Panic! At The Disco's Pop Science

Panic! At The Disco w/ A R I Z O N A and Hayley Kiyoko
KeyArena, Seattle, WA
08.10.18

While most of the world left the emo scene back in the 2000’s, some big names from the era have managed to slip through the cracks—still producing music, playing shows, and keeping their fans interested. One such band, Panic! at the Disco (aka just Brendon Urie now), has held their place on the Hot Topic t-shirt wall, and even managed to sell out Key Arena—yes, it really is 2018.

As fans continued to stream into one of the arena’s final shows, opener Hayley Kiyoko took the stage with a loud, “ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 20-gay-teen,” which was, of course, met with lots of cheering. No stranger to the Seattle area, Kiyoko’s fans go crazy over her bright pop sound and charismatic attitude every single time she hits a local stage.

Next up was A R I Z O N A. An electronic rock band with a slightly slower and more mellow tone than Kiyoko, they still captivated the crowd just the same.

After being around for over a decade, headliner Panic! came prepared with a show that turned out to be nothing less than a full-on arena tour production. Bright lights, elaborate set changes, pyrotechnics—you name it, Panic! probably used it. All this, paired with six albums worth of music, set the night up for obvious success.

But after being around for so long, and changing their sound so dramatically from album to album, the crowd was bound to be split between new and old fans. The setlist bounced between the albums enough to keep everyone interested, but it did lean a little more towards the music Urie has recently released, as can be expected for a tour supporting the latest drop.

Opening with “(Fuck a) Silver Lining,” Urie’s showmanship shined. He happily danced around the stage, adding in lots of his infamous falsetto moments into older bits and wowing fans with a newfound pop sound.

Panic! is one of those bands where you don’t realize how much of their music you know until suddenly you recognize nearly every song on the setlist. From “Hallelujah” and “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” to “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and “Miss Jackson,” they’ve racked up the hits over the years.

Though this tour felt like a Panic! at the Disco reunion for some fans, and a brand new fresh show for others, Urie has his live performance down to a science—one that’s energetic and captivating from the first notes to the last.

Review and photos by Lulu Dawson

Panic! At The Disco