You’ve got to give it up for Pete Wentz – he really knows how to grab a fan base, tip them upside down, and wait for all their change to fall from their pockets. Despite the majority of the upper deck being curtained off (perhaps due to the high ticket price), swarms of teenage girls flocked to Rod Laver Arena for a triple bill of emo-pop-rock – Cobra Starship, The Academy Is…, and main draw Panic at the Disco. Everywhere you looked, there were young girls wearing heaped mascara and Panic at the Disco t-shirts, and those who weren’t clothed in Decaydance wear could wait in the long lines at the merchandise stands to grab a shirt in one of the many designs available.
With *Rick Ross*’ Hustlin blaring out of the speakers Cobra Starship burst on stage, kicking things off with The City Is A War. Frontman Gabe Saporta was trying to look as young as possible wearing a teal zip-up hoodie, white jeans, a trucker’s cap and Vans. However he looked more like he was playing rock-star then actually being one, as he gyrated on stage, swang his microphone around, threw clothing at keytarist *Victoria Asher*’s face, and jumped into the audience. Saporta urged parents to join with their kids and chant “Yeah Yeah Yeah!” before playing The Church Of Hot Addiction, but everyone inside the Tennis Centre threw their cobras up for Snakes On A Plane (Bring It). Bringing on William Beckett from The Academy Is… to sing the hooks, the track wascheesy pop fun and easily the highlight of their set.
If I had a dollar, I would bet that William Beckett has a Rolling Stones DVD in his suitcase. The frontman for pop-punks The Academy Is… power strutted his way through the band’s set in an obvious homage to Mick Jagger. Plugging their new album Fast Times at Barrington High throughout, the band played a rocking set with a mixture of new and old tunes to the crowd’s approval. All cameras and mobile phones were pointed at the stage for We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands, and Everything We Had had the crowd swaying their hands from side to side, out of time. Finally, it was revealed that track About A Girl was originally written about Beckett’s ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Rice. Overall, the band’s performance was solid, but bordered on the short side.
After a lengthy wait, as roadies set up microphones wrapped in flowers and Persian rugs, the lights went out and the audience screamed. With all members of Panic at the Disco wearing smart dress clothes (not a T-shirt to be seen), they kicked off their set with We’re So Starving, followed up by single Nine In The Afternoon. The set bounced back and forth between new material off current album Pretty. Odd. and debut A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, with Alice In Wonderland inspired graphics playing on the video screen behind the stage throughout. Behind The Sea had the bubble machines switched on for further visual enhancement, and it was refreshing to hear a slightly stripped back version of I Constantly Thank God For Esteban thanks to Brandon Urie’s acoustic guitar. Urie’s voice boomed through the PA to the back of Rod Laver Arena, showcased best during She’s A Handsome Woman.
As strong as Urie’s voice may be, it’s stunning what little stage presence he and the rest of the band exhibits. Urie didn’t speak to the audience for over thirty minutes, only bellowing in when guitarist Ryan Ross let the crowd know that Urie was single (perhaps only until their tour of Sweden ends). Ross constantly asked if the crowd were still having fun, almost as if he needed to be reassured or the show could stop at any second. Simply put, Panic at the Disco played their songs, tune after tune, engaged in a tiny bit of banter and left the stage. For an arena show, it felt lacking and needed some more showmanship from the main artist of the evening.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. As the crowd threw glowsticks at the stage and sung along with Brandon Urie’s solo performance of Time To Dance, it was clear that it would go down as one of the best night’s ever in many of the attendees minds. That really is the brilliance of Panic at the Disco’s live sets – they were going to be applauded simply for showing up, something that plenty of bands in this town would love to have.
