with Tigertown
Metro City
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
A stinking hot Wednesday and Australia Day eve saw Perth city alive and at its best as large crowds concentrated for a myriad of events. While Fringe shows were left, right and centre and “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen was doing his second show at Perth arena, Vegas pop rockers Panic! at the Disco were no exception when it came to drawing in the punters with this long since sold out show.
As the doors opened to Metro City a sea of mostly black clad twenty-somethings took to the front of the stage for supporting act Tigertown. The Sydneysiders led by vocalist and frontwoman Charlie Collins delivered a polished indie synth-pop set, warming the crowd and setting the tone for fans largely in anticipation for the main act. Ending their set with popular single Lonely Cities, Tigertown were a great choice as support, being a hit with fans and appetising their taste for something loud and engrossing.
With a longer than usual turnaround between the two acts and suspense now at a high, the lights darkened and the backing music finally stopped officially signalling Panic! at the Disco’s entrance.
A house full of loyal fans roared as the band took to their places on stage and started playing a short rendition of Misirlou. This followed straight into western inspired Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time from their latest album Death of a Bachelor.
Front man and natural born Vegas entertainer Brendan Urie, their sole surviving original member, was on fire with his powerhouse vocals and a shiny silver suit to boot. With hit after hit, Urie performed with passion and stamina as he swayed, kicked, jumped and jived around all corners of the stage all the while maintaining full control of his commanding internal instrument.
At one point during Miss Jackson Urie stood tall upon the drum riser, arms up in full rock pose. With the music now silent and the lights dimmed his next move saw him pull off the ultimate backflip. The cheers and screams that followed this and his occasional and impromptu high falsetto belts proved that it is Urie alone that carries the band.
The crowd was plugged into Urie and hanging off his every note throughout the set, feeding off his tenacity and energy. An embellishment to Panic!’s touring group included an instrument hopping three-piece horn section adding extra oomph to the hard hitting and energetic tracks.
It was only midway through the set and when the horn section left the stage for a few tracks that the set took a dip from the impact it had started with. These live instruments definitely added extra punch and depth to the overall sound that the now smaller band could not fill.
The set list mostly comprised of Panic!’s newer tracks and also featured their cover of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody from the Suicide Squad soundtrack which had everyone singing along.
The brakes were never applied as the pace and energy of the set remained frantic over the entire journey with almost no gaps between songs and very little banter from the front man. The band even skipped the encore with Urie declaring they’d have ‘more time to play more songs’. Perhaps a more downbeat song somewhere in the set would have gone down nicely for a breather and some sonic variety.
This seemed to have very little negative impact on the wowed crowd because in the end we were all just there to witness the superbly talented front man do what he loves and does best, entertain.
LIAM YAPP
Photos by Mikaela James Photography
