PANIC! Live in London.
In a humid summer night in London, in a jammed packed Islington Academy with barely any space to breathe the lucky 800 PANIC! fans that were able to find tickets for the show are hyped up to get what should be a spectacular show on the road with two full hours of just PANIC! music. About 2 minutes passed the hour, the lights go off in the small venue with the crowd shouting and screaming knowing that a special show will be going underway in just seconds. After a few seconds of silence pass, a guitar strum is heard through the PA system bringing the fans back to their feet, when the crowd quites down a little bit the guitar note stops and a bruising metal breakdown and drummer Joey Fallon pounding on the skins, giving "
MySpace Whore" a run for its money as the best opener for a PANIC! concert. As the head pounding breakdown goes the lights in the venue start to change different colors showing off the whole crowd on stage doing their thing, when the breakdown stops the lights flash on the full band receiving an amazing reception from the fans in London. As soon as Ryan Ross Hernandez starts to sing the first stanza of PANIC!'s fan-appreciation song, "
Fake Our Smiles, Baby, Half-Dead", the whole audience begins to sing it with him.
"
Last summer we took threes across the board
But by fall we were a cover story "now in stores"
Make us poster child's for your scene
But we are not making an acceptance speech
I found the safest place to keep all our old mistakes
Every dot com's refreshing for a twitter update"
As the song progresses, bassist Nick Asher is seen doing various guitar throws and twirls. When Ashley Perry sings the last line of the chorus all the instruments all of a sudden stop letting the whole crowd sing a whole stanza of the song.
"
Ryan and I can take your problems away with a nod and a wave
Of my hand, 'cause that's just the kind of kids that we are
The only thing we haven't done yet is die
And it's me and our plus one at the afterlife"
All PANIC! members present sing a line dedicated to the night's audience.
"
Crowds are won and lost and won again
But our hearts beat for the London diehards"
With a scream from Nick, continues the fast-paced track ending it with another metal breakdown like the previous one when the song started. The band seem more energetic than ever before.
Ashley: "London! Let's see how good your memories are."
The next song starts with guitarist Gabriel Hunter playing the quick riff of “
Snitches Get Stitches And Talkers Get Walkers, Since Then Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?” while every other member joins in one by one until they break into the song. At this moment you know what you are going to get for the rest of the show, and the London crowd is just about as good as it gets for a live show, even if they barely have space to breathe. The London audience singing every note high and low with Ashley and Ryan.
The song then leads the band into to-date still biggest hit chart wise "
The Darkest Days Are Ahead of Us", shows this as the crowd's echo of the chorus fills the whole arena. Every member of the band does everything they can to have the crowd in the palm of their hands for the entire show, like the opening track this one shows once again the amazing drum skills Joey Fallon has, even if he is in a pop-band.
Ashley: "London, how you feeling?! Man it feels so good to be back here, thank you, thank you for hanging out here with us. As you might know this is our very first show here in the United Kingdom, of 2009. So, let's keep this show going. I wanna see every single person in this room, with their two hands in the air..... as high as they mighty can."
Ryan: "Wow look at that, that's the London I remember."
Ashley: "Now let me see some jazz hands. Haha, how about this can you snap your fingers with me? Come on don't be shy, feel that rhythm. Alright so I'm going to count us off then we shall rock."
"A One... A Two... A One, Two Three... Go!
This song is called "
Detox Just to Retox"."
After following every command from Ashley, by now everyone can feel that Perry is rising as one of the best female vocalist around. Only a handful of singers are able to control a crowd like she does. On this track in particular she gets the whole crowd on their feet moving along with her to the rhythmic beat of the song. This performs really shows the skill and probable underdog of the band Victoria Whatley's skill at the keytar, the song includes something very rarely seen a keytar solo, strange but the present audience loved every second of it.
From that they go to a fan-favorite, "
A Song for Betty" (In the Name of Love and Hate) from their debut album. With a bass intro, Perry continues her manipulating of the audience keeping them dancing and singing for the last 2 songs. This being probably the most 'rock n' roll' tune from PANIC!'s repertoire tune, containing arguably one of the catchiest hooks from the band.
They slow things down a little bit with their top-ten hit, "
Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy". The slightly-dark song doesn't keep the London crowd from having a good time and singing every line with the talented vocalists. The outro of the track for this show sends chills down your spine with a soft guitar riff from Hunter sends all five of them to their knees, with a shaking white limelight shining on each of them and Ashley lays down on the stage floor, rolling around as she sings the outro showing the bands believes to the fullest.
"
Father, oh Father, oh Father, oh Father
Father, I am ready
won't you let it begin
cause I am here now
I want to dance
in the mighty palm of your hand"
PANIC! continue their string of slower tunes but still with the haunting and chilling feel to each of them from the raw emotion each line has. With "
The Only Way That I Know How to Feel" has a encouraged 'Woah's' toward the end of the song rising everyone's hair in the venue, Ryan who is playing acoustic guitar on the song smashes the guitar at the end of the song and hands out a piece of the remains to the front-row audience.
Ryan: "So, we kind of realize we've been known as the band with the youngest fan base ever and I don't see that as a bad thing. Whether your 13 or 25 we still look at you and respect you in the same way. But you know we've been known as the poster child's of whiny lyrics, being the most confused genre band, and the band with perfect hair, we are alright with that too and we still like to have fun. So this is a really fun song and it's a song that we weren't even born when it was released so I doubt any of you were either so this is our national-anthem. It's called "
Don't Stop Believin'""
The original piano note intro from the original song is performed by Victoria, soon after the band joins in above all Ryan's vocals are the highlight of the cover although he sings it in a very deep voice kind of like Elvis Costello type singing but the fans still seem to love it, singing along with the singer.
Ryan: "So, this next song if you've seen videos online you've seen me talk about it. And this track we weren't going to include in the set list but since so many of you guys asked for it we found a space for it and we decided to play it a certain way that we hope you enjoy. Well, this song goes out to all of us here tonight. It's called "
Let My Heart Beat" from our third album."
The song is performed acoustically, with a acoustic guitar and acoustic bass. They make it feel like a camp fire sing-along with Ryan, Ashley, Nick and Gabriel sitting on an individual amplifier in front of the stage, all fans putting their cell phones and lighters in the air. This song shows Ashley and Ryan's amazing vocal range and control, astonishing for such young singers.
From their they pick up the tempo with one of their best known songs, "
First Kid to Write of Hearts, Lies, and Friends" which brings the whole crowd back to their feet. Funny thing with PANIC! fans live is that, the band could sing a song about broken hearts a million times and the audience would still look at the good side of it whether or not the song is about using a previous lover. By the end of the song a sea of fans jumping up and down is seen from the stage.
The final chord changes to follow-up tune, another up-tempo song "
Your Terrible, But Your Love Is Abysmal" from their debut album. Usually played acoustic live, for the new stream of shows it seems they will go the recorded way and perform it with the full band. On this song, guitarist Gabriel Hunter and bassist Nick Asher jump over each other unlike most previous songs of the night where most eyes were on Ashley and Ryan on this tune it was on the band's guitarist who are usually over-looked by many. After the song ends the crowd leaves the stage making many fans believe the night was over until lights start to flash on the stage and PANIC! return.
With a different structure, as Ashley is playing keyboard, Ryan is playing rhythm guitar, Gabriel is playing acoustic guitar, Joey and Nick are playing tribal drums and Victoria is playing a tampering although it is barely heard with the tribal drums playing in the background. Most fans seems confused until Ashley begins to sing soon realizing it's "
True Love's Old Fashioned, True Love is Antique" which is one of the few PANIC! songs that only has Perry's vocals. Although it's strange structure the fans soon pick up with it and a wave of arms moving is seen from the crowd.
To give time for her bandmates to get back to their instruments, Ashley plays a short instrumental piano version of PANIC! song "
Save the Gossip for the (After) Party". When the rest of the members return they quickly pick up the pace with "
When You Catch Fire, I Wouldn't Piss to Put You Out", a song that had every single audience member jumping and crashing into each other with the crashing dual guitars and screams from Nick. The track leads to a thundering drum solo from drummer Joey Fallon showing that he isn't just 'some' drummer from 'some' band.
As soon as it ends a soft guitar riff from guitarist Hunter begins as Ashley starts to sing a short acoustic cover of classic song "
Hallelujah" by, Leonard Cohen.
"
Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah"
By the second line of 'hallelujah' the fans are singing along with Ashley, even keeping up with her high notes. The cover leads into "
I'm A Lawyer/Mathematician With the Way I Can't Let Anything Go" around the middle of the track a orchestra of violins joins the song. They finish off the song with another string of 'hallelujah's' sung by the audience.
Ashley: Alright so, I'm hoping most of you know that we have a new album right around the corner titled "
Broken Down on Memory Lane". The album's release is on November 3rd but our first single from it will be released this Tuesday, and it's called "
Disloyal Order of the Ignorant". We've never played it for a single soul and you guys will be the very first we perform it to. So, yeah hope you enjoy and pick it up on iTunes in a couple days.
The song begins with a piano intro alongside Ryan singing in a soft note.
"
I'm coming apart at the seams
Pitching myself for leads in other people's dreams now
Buzz buzz buzz
Doc there's a hole where my heart was
Doc there's a hole where my heart was"
It progresses with a echoing bass riff and distorted crashing guitars. The vocals have a haunting feel to it, when Ryan is singing lead, Ashley is heard whispering the song in the background which doesn't happen when Ashley is singing. Although lyric-wise it is a somewhat sad and personal song they still play it with the same energy and enthusiasm they play all their other songs, even if the song is talking about them. With its carefree chorus and sing-along hooks just bursting at the seams, when released the song should have no trouble invading the airwaves across the world.
(OOC: I'll be posting the full lyrics when the single is released on Tuesday.)
The first ever performance of the song gets a thundering round of applause from the London fans, showing their support for the band even after the eternal problems of the band and still loving the music they made while being in hard times. They continue with the motivation with "
Joke Me Something Awful Just Like Kisses On the Necks of 'Best Friends'" a song from their early-days showing off some of Nick's screams again which the crowd seems to love more and more every time. The high-paced song has the crowd on their toes.
From that high energy song, they tone it down a little with a full-band acoustic cover of "
Use Somebody" by, Kings of Leon which the band has covered many times before live, but never in front of a UK crowd. After the first couple of "oooah-woooah"s the crowd picks up with it and sing it along with PANIC!, most fans know the song but the members still encourage the fans to clap or snap their fingers. The cover song only has Ashley's lead vocals, with Ryan singing backing vocals.
Ashley: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that little cover of Kings of Leon, I hope we didn't completely kill that song because we really love that song. So, how about another new song? You guys down with that? Alright well we will be performing an acoustic song which will appear sort of the same as how you will hear it now. This one is called "
Who Framed God?".
"
Can't make my own decisions or make any with precision
Well maybe you should tie me up so I don't go where you don't want me
You say that I been changing, that I'm not just simply aging
Yeah how could that be logical?
Just keep on cramming ideas down my throat
Oh oh oh ohhhh
You don't have to believe me,
but the way I way I see it
next time you point a finger,
I might have to bend it back
or break it break it off
whoa
next time you point a finger
I hope it's at the mirror.
Oh oh oh ohhhh
If God's the game you're playing, then we must get more acquainted,
It must be so lonely... to be the only one who's holy
It's just my humble opinion, but one I firmly believe in
You don't deserve a point of view, if the only thing you see is you."
The acoustic song is joined with a orchestra of violins as an outro. The new tune has a sort-of in your face type of structure with Ryan and Ashley singing to each other what seems very angry lyrics but nonetheless they both hug each other at the end of it with Ryan whispering something in her ear that makes her chuckle a bit. This song receives an amazing reception from the audience with Hernandez' and Perry raw emotions showing in this song and both hitting notes so high.
Ashley: "Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for joining us here tonight we hope you have had such a great time like we did, all we hope for is that you all had fun and leave this venue with a smile on your face. As long as you do that we will know that we have done our part, so thank you London for the ride. And this is probably the best audience we've ever played to, in the entire UK and we don't just say that to anyone so. But really thank you for being such an awesome crowd and we got one more song for you guys. Enjoy it and goodnight!"
The lights go out in the venue as a quick guitar riff begins, when it ends the stage lights up again and Ryan sings the opening line to "
I Liked You a Whole Lot Better Before You Became a Fucking MySpace Whore". PANIC!'s best-known song is a great closer to an already amazing night, the song ends with a melodic breakdown with each note making the lights change colors, the each band member stands up on an amplifier and take a quick bow. As soon as it ends the lights go off and in a matter of seconds they come back up and the band is already off the stage with their respective instruments laying on the floor.
(OOC: So I worked on this very hard and (unlike most of my other threads :p ) I hope I get some feedback either good or bad I don't care.)
Set List:
"Fake Our Smiles, Baby, Half-Dead"
"Snitches Get Stitches And Talkers Get Walkers, Since Then Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?"
"The Darkest Days Are Ahead of Us"
"Detox Just to Retox"
"A Song for Betty"
"Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy"
"The Only Way That I Know How to Feel"
"Don't Stop Believin'" (Journey cover)
"Let My Heart Beat"
"First Kid to Write of Hearts, Lies, and Friends"
"Your Terrible, But Your Love Is Abysmal"
"Save the Gossip for the (After) Party" (Instrumental Piano version)
"When You Catch Fire, I Wouldn't Piss to Put You Out"
"Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen cover)
"I'm A Lawyer/Mathematician With the Way I Can't Let Anything Go"
"Disloyal Order of the Ignorant" (New song)
"Joke Me Something Awful Just Like Kisses On the Necks of 'Best Friends'"
"Use Somebody" (Kings of Leon cover)
"Who Framed God?" (New song)
"I Liked You a Whole Lot Better Before You Became a Fucking MySpace Whore"Edited by user 06 September 2009 13:50:36(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
