Panic! at the Disco concert review and photos

Panic! At The Disco returned to the Xcel Energy Center Wednesday September 14th on their Viva Las Vengeance Tour for their third arena performance in the Twin Cities in the past five years. The group previously played Xcel in 2017 and the Target Center in 2018.

The crowd size was down from their two previous Minnesota stops as many artists are touring this summer after a two-year absence and are fighting for consumer dollars. However, the energy level was high among the crowd in a pyrotechnic-filled show.

In fact, the fireworks caused a small fire on the back right side of the stage that was quickly distinguished by the staff and unnoticed by many fans.

Panic! At The Disco started the night strong with Say Amen (Saturday Night) and Hey, Look Ma, I Made It before playing the whole Viva Las Vengeance album. The new release hasn’t picked up much traction and with fans’ listening habits switching from albums to streaming, many of the songs were unfamiliar to their fans.

Lead singer Brendon Urie should have let listeners into the background of these relatively unknown songs by providing information of the thought process of the new material.

Urie, who has more range than almost any male singer, showed off his skills as they stepped into high gear after the 12-song Viva Las Vengeance album, playing five of their biggest hits to close out the show.

I Write Sins Not Tragedies, which is now 16 years-old, provided the fans with a massive sing-along and Panic! Finished with their biggest hit, High Hopes, which spent an entire year of the Billboard Top 100 chart.

Panic performed all the songs that fans wanted to hear, but one could argue that staggering the new tunes in the setlist, would have made for a better show.

However, fans had plenty of fun singing and dancing throughout the night. Ticket buyers in Milwaukee the following day and in Chicago two days later were not so fortunate as the band had to cancel those two stops, due to a COVID-19 breakout.

Opener Jake Wesley Rogers showed that he is a name to watch. The 25-year-old drew comparisons to David Bowie, Elton John and Queen and his likeability with fans, many of who were new to his act, could pay off in the future.

C. Monter