Video: Panic! at the Disco, Emperor’s New Clothes

Normally at this time of year I post the video for Panic! at the Disco‘s Almost Halloween, because it is sweetly ridiculous and deep down I still love it.

But on the surface I can’t watch it any more. The band that made that video is gone, ne’er to return.

And I’m at a crossroads with my affection for the band, as it is currently incarnated. My fondness fades, but lingers, a little like a ghost. There’s a new record coming, and a tour, there have been singles, and I have watched from a bemused distance. All of my favorites are gone, but I can’t quite let go, not yet.

The video below is for The Emperor’s New Clothes, and it encompasses the things I have always liked about Panic!: Brendon’s voice and range; sumptuous theatricality; Brendon in a dramatic costume; and singing skulls. It also has neat bit at the beginning that functions as a “Previously, on Panic! At the Disco . . .” and ties yet another disparate era of style to the one that came before.

I can’t decide if my interest for their (his) constant reinvention has evaporated or merely gone into hibernation. But I am, for now, here for one more round.

Panic! At The Disco: Emperor's New Clothes [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

2014: A Year In Pictures

A year of rock n’ roll, in pictures, including two shows from late December 2013, which I shot after I posted last years’ Year in Pictures.

Tonight I’m headed out to dance the New Year in with Erasure (!); have fun and be safe, y’all, and I’ll see you on the other side.



The Districts, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013


The Felice Brothers, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013


Team Spirit, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013

Andrew W.K., Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, NGHBRS, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, States and Kingdoms, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, Frank Iero, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, The Gay Blades, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Fred Mascharino, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, States and Kingdoms, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Geoff Rickley, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Frank Iero, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, I Hate Our Freedom, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, The Gay Blades, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Deep Pockets, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014


Patrick Kindlon with Loss Leader, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Ovlov, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Pity Sex, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Patrick Kindlon with Self Defense Family, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014


X Ambassadors, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014


The Colourist, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014




Panic! at the Disco, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014


Rob DiPietro, Subculture, New York, NY Feb. 7, 2014


The Grahams, Subculture, New York, NY, Feb. 7. 2014


Z Berg, The Deep End Club, New York, NY, Feb. 9, 2014


The Grahams, Chez Andre, Feb. 17, 2014


Phone Home, Shea Stadium BK, Feb. 20, 2014


Weird Womb, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014


The Dirty Nil, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014


Samantha Crain, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014

Murder By Death, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014



Sleepwave, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


tonightalive., Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


Taking Back Sunday, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


The Used, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


Andrew W.K., Subculture, New York, NY, April 25, 2014


Kate Myers, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Sean Van Vleet, empires, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


LaToya Kennedy with Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


Leroy Justice, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


Bottom Dollars, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


AF THE NAYSAYER, Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY, May 26, 2014


Durazzo, Trash Bar, Brooklyn NY, May 26, 2014


Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, August 5, 2014


Alice Cooper, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014


Mötley Crüe, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014


Slomile Swift, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014


SKYES, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014


AF THE NAYSAYER and friends, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, Sept. 11, 2014


Rosie Flores, Hill Country BBQ, New York, NY, Sept. 13, 2014


The Dirty Nil, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 20, 2014


Cory Branan, The Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Oct. 1, 2014


Mumblr, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 4, 2014


The Eeries, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014


Gerard Way, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014


The Eeries, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014


Gerard Way, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014


NGHBRS, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Cold Fronts, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Sean Van Vleet, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Tom Conrad, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

Video: It’s Almost Halloween, Panic! At the Disco

Panic! At The Disco: It's Almost Halloween

Posting it this year and every year because:

1) I looooooove it –

2) they made it themselves, apparently using change they found under couch cushions on the bus –

3) It was the last thing they did – the last vaguely happy thing they did – before they split in half –

4) Spencer Smith playing the tambourine and/or awkwardly fall-spinning in circles while wearing a wolf mask: never not funny –

5) I miss Spencer Smith, a lot –

6) If you watch all of Panic’s pre-split “official” videos in order of creation, you can see a band gradually coming apart at the seams. Northern Downpour is beautiful and unbearably sad for this reason. It’s Almost Halloween is just them having dumb fun in the woods.

7) Ryan Ross wearing diva sunglasses with a mummy costume: also never not funny –

8) I miss Ryan Ross and his infectious pop hooks a lot, too –

9) Their boy-band-style dancing is hilarious year round –

10) I don’t grudge current!Panic! At the Disco any of their ongoing success, and in many ways the split was the best thing possible for all concerned, but: I miss those four goofballs being all together, sometimes.

(reasons lifted and modified from a post on my personal Tumblr)

Postcards from the Pit: Panic! at the Disco / The Colourist / X Ambassadors, Roseland, 2/4/2014

It’s a rare thing, getting to watch a band grow up.

My first (indoors) Panic! at the Disco show was at Roseland Ballroom in May 2008. I say indoors because my actual first Panic! at the Disco show was at Bamboozle a few days earlier, and when I saw them I couldn’t really see them, because I had just broken my glasses in the Bouncing Souls pit. I could hear them just fine, though, and against all odds – they were in their hippie phase, wore lots of beige and had four tattoos between them – I loved them.

But at Roseland I could see them, and they looked like sweet-faced deer in the headlights. Their stage presence was probably best described as “charmingly awkward.” But the songs still made me happy. And so, for good or for ill, I was in for the long haul.

This past Tuesday night – six years, two records/style-shifts, and three line-up changes later – they were at Roseland again, one last time before the places closes down in the spring.

The openers this time around were X Ambassadors and The Colourist.

X Ambassadors had a dark dreamy-draggy-occasional-burst-of-thundering-drums vibe going, which I rather liked. Plus their lead singer is also their saxophone player, which was unexpected and awesome. Verdict: A++, would see them at their own show.
 

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The Colourist was a little bit bouncier; apparently they describe themselves as “majestic rock” and/or “math pop” which, okay, I guess that makes sense. All I can tell you is they had super-intense, high-energy drums (majestic, indeed) that were precise but not cold or stiff, and that when they were done I definitely wanted to see them at their own show as well.
 
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And then Panic! at the Disco came out, and – though I have seen them many times since 2008, I’ve watched the show evolve, I know what’s coming – I was struck, again, by how Brendon Urie has evolved as a front man. Gone is the almost-bashful boy who once wore a ringmaster’s costume, and his place is an actual showman in a glittery jacket and skin-tight leather trousers with a signature back-flip move – which he deployed twice – who finally seems comfortable in his skin.

(I really love that back flip. So graceful, and he makes it look effortless. I live in hope someone will put him in a Broadway show while he can still stick the landing.)

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2013: A Year in Pictures

A full year of rock ‘n’ roll pictures, January to December, New York to Boston to Philadelphia to Brooklyn. They might not be the best pictures ever, but they are mine.


Magic Trick, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Father John Misty, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Wildstreet, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

William Control, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Ashley Purdy, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jake Pitts and Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Pete Wentz book signing, New York, NY, February 21, 2013
 

The Naturals, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, April 6, 2013
 

Wise Girl, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, April 6, 2013
 

Mud, Blood and Beer, The Bitter End, New York, NY, April 13, 2013
 

El Sportivo and the Dirty Palms, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, April 24, 2013
 

Roadside Graves, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Brian Barthelmes and Scott Thompson, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Shawn Carney, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Scott Thompson, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips, The Great Googa Mooga, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, May 17, 2013
 

Father John Misty, The Great Googa Mooga, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, May 18, 2013
 

Ryan Hunter, Billy Rymer, and Isaac Bolivar, NK, House of Blues Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Billy Rymer and Isaac Bolivar, NK and Joe Trohman, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues Boston. May 26, 2013
 

Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues, Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Fall Out Boy, House of Blues, Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Electric Factory, Philadelphia, May 30, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

William Beckett, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Beebs and her Moneymakers, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Crashlive, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Kevin Preston, Prima Donna, Irving Plaza, August 17, 2013
 

Adam Ant, Irving Plaza, August 17, 2013
 

Josh Dun, 21 Pilots, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Tyler Joseph, 21 Pilots, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Panic! at the Disco, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Kenneth A. Harris, Panic! at the Disco and LOLO, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Marky Ramone, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, singing with Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, September 7, 2013
 

Tyler Joseph, 21 Pilots, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Joe Trohman, Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Beachballs in the air, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy and Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, McKittrick Hotel Cabaret, New York, NY, October 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, McKittrick Hotel record release show, New York, NY, October 8, 2013
 

Cassandra Jenkins, Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY, November 10, 2013
 

Jus Post Bellum, Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY, November 10, 2013
 

Sean Patrick Carney, The Scandals, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Jared Hart, The Scandals, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Frank Iero, DeathSpells, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Brandon Phillips, The Architects, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Casey Neill, 11th St. Bar, New York, NY, November 24, 2013
 

Tyburn Saints, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013
 

Indigo Street, Shy Hunters, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013′
 

Luke Bentham, The Dirty Nil, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013
 

ALX, Love Crushed Velvet, Bowery Electric, New York, NY, December 10, 2013
 

Ellen Kempner, Palehound, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013
 

Lemmy Gurtowsky, California X, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013
 

Alex Levine, So So Glos, Brooklyn Night Bazaaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013

Fanmix: Warren Ellis, Gun Machine

Fan mixes: collections of music created as both soundtrack and illustration for other works, usually works of fiction, intended as both appreciation of and enticement to read the work of fiction.

This one is for Gun Machine by Warren Ellis, who is author of, among other things, Transmetropolitan and Crooked Little Vein, and is NOT the dude who plays music with Nick Cave.

Gun Machine is a murder mystery set in New York. But not the New York you usually see on cop shows; the Financial District, which is older and darker. Down there you’re off the grid. The streets are narrow and twisty and reality can be very thin. Depending on how the wind is blowing off the water, it does feel like you could walk around a corner today and stumble into the 17th century, 1926 could be tomorrow and 2018 was last week.

“Off the grid” would actually sum up the book as a whole. It is also bloody, startling, deeply lonely, occasionally bitingly funny, like watching my own city from the wrong end of a telescope, a complex puzzle, and very, very good. If you pick it up, be sure to both read and listen carefully; Ellis uses music and sounds much like Nathaniel Hawthorne used light, that is, as both text and subtext.

The mix below is my attempt at capturing the spirit of the work. The songs chosen are intended to trace the outline of the narrative in broad strokes. All of them, save for two, are available for sale and/or free download from the artist.

The exceptions are Panic! at the Disco’s cover of Karma Police, which is a fan bootleg of a live performance, chosen for the quality of the static, and Kasey Anderson and the Honkies’ Abbaddon Blues, because it is from Let the Bloody Moon Rise, a record which saw only limited release before Anderson went on indefinite-but-hopefully-not-permanent hiatus and which is now (almost) out of circulation.

1.BT, Go(d)t
 


 
2. Panic! at the Disco, Karma Police (Radiohead cover)
 

 
(If you want a visual.)
 
3. Foster the People, Pumped Up Kicks
 
Foster The People - Pumped up Kicks

 
4. Breakfast in Fur, Whisper
 
Breakfast in Fur - Whisper (Official)

 
5. David C. Clements, Oh Child
 

 
6. Blondie, Heart of Glass
 
Blondie - Heart Of Glass

 
7. Jane’s Addiction, Chip Away
 
Jane's Addiction - Chip Away

 
8. Firewater, A Little Revolution
 
FIREWATER: A Little Revolution

 
9. Milan Jay, In the Shadows of Footsteps
 

 
10. BL/\CK CEILING, I’MNLUVWITCHU
 

 
11.Xiu Xiu, Hi
 
Xiu Xiu - Hi [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

 
12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies, Abbaddon Blues
 

 
13. Cage the Elephant, Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked
 
Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

 
14. Blackwater Jukebox, Carousel
 

 
15. Willow Sea, Night Light
 

Postcards from the Pit: Patrick Stump, Starland Ballroom, NJ, 11/4/11

To the left, in the snazzy teal suit: Patrick Stump, formerly of Fall Out Boy. To the right, on the bass, Matthew Rubano, formerly of Taking Back Sunday. Also present are Michael Day on guitar, and Casey Benjamin (HEAVy) on keys and saxophone. (Skoota Warner of Ra is playing drums on the tour, he’s just not in this picture.)

Patrick Stump and friends – technically this is a solo tour for him – were the second of three acts in the show I went to last Friday. The  first opener was Foxy Shazam, the headliner was Panic! at the Disco, and I’ll get to back to them later. First I have to tell you that how Mr. Stump and his merry crew put on a defiant, triumphant, raucous roller-coaster ride of a show. I was actually really surprised at some of the pictures I was able to get, given the way the pit was heaving.

Like this one, for example:

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The set started with a snippet of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, which essentially set the tone from the evening. (We were jammed in too tight to really dance, but there was definitely a great deal of enthusiastic jumping up and down.) The rest of the songs, with the exception of a cover of “In the Air Tonight”, were drawn from Stump’s solo work, including both the Truant Wave EP and the more recent full length  Soul Punk.

His new, post-FOB sound is different than FOB – more synths, less thundering drums – and has soul, funk, and dance-pop elements. The  lyrics with sharp, sharp edges are the same though. For example, on Soul Punk there is Run Dry (X Heart X Fingers) a bouncy up-tempo number that is at least in part about hitting an alcohol-fueled rock bottom, and The “I” in Lie, a soulful meditation on infidelity.

On the other hand, there is also This City, a mostly-sweet pop hymn to both the bright and dark sides of Chicago, Stump’s home town, and Coast (It’s Gonna Get Better) the theme of which is “you may think things are screwed up now, but hang in there, it’s going to get better.” (My favorite, to my own bittersweet bemusement, is Bad Side of 25, because I do actually remember Chernobyl and a time when there were two Germanys.)

Anyway, here are some more pictures from his set:
 

IMG_2833Conducting the pit

 

IMG_2867The photopit in front of me suddenly (and briefly) cleared . . .

 

IMG_2878Drum solo! (I promise he’s in there.)

 

IMG_2890Matthew Rubano and the double-bass keytar.

 

The Panic! tour is winding down now, but Stump will be playing more shows this winter, and if you can catch him, you should. Now, as for the rest of the evening: Foxy Shazam and Panic! at the Disco were as fabulous as ever.  I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from their set(s):

 

IMG_2746Eric Nally and Sky White

 

IMG_2773Alex Nauth; sadly, his fabulous furry boots are hidden behind the monitor.

 

IMG_2785Eric Nally, Loren Turner (guitar), and Eric Nally’s light-up cowboy hat.

 

IMG_2797Sky White, with Daisy and his bass in the background.

 

IMG_2983Brendon Urie, during Always.

 

IMG_2941Fierce Brendon Urie is fierce!

 

IMG_2925Dallon Weekes on the keyboard

 

IMG_2959My attempt at getting both the still-pogoing pit and the band at the same time. I promise there are many many arms waving in that inky darkness on the left.

 

IMG_2998A good whole-band shot, as they were winding down.

Video: It’s Almost Halloween, Panic! at the Disco

Last year NTSIB-friend Joy and I went up to Poughkeepsie to celebrate Gothic Christmas with the Felice Brothers and Titus Andronicus; this year I’m headed even further north to visit with Panic! at the Disco and Foxy Shazam.

And so in honor of one of my favorite holidays, I present to you Panic’s Halloween video, which they made themselves while on tour, back in 2008, before Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band. It’s perhaps a little bit bittersweet to watch now, but mostly sweet, and their attempt at boy-band style synchronized dancing will always be hilarious.

Panic! At The Disco: It's Almost Halloween

Postcards from the Balcony: Panic! at the Disco / fun. / Foxy Shazam, Terminal 5, 5/24/11

I was up on the balcony for this one largely in the interest of self-preservation; I don’t do well in large crowds I can’t get out of, and Terminal 5 was almost literally packed to the rafters.

The first band was Foxy Shazam:

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I’ve seen this band four times now, twice on their headlining tour last summer (I went for one of their opening acts and developed an affection for them along the way), once when they opened for Courtney Love (!), and then at this show. Eric Nally whirled around the stage as he always does, but somehow they seemed a little bit subdued. And by “subdued” I mean Eric Nally did a headstand in the middle of a song –

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– but didn’t do the bit where he eats lit cigarettes (which I can’t actually bear to watch). Though I suspect that bit of business was sacrificed due to them being confined to a truncated opening act set. In any case, I was pleased to visit with them again.

The next band was fun., which is Nate Ruess (vocals; The Format), Andrew Dost (piano, keyboard, fluegelhorn, and glockenspiel; Anathello), Jack Antonoff (guitar; also currently with Steel Train) at the core and also currently has Will Noon (drums; Straylight Run), Nate Harold (bass) and Emily Moore (keys/guitar) as traveling with them, and to my surprise they were actually fun. I was surprised because when Aim & Ignite came out I tried to get into their tunes and it just didn’t work. Their live show is strong, however,  and I am still humming bit of the chorus to All The Pretty Girls almost a week later.

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And then it was time for Panic! at the Disco. The last time I wrote about them here was in February, when they played a special show in New York to introduce some of their newer tunes and promote their (unreleased at that time) third record, Vices & Virtues. Up until that point, the Panic!-focused internet (including me) had been collectively hovering over them like a hen with one chick, waiting anxiously for new tunes, and to see if the band had survived the departure of two of its members, including the chief lyricist. The songs I heard that show were promising; the record finally appeared in late March, and I loved it.  As of right now I can tell you: they have caught the thermals and are soaring.

As I noted after the show: now that was a rock concert. They started with Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind) and proceeded to power through a high-energy mix of old and new songs. I was especially pleased to finally hear Hurricane live, and also Memories; and as much as I love Always, I was a little bit sad that Northern Downpour didn’t make it into the set-list this time around.

It was also a visual spectacle. They have new steam-punk stage furniture – Spencer Smith’s kit was perched atop a raised platform that looked like it would be at home in 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, with matching old-fashioned pipe organs on either side -  and Brendon Urie threw himself all over the stage, incorporating some of the dance moves from their recent video for Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind). The rest of the band wasn’t standing still either, and the audience was definitely into it too.

Watching the pit sway and heave, I was both filled with joy to see people pogoing hard and grateful I had claimed a spot in safer territory. And, for those of you who may be keeping track of their tour covers, they did Careless Whisper (instrumental) by George Michael, Panic by The Smiths and Carry On My Wayward Son, by Kansas.

I don’t have that many pictures of them this time around, partially because I was on the balcony, and partially because I was busy trying to dance and not flail all over my neighbors. The following are a few of my favorites from the evening. The first one is from when Brendon Urie came up to the balcony to sing Always:

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And this one is probably the best picture of drummers in general and Spencer Smith in particular that I have yet managed to take, thanks to the spotlight rolling over him at just the right moment:

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And then, finally, a wider-screen shot of the view from the balcony, taken while Ian Crawford (guitar, left), Spencer Smith and Dallon Weekes (bass, right) were waiting for Brendon to return from his balcony visit, and which I like mainly for the atmospheric look of everything, including  the pinpoints of light visible in the pit:

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