Panic! At The Disco was a band that shaped my childhood, got me into the music I like now, and are still a group I will shamelessly fangirl over.
That being said, they played a free show on the first of August, at Copley Square in Boston. Road trippin’ it up, I was both eager and nervous to see them do their first show in, like, two years. With the release of their new song “Miss Jackson” and announcement of a new album, I had anticipated that they would only play things off of Vices and Virtues in hopes to promote their new sound. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
They opened with “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” and I was in awe. Brendon’s voice is better than ever, and Spencer is looking better too. I found myself feeling nostalgic and I made my way deep into the crowd as best I could and had a good sightline. It was the perfect beginning.
Throughout the course of their set, they played a little bit of everything. I was so ridiculously stoked that they played “Camisado” and “Time to Dance”, and “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage”, my three favourite tunes off of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. They only played one song off of Pretty. Odd., that being “Nine in the Afternoon”, mostly because that album was essentially Ryan Ross’. The set list was perfect, keeping the entire audience on their toes. “Let’s Kill Tonight” had so much energy and there were even crowdsurfers. Because of how ridiculously close I was to the front, a lot of crowdsurfers passed over me, but, with my fortunate lack of height, I cunningly avoided any serious damage.
Brendon Urie’s stage presence was perfect. His comments about his own attractiveness made all the fangirls scream, which was a characteristic that he’s been known for and a lot of us missed. A Panic! show is one of community, and when Urie said “guys, stop pushing, it’s not nice”, in the middle of their set, there was a significant change in the behavior. Of course, people were still getting kicked in the head by stupid teenage girls attempting to crowdsurf, however, that’s when I had the opportunity to gently wiggle my way through the sea of enthused fans in order to get closer to what has now become one of my favourite bands. I had forgotten how much I loved them, and how much they meant to me, until I almost started crying during “Camisado”; I sang so loud and I let go. It was incredible.
Panic! At The Disco is one of those bands that has the capability to fill up an entire stadium. Now that they’re back and stronger than ever, their potential is exponential and I can’t wait to see them with Fall Out Boy and Twenty One Pilots. That tour was such a smart idea by whoever put it together because there is going to be so many sold out shows. Panic! is back, Panic! is going to change everything, and they’re not going anywhere.