LIVE Report: Lights, Nostalgia, Action!

Panic! At The Disco dazzles fans with lights, loud and love at Metropolis

By Saturn De Los Angeles

When I learned that Panic! at the Disco would be performing in Montreal, I experienced a jolt of anticipation. My fond memories of Panic! was framed through their music video, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". Everyone was delicately adorned in two-tone coloured formal outfits with shiny long hair, and intricate eyeliner. Seeing Panic! live was a no-brainer until I underestimated the line-up outside Metropolis.

It was long, stretching approximately four street blocks to the nearby Saint-Laurent metro station in the blistering negative-ten-degree Celsius cold wind. Teenage girls, young adults, and parents kept each other company, hollering at any given moment as they marched inside.

As the lights in the venue dimmed by 8:00 PM, our ears were delighted to some hear musical treats to kick off the night. With music provided by the X Ambassadors from New York, and The Colourist from California, each having a half-hour set, the pair got everyone swooning. Melodic, ambient, beautiful.

But that was incomparable to what Panic! had in store.

It was only by a quarter before 10:00 when we were wowed with blinding but colourful lights. So much light that "Vegas Lights" seemed fitting as an appetizer to satisfy a very musically-hungry crowd. Upon observation, you can sense that the l'amour was mutual between the fans and band as they both took turns singing every verse to the song. But it was evident that the fans wanted more, and the crowd got what they wished for.

The magic unfolds when Brendon Urie's voice suddenly peaks from punk rock to an operatic high-pitched voice many times in songs such as "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" and "Let's Kill Tonight". It can make anyone's spine shiver upon hearing it. Falling down on your knees is an understatement.

Each song in Panic!'s set list (20 tracks in total) scaffolds on one another musically in building a cohesive and euphoric live music experience. Just like a full course meal, more recent songs are heard in the first half. But if you want to go back in time, you should stick around towards the end for the desert to hear classics such as "Nine in the Afternoon".

Rocking out rock melodies, with a healthy dose of guitar riffs, hypnotizing drums, power vocals and a loud and lovely crowd. Panic! was a nostalgia trip come true for myself, and a moment of euphoria experienced by the fans.

--Saturn De Los Angeles is part of the CJLO News team and hosts Shibuya Crossing every Friday at 9:00 AM