Oct 28

Oct 28 Show Review: Panic! At The Disco Host Electrifying Arena Rock Show in San Francisco

Panic! At The Disco
w/ MARINA, Jake Wesley Rogers
Chase Center
San Francisco, CA
October 25th, 2022

Photos by Jared Stossel
Review by Cassie Kolias and Jared Stossel

On Tuesday night at San Francisco’s Chase Center , Panic! At the Disco took the stage for a show stopping performance in support of its seventh studio album, Viva Las Vengeance. By this point, most everybody knows that Panic! At The Disco is more of a solo project for vocalist Brendon Urie, the sole remaining member of the band’s original lineup from 2005. As the years have gone by, the music has changed, gone are the Cabaret-esque anthems that permeated the membrane of pop culture with songs like “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, and in its place is a poppier, Vegas-style rock show with Urie at the helm. Even with an amended lineup, Urie is still a powerful showman, able to flow between songs from the project’s expansive discography with ease.

The show kicked off in sparkly fashion with Jake Wesley Rogers, clad in an all-white number and sparkly red boots, channeling Freddie Mercury and Elton John. He brought the energy of a headliner, while crediting seeing Lady Gaga, Fleetwood Mac, and Panic! At the Disco at a young age for inspiring his desire to be on stage. He got extra points from the crowd for mentioning peak 2000s culture, which included references to MySpace, Hot Topic, Disney Channel shows, and Tamagotchi.. Rogers capped off his set with a cover of My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome To The Black Parade”, performed as an interlude during his last song, “Pluto”. Rogers had the ability to really tap into the core emo fan base that has followed Panic! since the beginning.

Following Rogers was Marina Diamindis, aka MARINA . The crowd filled in almost completely to catch the Welsh-born singer dazzle with a fast-paced twelve-song set, each as energetic as the last. Tuesday’s show marked MARINA’s last on the road with Panic!, and she gave it everything she had as she powered her way through brazen pop hits like “Purge The Poison”, “Primadonna”, and “Bubblegum Bitch”.

After the countdown clock on the video screens struck zero, the opening notes to “Say Amen (Saturday Night”) echoed throughout the arena. Brendon Urie ascends from below the catwalk as a blast of pyro, fireworks and fog are presented to the crowd. Urie was last in the Bay Area in 2019 when Panic! was touring in support of the project’s last album, Pray For The Wicked, and he’s still as engaging and charismatic as he was back then.

After a selection of hits like “This Is Gospel”, “Miss Jackson”, and the B-52s-sampled “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time”, Panic! At The Disco made a bold move and played their entire new album, Viva Las Vengeance, from start to finish. I say this is a bold move because most crowds I’ve encountered will only throw down their money if a band is doing a full album playthrough for an older record. It usually doesn’t happen the other way around. I’ll admit that upon first listening to Viva Las Vengeance, I was lukewarm, but watching it in a live setting brought it to life in stunning fashion. The songs are impressive, and an ode to the 60s and 70s era of classic rock songs that inspired Urie to want to pursue music in the first place. The moments that felt like they weren’t punching through for me on the record were elevated in a live setting, and it’s changed my view of the album entirely. This is an album that is meant to be heard up close and in person.

As the final notes of Viva Las Vengeance came to a close, Urie & Co. returned to the stage for the anthemic “Girls/Girls/Boys”, with Chase Center becoming a beacon of rainbow-tinged cell phone lights (a traditional moment during any Panic! set since they began playing arenas). My personal favorite moments are still the performances of “Nine In The Afternoon” and “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”. They still get the biggest reactions of the night, and they manage to take me right back to when I was a teenager and first discovered this band.

In a pyrotechnic fueled grand finale, Urie switched between screaming, falsetto, and tenor vocal ranges to deliver “Victorious” and “High Hopes”. A large pop of confetti cascaded down over the packed audience as the crowd sang the chorus of “High Hopes”. Even though Panic! At The Disco is not the same band as it once was, Urie can still put on one hell of a performance.

Panic! At The Disco Set List
Say Amen (Saturday Night)
Hey Look Ma, I Made It
Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time
This Is Gospel
Miss Jackson
Emperor’s New Clothes
Viva Las Vengeance
Middle of a Breakup
Don’t Let The Light Go Out
Local God
Star Spangled Banner
God Killed Rock and Roll
Say It Louder
Sugar Soaker
Something About Maggie
Sad Clown
All By Yourself
Do It To Death
Girls/Girls/Boys
House of Memories
Nine In The Afternoon
Death of a Bachelor
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Victorious
High Hopes