Panic at the Disco Pray for the Wicked Album Art Thumbnail

Frontman Brendon Urie celebrates his truth with a new generation of fans.

This commodity is set up to appear inside Outcome 119 of Twin Cities Gay Scene mag.

Photo by Jake Chamseddine from @panicatthedisco on Instagram

The mysterious touring band of Panic! At the Disco slowly ascended from nether the phase, playing an atmospheric overture in darkness. All of a sudden, a modest trap door opened in front of them. Sole official ring member Brendon Urie literally launched out of it, surrounded by a burst of silverish streamers.

Urie strutted beyond the Panic logo-shaped stage singing "(Fuck A) Silver Lining" similar a conquering hero making his proud render. Fitting, since Panic! At the Disco is fresh off releasing a United states of america #1 anthology; final calendar month's Pray for the Wicked. The Minneapolis stop at Target Center on Wednesday was opening night for the 68-date Pray for the Wicked Tour.

Photograph by DerekPlease.com (Taken during Death of a Bachelor Tour)

Opening nighttime jitters? Non-real. Loftier-energy fails to describe the prove that followed. Urie said a quick howdy to the crowd before keeping the chaos going with the B-52'southward-sampling "Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time." Despite the track beingness a deep cut from Panic's 2016 Death of a Available LP, the audience erupted in the sort of concert sing-along ordinarily reserved for an act's biggest hits. This trend held throughout the dark; fans were audibly singing along to every song, including a surprise Bonnie Raitt encompass.

Panic! At the Disco has been releasing albums to connected success since 2005, but the band'due south audience has ever been primarily composed of teenagers. These days, that's a whole new generation: Generation Z. The Millennials that were teens when A Fever You Can't Sweat Out debuted mostly stayed home. In fact, information technology was rare to spot whatsoever adults except parents and chaperones.

The setlist seemed catered to the youthful, hyped-upwards crowd. Only a few slower songs were performed, and Brendon virtually exclusively pulled from the band's 2010s itemize. Only two '00s cuts were played throughout the night; "Nine in the Afternoon" (2008) and "I Don't Write Sins I Write Tragedies" (2005).

Photo by Jake Chamseddine from @panicatthedisco on Instagram

The loftier-energy crowd went into hysterics early on when Urie sang about wearing high heels, specially when he pulled out his falsetto. He seemed to take pleasure from this response, after utilizing his highest pitch more often than the original songs called for it.

Behind the stage, an array of massive, vertical video screens provided visual accompaniment to each song. "LA Devotee" featured Instagram-filtered looks at Los Angeles. Graphics for 2011 unmarried "Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)" hypnotized the crowd with iTunes Visualizer-like patterns.

Pray for the Wicked Tour was too noticeably more personal than previous tours. Brendon Urie even dedicated a vocal to his mother. "This is a vocal I wrote for my mom, thanks, mom," he said, earlier launching into the new track "Hey Expect Ma, I Fabricated Information technology." The video screens featured a debaucherous puppet version of Urie living large in Hollywood. That puppet was a fan favorite. In the venue's vestibule, he was featured within a custom fortune teller machine; sort of like Zoltar Speaks from the flick Large.

His dedication to the LGBTQIA+ community felt more than personal, too. Brendon recently came out as pansexual after years of being a vocal and exceptional ally. He proudly pulled Pride flags of all varieties from the audience during "Girls/Girls/Boys," his 2013 anthem dedicated to queer fans. It is ane of Panic's nearly demanding songs vocally, but Urie sounded stronger than ever while draped in rainbow flags. The standout operation was made fifty-fifty more spectacular past the crowd, equally they held newspaper of different rainbow colors over their smartphone flashlights, which created a rainbow array beyond Target Heart. "You lot are gorgeous," Urie proclaimed afterward.

The marathon 28-song-long setlist felt a bit indulgent at times, but the charismatic Urie pulled it off. Even songs he could cut, like deep cuts "Coincidental Matter," "Nicotine," and "Crazy=Genius," made for engaging performances that highlighted the immense quality of Panic'south career catalog.

Photo by Jake Chamseddine from @panicatthedisco on Instagram

Despite the tour'due south title, and performances of songs like "Hallelujah," "This Is Gospel," and "Say Amen (Saturday Night)," Panic! At the Disco didn't feature much religious imagery in the testify. An exception was a video of Urie trolling around a graveyard in demonic prosthetic makeup during "Emperor's New Dress."

It felt like the bulk-teenage audience was at church building, though. They literally evangelized during "Hallelujah," hands swaying in the air in devotion. Their favorite frontman noticed. At the end of the performance, Brendon Urie simply yelled one word… "Church building!"

"Is that for me? You drew this? Holy shit," Urie said while holding fan fine art over his confront. Crowd interaction like that feels and so natural with Panic! At the Disco shows. During "Gold Days," a fan threw roses on the stage. Urie gripped them between his teeth while trying to sing the span. He joked information technology wasn't "sounding practiced," and gave them to the drummer. Moments like that were more special than anything Panic could accept planned during rehearsals.

The height of fan interaction came when Urie walked through the Target Center floor sections singing "Death of a Bachelor," giving literal pregnant to lyrics similar "I'chiliad walking the long route" as he made his way to the b-stage.

Photo past DerekPlease.com (Taken during Death of a Bachelor Tour)

From there he boarded a flying piano, where he performed a medley of the Bonnie Raitt encompass "I Can't Make You Love Me" and a new Panic! At the Disco ballad, "Dying In LA." The latter really showed off the strength of his Broadway-tested pipes (he had a headlining run in Kinky Boots terminal year).

Panic! At the Disco later paid individual tribute to Cyndi Lauper. The legendary popular singer wrote the music and lyrics for the Kinky Boots musical. Brendon Urie had a nail covering Lauper's classic hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." He acknowledged his audience's youth, and said, "If it'due south a little old school and you don't know who [Lauper] is, hopefully, you know this song."

They knew it. I audition member even threw her bra on stage. The functioning was crazy. All the female members of the Panic! At the Disco touring ring united to jam together, while Urie sang the song with no lyrical alternations. Distorted VHS visuals of the original 1983 music video played on stage screens.

The '80s love kept on with "Dancing's Not A Crime," a bombastic popular-rock cutting from the new Pray for the Wicked album. Urie paid tribute to Michael Jackson equally he moonwalked and sang, "I'grand a moonwalker, I'one thousand like MJ up in the clouds." This track took on more of a sociopolitical tone live, with Urie giving intense emphasis to the line "whatsoever they tell yous" earlier declaring "dancing'due south not a crime."

The King of Pop-referencing song was the perfect segue into "Miss Jackson," a 2011 striking from Panic and Lolo that references Janet Jackson and her iconic single "Nasty." During the center eight, Brendon indulged himself in an interesting drum solo that featured vocal samples from Christopher Walken'due south 2000 Saturday Night Live skit "More Cowbell." Once that randomness was over, he landed a truly shocking backflip off the platform the drum kit was on.

"I ever say this simply information technology's truthful. I wish I wrote this song," confessed Urie, before leaning into his famous encompass version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." It was a welcome carryover from the Death of a Bachelor Tour. It'south something Panic! At the Disco is known for now; the studio version is even included on the band's Apple Music Essentials playlist.

Photo by DerekPlease.com (Taken during Decease of a Bachelor Tour)

The fact it was opening nighttime of the Pray for the Wicked Tour was occasionally evident, and Urie was quick to confess the prove only had a few rehearsals. The setlist existence six songs longer than their last tour felt like a workshopping chemical element of sorts. Perhaps Panic! At the Disco gauging audition reactions before settling on a final setlist.

It was not immediately apparent we were waiting for the encore, in one case that time came. No usual simulated-out "goodnight" was said before Brendon Urie and company left the stage.

Subsequently a few minutes, Panic came back for a three-song encore. Surprisingly, Pray for the Wicked lead unmarried "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" was the best cutting from it. The relatively tame studio version is not my favorite on the anthology, but the live rendition was hard stone and seriously fun. It actually made a Wednesday night experience similar a Saturday dark.

Earlier Panic! At the Disco ended the night with "Victorious," Urie took one more moment to tell the audience how special they were to him, and to humanity equally a whole. It was a 18-carat and touching end to one of the most ambitious arena concerts the Twin Cities has seen in a while.

What's your favorite Panic! At the Disco vocal? Tweet me! @DerekPlease

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Source: https://derekplease.com/blog/2018/7/12/review-panic-at-the-disco-opens-pray-for-the-wicked-tour-in-minneapolis

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