Panic At the Disco - Live in Chicago (CD/DVD)

Fueled By Ramen

January 11, 2009, 08:31 PM

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The boys from Panic At The Disco (formerly known as Panic! At The Disco) were launched into the music world’s psyche with their screwball single I Write Sins, Not Tragedies a few years back. They introduced themselves with top hats, tails, a video with a wedding gone awry and an epic chorus line, which the majority of the population hollered at the top of their lungs at that year’s Christmas party: ‘schnooglbum de bum bum GODDAM door’. While the band started out living in the shadow cast by being a Pete Wentz find, they wore their unfair naff tags with grace, biding their time. Soon enough, listeners and reviewers alike got the chance to actually listen to their album and cottoned on to the fact that they weren’t really EMO kids at all. Then they got famous.

One of my favourite YouTube clips from 2008 was of lead singer Brendon Urie’s live rendition of Third Eye Blind’s tortuously beautiful song Slow Motion at the Astoria in London. His live version of the song is conceivably better than the original, and I listened to it over and over again. So, it was with some expectation that I got my hands on their latest Live from Chicago DVD release. Urie’s poor choice of shirt for a live recording aside (pick the one that shows the least amount of sweat I’d say) the performance is really good. They don’t move around the stage at all really, but the crowd still responds and everyone seems to have a thoroughly toe-squeaking good time.

Having morphed from their original sound to a more classic rock base with their second album ‘Pretty.Odd.’, their live performance offers an excellent cross-section of the old and the new, managing the tempo with a finesse that contradicts their relatively young ages. Amidst the classics from their first album and current hits, Panic slot in an admirable array of material that tests and plays with new genres, continuously surprising at every turn.

A personal favourite from the performance is the non-too serious little song Folkin’ Around, which would be better suited for a Woodstock fireside jam than a mainstream concert in Chicago. An early rendition of Nine in the Afternoon gets the audience all ruffled up and ready to rock out, while I Write Sins, Not Tragedies – performed towards the end of the set - gets the loudest cheer of all (a signature song is a signature song for a reason it seems …)

Running for just under an hour, the performance maintains a machine gun pace from beginning to end, with the band members taking absolutely no time to recover between songs. On the down side, the interaction with the audience is kept to a minimum and while the audience scream and bellow throughout, it just seems like the band is singing at them, not for them. It’s the band and the fans as opposed to the magic of live music, which should technically transcend boundaries.

The dynamics of the band are obvious in the live recording. Lyricist and ex-lead singer Ryan Ross controls the tempo of the performance and provides the backbone, against which Urie can flit at will. The pair works well together and hold the audience’s attention at centre stage, leaving the rest of the band to get on with the business of making music. Released at the end of a successful 2008, the DVD was obviously meant as a bit of a stocking filler for the ardent fans and the extra bits and bobs that it comes with, like the on the road tour documentary, photo gallery, music videos and bonus audio tracks, makes the package a must for any Panic Officiando.


Tracks:

1. We're So Starving (Live From Chicago)
2. Nine In The Afternoon (Live From Chicago)
3. But It's Better If You Do (Live From Chicago)
4. Camisado (Live From Chicago)
5. She's A Handsome Woman (Live From Chicago)
6. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage (Live From Chicago)
7. Behind The Sea (Live From Chicago)
8. Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off (Live From Chicago)
9. I Constantly Thank God For Esteban (Live From Chicago)
10. That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed) (Live From Chicago)
11. There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet (Live From Chicago)
12. Folkin' Around (Live From Chicago)
13. I Write Sins Not Tragedies (Live From Chicago)
14. Northern Downpour (Live From Chicago)
15. Time To Dance (Live From Chicago)
16. Pas De Cheval (Live From Chicago)
17. Mad As Rabbits (Live From Chicago)
18. Do You Know What I'm Seeing? (Alternate Version)
19. Behind The Sea (Alternate Version)
20. She Had The World (Alternate Version)
21. The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know (Alternate Version)

http://www.myspace.com/panicatthedisco

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