soon the dapperly dressed Panic! bounded on stage in retro smart clothing, not dissimilar to Matt Smith’s effort on a Saturday night. Ploughing straight into the rousing “Ready To Go,” to give us a first live taste of new album “Vices and Virtues.”. “Dead In This Place” thrilled the crowd with plenty hands raised and clapping rhythmically mid air and “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” was a definite highlight.

Animated front man Brendon Urie shouts, “I’m more alive than I’ve ever been!” and invites us to “get naughty!” Who could turn that down? “Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” told a tale of teenage experiences on the backseat of a car, and did not see a silent or still soul in the place.

From a quick trip down memory lane to “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” it was back to the present day with new songs “Trade Mistakes,” “Hurricane” and “Let’s Kill Tonight” continuing a run of tight and enthralling musicality.

The place was certainly bouncing, and Urie tells the fans, they are “great little dancers,” and they certainly looked as though they could dance all night. This did not stop the band choosing this moment to calm things down and grab their acoustic guitars to show a lesser known side to “Panic!”. The romantic “Always” turned the previously bouncing academy into a warm, emotional dreamland, and was as appreciated as the energy fuelled offerings. Well it was only a Monday evening and the band show they can do calm, as well as they can rock. The pace picked up, but the sentiment remained. “This song is about friends” explains Urie, and then followed “Nine In The Afternoon” a rare but popular track from the experimental “Pretty. Odd.”

“Panic” are known for some surprise covers in their live shows and tonight was no different, firstly an unexpected, driving version of “Billie Jean” and then an aptly named cover of The Smiths, “Panic,” and despite the diversity of these covers, the fans young and, well slightly older alike, enjoyed. Well of course – there was one song everyone was thinking, they’ll close with that and we won the prize, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” bowed the band out in style, with plentiful guitar choreography and rock messiness from the band climbing up on platforms guitars held high.

A quick stage re-set later and they were back for more with a cover of Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son” and then final taste of the tour album, “Nearly Witches.”
Despite Urie’s many protests of “you guys are awesome, I don’t wanna leave!” it was time for “Panic” and their admirers to do just that, the end to a night where both parties clearly had the time of their lives.