On Friday April 14, 2007 – I mean 2017, I finally saw Panic! At The Disco live. No big deal, only waited half my life to see them (I’m *almost* 20 years old). I may have Panic!ed a little bit.
Sadly I saw no Disco balls though, which was a little disappointing but there were a few points during Misterwives’ set where my view was blocked by some lighting techs being hoisted to the ceiling of the Amway Arena in Orlando Florida, but that’s beside the point.
WOW, that’s about all I had to say about this show for a solid twenty-four hours (everyone at work the next day got real tired real quick of me talking about the show).
The first band to play was an indie pop band from LA called Saint Motel. After listening to them on Spotify in preparation for this show, I had high expectations for these guys. Compared to the other bands on the bill, Saint Motel had the least amount of energy and I was slightly disappointed. Maybe I set my expectations too high or maybe it’s just hard to keep up with Misterwives’ and Brendon Urie’s insanely high energy performances. That being said, I would still recommend seeing these guys live, they are pretty talented and seem to have a solid following (the girls on the front row behind me while I was shooting knew every word to every song and would scream “I love you” between songs). I wish I could’ve stayed to see their entire set but I didn’t know how to get to my seats from the backstage area of the arena.
Misterwives! Okay if you’ve never listened to these guys before, stop reading and go listen to them now. My photographer friends who saw this tour at some of the other stops spoke more highly of Misterwives than they did Panic! And I finally understand why. These guys embody everything I look for in a band; female fronted, colorful, high energy, indie pop, etc. I could go on. With saxophones and synths, trumpets and trombones, the fast paced magi—I mean music these guys create is phenomenal and lead singer Mandy Lee has a powerhouse for a voice.
Panic! at the Disco; I was surprised by some of the songs in their set (Nine in the Afternoon) but overall was pleased. They played songs from their newest album Death of a Bachelor and, as a nice throwback, did a medley of songs from their first album A Fear You Can’t Sweat Out. Brendon -as usual- stole the show with his flamboyant performance. As soon as I was done taking pictures, I ran to my seat at the back of the arena to enjoy the rest of the show. The rest of the band had some choreography but didn’t dominate the stage the way Brendon does. In almost every song Brendon couldn’t help but throw in an insanely high note to show off his vocal range. *Like okay Brendon we get it, you’re talented.*
At one point, the lights went out and the band disappeared from the stage while a video played on the screens. About a minute later, Brendon reappeared in the back of the arena at a white piano to perform an acoustic version of This is Gospel. He looked almost angelic as the piano lifted into the air and white confetti enveloped him, complete with halo-like spotlights. About three quarters of the way through the show, Brendon did a tribute to Billy Joel with a cover of Moving Out. No surprise, given he grew up listening to the master’s iconic hits. I’d have to say my favorite part of the show was during Girls/Girls/Boys when the crowd held up colored hearts to their phone lights to create a rainbow in the crowd, while iconic LGBT figures (satirically including Vladimir Putin) flashed on the LED screens behind Brendon. The song was followed by Brendon’s cover of Bohemian Rhapsody featured on the Soundtrack of Suicide Squad. If you’ve never been in a room full, 20,000 people singing Bohemian Rhapsody, it is a wonderful experience I definitely recommend . To close out the show, Brendon thanked his fans for sticking with him for the past 13 years then finished with iconic hits from his first single to his most recent, I Write Sins Not Tragedies and Victorious.
Unfortunately the Orlando show was the second to last day of the tour, so I can’t tell you to catch Panic! at the Disco. But I can tell you to keep an eye out for Misterwives on tour coming up and Brendon in Broadway’s Kinky Boots this summer.
