I never had the seventh grade emo phase. I grew up listening to songs from every genre, but I had never really heard of Panic! At The Disco, except for a passing mention here and there from friends.
I’m not sure what possessed me to buy tickets to the show. I think it was hearing Brendon Urie sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”. After some Googling, I realized that Panic! At The Disco today is not the same one it was back in seventh grade, so I decided to take a chance on it.
I don’t remember when tickets went on sale, but I’m pretty sure it was the craziest ticket buying experience of my life. Figuring that if it didn’t sell out, it would almost sell out, my sister and I went online the second tickets went on sale. After a lot of waiting and not understanding what was going on with the website because so many people were on trying to get tickets, we ended up with four floor tickets, in the VIP section, row U, for the March 4 concert at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA (pronounced Woosta, not Worchester – trust me). We were promised some merch with our tickets, as well as a separate VIP entrance. No meet and greet though, and definitely no backstage access.
After tickets were bought, we had a few months to go until the concert, so life went on. Until finally it was March 4. One of us got sick last minute, so we were just three in the end. Doors opened at 6 p.m.; we arrived at the venue around 6:20 or so. Winter had decided to wreak some last minute havoc, as it was FREEZING – like 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Thankfully, since we had the separate VIP entrance, not even 5 minutes later, we were inside the venue and heading to our seats. We had to pick up our VIP merch by 9, but there was such a long line, we made a beeline to our seats and got the merch later on (which was pretty nice). Our seats were great. About 22 rows back from the stage, we had a good view.
The first band up was Saint Motel; they went on at 7 p.m. Having never heard of them, I wasn’t sure what to expect. They had their banner up and ready to go, along with all of their instruments, but that didn’t really give me a good idea of what they were about. I did see something that was kind of 70’s inspired, which is actually what their music sounded like to me. Their sound was very reminiscent of the disco era, and even the screens and their clothes reflected that. Their set was short, but fun. They had a great energy and I was up and dancing not even halfway into the first song, as were the girls who came with me. We stayed up and dancing for the rest of the set.
At 7:30, they were off the stage and 20 minutes later, MisterWives came on. One of the girls with me was very excited for this band. Like Saint Motel, I’d never heard of them, but was willing to give them a shot. Their energy was contagious. Their set had a lot of bright, flashing lights, which enhanced the performance instead of taking it over. They also had the audience on their feet and dancing, except they had a much bigger audience than Saint Motel, because so many more people had arrived in anticipation of seeing Brendon Urie onstage.
At 8:50 PM, 10 minutes before Panic was to go on stage, the screens all lit up with a countdown. There was also a dance-off that took place between a girl on the floor and a guy up in the bleachers. To be honest, I’m really not sure who won, but it was a fun distraction while waiting for the reason we were there to start.
As the countdown got closer and closer, the excitement in the room mounted, and I definitely felt it, too. When the clock hit 0, the show started and it was not subtle. Everyone came out on stage and immediately started performing the first song, as gold streamers were fired into the audience; I actually caught one. Let me tell you, I’ve been to a lot of concerts and I’ve seen a lot of great, energetic performers, this one was different. As far as performances go, this was definitely the best I have ever been to. The lighting was perfect (I kept wishing I had my camera and a photo pass) and the screens complemented the song being performed at the time. What surprised me the most was Brendon Urie. Where I was expecting to find someone who would just dance around a lot and not really focus on the music, I saw an amazing musician (who just happened to dance around a lot). My favorite moment was “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but I was up and dancing the entire show and having the time of my life.
The show wrapped up at 10:30; Panic! At The Disco was on stage for a solid hour and a half and in that entire amount of time, Brendon Urie spoke for less than a total of 5 minutes. The entire show was focused around giving the audience as enjoyable an experience as possible. Now I can finally say I saw Panic! At The Disco for the first time and loved it!
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Post by Karen Shalev
Have you recently seen Panic! At The Disco? Comment below.
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