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Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com
Brendon Urie, with new Panic! At the Disco guitarist Ian Crawford in the background.
Published Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009 | 4:52 p.m.
Updated Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 | 7:01 p.m.
The current and recently departed members of the Las Vegas band Panic! At the Disco might not fully appreciate this analogy, but there was a time when you had to flip a vinyl album to finish the music. There was a break, midway, built right into the finished product, at which point you manually turned the disc over to hear it play out.
Panic has forged such a break, perhaps unwittingly, by splitting its lineup and creating a tangible shift in its heretofore rapid-rising career. Announced last month was the splicing of Panic with the departure of two members who have been on board for much of the band’s worldwide success. Gone are guitarist, vocalist and primary lyricist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, who have formed a new band called The Young Veins (TYV, as I’m sure they’ll be called by acronym-embracing music writers). Left to carry on with a refurbished Panic are singer Brendon Urie and founding member and drummer Spencer Smith. Replacing Ross and Walker, in what many fans will view as a sort of all-star lineup, are nimble guitarist Ian Crawford of The Cab, a Vegas band that has opened for Panic over the years; and bassist Dallon Weekes of The Brobecks, the Salt Lake City indie rockers who last year were named the city’s top indie pop band by Salt Lake’s alt-weekly City Weekly.
These guys are already accomplished musicians and have many fans, is the point, and the new lineup was unveiled for an appreciative-if-curious crowd at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel last night as Panic opened for No Doubt. The result brings to mind the title of Panic’s latest outcome. “Pretty. Odd.”
The absence of Ross, in particular, was felt. Ever since Panic ascended to worldwide fame and acclaim with the release of 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” Urie and Ross were the band’s recognized co-ringleaders, the public left-right combo that evoked style and sly humor, as shown in the video for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” featuring a fun, highly styled circus/wedding theme. When the inspired piece was named Video of the Year at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, it helped cement Panic as one of rock’s top emerging acts. But last night, Urie carried the new Panic mostly on his own as the new lineup worked through material familiar to Panic fans. “I Write Sins” was in there, along with “Nine in the Afternoon” in a 40-minute set. The band came off capably, and loud of course (shows at the new Joint are consistently booming), but Urie’s vocals were inconsistent, his mix of crooning and shouting frequently soaring off-pitch.
Upon taking the stage in a charcoal-colored suit that whimsically reminded of the days of the Rat Pack (and also reminded of the type of look favored by The Killers’ Brandon Flowers), Urie referred to his hometown as “Lost Wages.” I’ll give him this -- only a Vegas local gets away with using that trite term in a public setting. A favorite visual moment was when Urie talked of the band “starting here five years ago in my grandma’s living room, just chillin’” and, in a handy piece of news for band stalkers, he offered that the bushy-maned Crawford lives on Mount Charleston.
Even as former Panic member Smith says all parties remain friendly fans of each others’ bands, there is bound to be continued fallout among factions of The Young Veins and new Panic factions. Both bands released new singles on MySpace on the same day last month (Panic’s “New Perspective” will be on the soundtrack for for the movie “Jennifer’s Body,” out Aug. 25). Given the raucous audience response last night, I get the sense that Panic’s following will allow time for growth in the band’s live act. As long as the fan favorites are churned out, the audiences will be sated. But a more important order of business will be Panic’s new album. While The Killers, Panic’s Vegas contemporaries, have created creative space to experiment with styles at the expense of uniformly positive reviews, a substandard Panic album with this lineup could cause … well, you know. Suffice to say, on the next long play, there’s not a lot of room for B-side material.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.
Good article, Thanks.
Why is it that PATD keeps getting compared to the Killers? It doesn't take a genius to realize they're nothing alike.
I'm pretty sure everyone knows that splitting up wasn't the best decision on a bussiness point of view, but i personally am very proud of them doing what will make them happiest despite that. and i don't think panic choose that line-up to collect fans: dallon doesn't have THAT many fans, and ian has always been friends with the band and just happened to be band-less at the moment, so..
Also, people who don't actually follow the band don't get this but brendon makes his voice sound like that on purpose. i've seen LOTS of videos of his performances and i can asure you he could sing perfectly every song live, but he tries to change them (in his own dorky way) so that fans can get something different from the show than from listening to the albums (in fact you could watch 2 shows of the same tour and the same song would probably sound different at certain point).
Finally, i would like to express my agreement with camilaxross's comment.
Uhhhh, this just in ... PATD dropped the exclamation point from the band's title. About 7 months ago.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/in...
The band's backdrop at last night's show at the Joint included the exclamation point.
You can believe the drape, which shows the exclamation point in two photos in the gallery accompanying this story. Or, you can trust the band's own Web site:
http://www.panicatthedisco.com/
get over it seriously..the whole Ryan Ross thing..its boring already. He's just a kid who copies The Beatles..his style and lyrics are so desperately TRYING to be The Beatles. Don't get me wrong, I wish the kid well, but he needs to tap into his own personal creativity more. Panic! will go on just fine without him, maybe even better with no more Beatles copy cat songs. Yes Ross helped write lyrics and bringing a style with Brendon to Panic!, but you write as though this is impossible with anyone else...obvious you haven't done your research into the new band members. Dallon Weekes is not just a bass player..in fact he's more known for his amazing singing talent and songwriting..and maybe if you read some of his lyrics to his songs, or checkout a Youtube video, you will see he has a dark, romantic style, and a comical personality. If he stays on board with Panic! permanently, it may bring an even better chemistry amongst the other members than before.. be optimistic, and do your research better before you write an article talking crap about people
They're garbage anyway.
Actually, THIS is Garbage:
http://www.garbage.com/home.php
Hee Hee. Nice.
gawd awful...band...i had to do security for there shows and it was some of the longest nights of my life rehash...gay crap....best thisng to come out of nevada is 7 seconds and that wa a long time ago...at least the Killers are interesting
@ Rocco
You are my hero for having to sit through that rubbish and not killing anyone. What self control you have. I bet you were the only man at that show without guy liner.
Rocco could start his own band -- The Not Killers.