Panic! at the Disco - HMV Institute, Birmingham, England (05.03.11)
Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 05.09.2011
Touring in support of third album Vices and Virtues, Panic! set an intimate venue on fire.
Panic! at the Disco Live!
HMV Institute, Birmingham, England
May 3rd 2011
Review by Daniel Wilcox
Setlist:
1. Ready to Go
2. But It's Better If You Do
3. The Ballad of Mona Lisa
4. Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
5. Trade Mistakes
6. Camisado
7. Hurricane
8. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage
9. Let's Kill Tonight
10. Always
11. Nine in the Afternoon
12. That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)
13. Memories
14. How Soon is Now (Smith cover)
15. I Write Sins, Not Tragedies
Encore
16. Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)
Losing two of its members, one of which was the prominent and most-talented songwriter of the group, can do many things to a band. It can be a rebirth, prompting the band to go on to bigger and better things, or on the other side of the coin it can be the beginning of the end. Vices and Virtues, the third and latest offering from Panic! at the Disco may not be “bigger and better” but it wasn't a step backwards either. It merely seemed to be an indication that “musical differences” was the legitimate reason the band tour itself in half in 2009. Less prominent were the quirky experimentations and more evident were the massive sing-along choruses. As one would expect, such songs translate extremely well to a live environment, particularly an intimate one such as the HMV Institute, that supposedly has a capacity of 600 people for such gigs, though first impressions suspect that there may be a few hundred more than that crammed in. The volume of noise, mostly high-pitched shrieking, when Panic emerge onto the stage around 9 o'clock would certainly support this thesis.
Arriving late enough to miss the support acts always ensures an uphill battle to get a decent few of the stage. Here it seems the people around the edge of the floor are mostly male, while the young females have amassed more centrally. Thankfully, they're all quite short so a good view isn't too hard to come by on this night, that is until the band launch straight into “Ready to Go” and the entire room begins bouncing as one. The track features one of the biggest choruses the band has come up with to date and for that reason serves as great choice for opener, immediately energizing a crowd that had been growing more and more impatient by the second. The only way to top it then was surely “But It's Better If You Do,” which sends the crowd into something of a manic frenzy. The band sound tight and frontman Brendan Urie is vocally sound. More importantly his quirky and often bizarre ramblings in between songs has the majority of the crowd clinging onto his every word with their sweaty palms.
The intro to Vices and Virtues lead single “...Mona Lisa” elicits an expectedly riotous response but the excitement of the crowd isn't as prolonged as you might expect. More effective a crowd-pleaser is “Lying is the Most Fun...,” a track the band describes as another “oldie.” The setlist, you may've noticed, is comprised predominantly of newer material, as you'd expect from a band on a promotional tour six weeks removed from a new album's release. Less featured is 2008's Pretty. Odd., which is perhaps even less surprising considering it was this change in direction that unsettled Urie and drummer Spencer Smith, leading to the departure of Ryan Ross and Jon Walker. This does mean, however, that tonight's audience, and others I'd presume, miss out on some of the band's best tracks such as “Northern Downpour,” “When the Day Met the Night” and “Mad as Rabbits.” The singles “Nine in the Afternoon” and “That Green Gentleman” are more than well-received, suggesting I wasn't the only one there hoping for more from the second album.
Without question, however, the “oldies” go down the best. “Camisado” and “...Martyrdom...” evoke riotous response, and while new stuff such as “Hurricane” and “Memories” provoke enthusiastic sing-alongs, you don't find yourself as energized. A cover of the Smiths' “How Soon is Now” serves as a great lead-in to the band's closing number, “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies,” unquestionably the band's biggest hit to date (and their first). It's the perfect show-closure (encore aside) and it highlights the strength of Urie's vocal as he's still able to hit all the key notes. The touring members of the band have less success with the backing vocals throughout the show but they compliment Urie well enough and more than hold their own with the bass and guitar.
The band doesn't keep people waiting long for the encore, as they're offstage and back on again within a couple of minutes, but it's a bittersweet encore as we're only treated to one track, “Nearly Witches.” It does provide perhaps the biggest sing along of the night and one of the best vocals, but an extra song would've been nice, preferably one of those “oldies.” But it's a great end to a night that highlights the fact that regardless of tribulations the band may go through behind the scenes, when they're on stage they can always be relied upon to deliver.
"Ready to Go" - Panic! at the Disco
The 411: Musically, vocally, and personally, the band performed above and beyond expectations. Most importantly, the crowd was massively into what Panic! at the Disco were offering. An intimate setting such as the HMV Institute serves the perfect setting for their flirtatious brand of baroque pop making this one of the most exciting shows I've attended all year. As impressive visually as it was on the ears, this is evidence that Panic! will always have a future as long as they can please crowds the way they did on this night.
