Brendon Urie delivers incendiary performances as frontman for Panic! at the Disco has become an understatement in the wake of part of the stage combusting during a Sept. 14 concert in St. Paul, Minn. Urie continued to dance momentarily without noticing the flames as fans captured video of the small fire being extinguished. It was a fitting metaphor for the singer, who has managed to fly as close as he can to the sun with his band without singeing his wings.
That’s more of a credit to Urie’s preternatural ability to handle success and develop as an artist while in the spotlight than providence. What started out as an ambitious band formed by four friends in Las Vegas has evolved into a showcase for Urie’s talents as an all-around entertainer. Panic! hits Las Vegas this week as part of a 40-date tour, with opening acts Marina and Jake Wesley Rogers.
Urie gives his all at every performance. The setlist includes all 12 songs from latest album Viva Las Vengeance, sandwiched between two generous helpings of hits from the band’s catalog. Urie is dedicated to creating music that will be performed onstage rather than become forgettable filler to package with a few singles.
“A big portion of the time I write songs, I’m thinking about the live performance, what the energy is behind that,” he said recently on podcast Song Exploder. “That’s really kind of been in the glue for as long as we’ve been doing Panic. I mean, I’ve always wanted to be performance based to a certain degree and, like, theatrical as all hell.”
Viva Las Vengeance is a coherent song cycle that celebrates both Urie’s pre-adulthood period and the artists he heard while growing up in a musical household. The tracks are neither derivative nor overtly influenced. “Don’t Let the Light Go Out” just sounds like Barry Manilow meets The Strokes, in a good way.
Panic’s seventh studio album has its share of Brian Wilson and Queen influences, with Urie creating stellar harmonies alongside production partners Jake Sinclair and Mike Viola. His flair for the theatrical has been long in development, but Viva Las Vengeance feels cinematic and conceptually innovative. The title track injects bounce from Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’” with punk spirit before Urie’s urgent vocal paints a portrait of the artist as a young creator.
Urie limited the recording of Viva Las Vengeance to eight tracks, not only preventing him from endlessly tinkering with songs but also causing him to proactively develop ideas. Tasteful dashes of Cheap Trick and Cars influences surface here and there, as do twin-guitar leads à la Thin Lizzy and Jim Steinman production homages, but it’s Urie’s vision that ties it all together cohesively and avoids pastiche pasta.
It’s Urie’s development as a showman that’s brought Panic! at the Disco from an embryonic emo state to becoming one of the best live draws in the concert industry. He’s this era’s Freddie Mercury, even without the recently tattooed image of Queen’s late singer on his left forearm.
T-Mobile Arena, 7 p.m. Oct. 21, starting at $30. axs.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. As part of your subscription, each week via email you will receive the latest edition of Las Vegas Magazine, full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.
