It’s a young crowd tonight and by young I mean that Barrowland has been invaded by teenyboppers. Fourteen year old girls, in that awkward stage of rebelling and dressed in emo rock outfits, scurry about in packs of two or three. Excitement is scrawled across their faces, literally in neon paint. Some have indulged in a few sneaky vodkas disguised in water bottles, others are dressed in mime outfits and some are huddled under the wings of overprotective mothers. Older people are chilling at the back with a beer, some sing along to Panic! but the rest are just parents having a few drinks.
Predictably, Panic! come on stage just after nine and the crowd screams at a piercingly painful level. “Jeez, were we really loud at that age?!” I think we were but that’s why it was fun.
I remember hearing years ago that Panic spent all the ticket money on staging and pyrotechnics to make their first tour as dramatic as possible. So I’m disappointed at the shabby stage crammed with painted cardboard cut-outs that a five year old could have made. Although this does suggest a more down-to-earth Panic!, there are no fireworks and the whole set is far from exciting.
The band itself only has two original members; singer Brandon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith, who put on a good show with their “guest” musicians. Urie’s vocals have certainly come a long way since their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, and he proves this again and again with falsetto singing after every verse. Although impressive to start with, his high pitched squeals quickly become annoying.
The old school fans (like me) bounce into action when original songs are played but I am also quietly impressed by some of their new tunes. They are catchy and make for easy listening, but I can’t help thinking that they are setting a bad example for their young fans with songs like New Perspective (Google the lyrics). But I suppose their music has always been about sex which teenagers love so I can see where their thinking lies.
The show was entertaining, especially when the band took their tops off for a rendition of I Believe In A Thing Called Love by the Darkness. However I had this constant uneasiness as if I was intruding on a 12 year olds birthday party where the entertainment was far too adult for their ears. In the end, I spent more time reminiscing on being a tweenie at gigs than I did actually enjoying Panic! At The Disco’s performance.
