By the time PANIC! AT THE DISCO hit the stage tonight, Shepherds Bush Empire is positively throbbing, both with the over-excitable tween crowd and a good hearty helping of mid-to-late-twentysomethings who have most likely spent the previous hours defending them as a ?just a guilty pleasure, mate?. As the lights drop, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith (alongside their cavalcade of not-credited-but-still-entirely-essential comrades) take to the stage to ear pitching screams and waste little time in getting things shaking with an explosive rendition of ?Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)?. Panic! are – for the most part – exceptionally clean cut tonight and put as few notes wrong as Brendon does hairs out of place.
Urie?s confidence on stage has developed exponentially since Punktastic last caught these boys in their previous incarnation and he?s no longer the awkward, introverted frontman he once was. Tonight he is overflowing with confidence and charisma, enjoying trading banterous blows with the crowd as much as he is performing. With a setlist that largely ignores their 08 sophomore effort ?Pretty. Odd.?, tonight is a chance for the boys to showcase a plethora of tracks from their new record ?Vices & Virtues?, which sit comfortably next to the pace and pomposity of ?Camisado?, ?Lying Is The Most Fun?? et al.
Overall, it?s a rounded effort from the Panic! lads, but a misplaced Smiths cover followed by a stale rendition of ?Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)? as the solitary encore song put a damper on an otherwise largely successful and enjoyable evening.
ANDY RITCHIE
All photography by MARYAM HASSAN. Click here for the full gallery.