Whatever you do, don’t call them emo.
Las Vegas four-piece Panic! At The Disco have spent so much of their time lately trying to distance themselves from the angst-ridden genre, it has almost been a case of 'thou dost protest too much'. Front man Brendon Urie even went as far in the music press recently as to say he saw the future path of the band following Radiohead’s direction. Hopefully this was a tongue in cheek statement, as imagining a band as full of vim and vigour as Panic! aping the electronic noodlings of eternal grouch Thom Yorke’s bunch would seem like such a waste.
Main support on the third evening of Panic’s four-night takeover of the Brixton Academy came from Swedish new-wavers The Sounds. The band’s energetic, melodic style is sometimes overshadowed by lead singer Maja Ivarsson’s penchant for flashing her knickers, but they warmed up the pogoing masses nicely.
If you have watched any of Panic!’s lavish, theatrical videos, then you probably knew what to expect from the stagecraft with scantily-clad women and circus ringleaders in make up prancing round in front of an ornate stage comprising windmills and trees. The band tore through material from debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out with almost impatient haste and even included two covers; Radiohead’s Karma Police - which is becoming a set regular - and Tonight, Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins. They were crisply executed, but probably foreign to most of the audience who were probably in nappies when they were released.
Urie certainly plays up to the adulation the band attract from hordes of teenage girls and the rally cry from the wonderfully-named Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off when he sings: 'Let’s get these teen hearts beating faster, faster' has never seemed more apt as when a couple of thousand Panicettes are on the verge of passing out.
The storming hour-long set displayed all the attributes of a band at the top of their game and perfectly showcased their brilliant debut album. The only cloud on the horizon for the boys now is the writing of the 'difficult' second album.
Las Vegas four-piece Panic! At The Disco have spent so much of their time lately trying to distance themselves from the angst-ridden genre, it has almost been a case of 'thou dost protest too much'. Front man Brendon Urie even went as far in the music press recently as to say he saw the future path of the band following Radiohead’s direction. Hopefully this was a tongue in cheek statement, as imagining a band as full of vim and vigour as Panic! aping the electronic noodlings of eternal grouch Thom Yorke’s bunch would seem like such a waste.
Main support on the third evening of Panic’s four-night takeover of the Brixton Academy came from Swedish new-wavers The Sounds. The band’s energetic, melodic style is sometimes overshadowed by lead singer Maja Ivarsson’s penchant for flashing her knickers, but they warmed up the pogoing masses nicely.
If you have watched any of Panic!’s lavish, theatrical videos, then you probably knew what to expect from the stagecraft with scantily-clad women and circus ringleaders in make up prancing round in front of an ornate stage comprising windmills and trees. The band tore through material from debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out with almost impatient haste and even included two covers; Radiohead’s Karma Police - which is becoming a set regular - and Tonight, Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins. They were crisply executed, but probably foreign to most of the audience who were probably in nappies when they were released.
Urie certainly plays up to the adulation the band attract from hordes of teenage girls and the rally cry from the wonderfully-named Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off when he sings: 'Let’s get these teen hearts beating faster, faster' has never seemed more apt as when a couple of thousand Panicettes are on the verge of passing out.
The storming hour-long set displayed all the attributes of a band at the top of their game and perfectly showcased their brilliant debut album. The only cloud on the horizon for the boys now is the writing of the 'difficult' second album.
