Panic! At The Disco

Bush Hall, London - 23 Aug 2006

by James Hickie

The hard part (getting a ticket) is done

"Shorn of their extravagant stageshow at this pre-Reading warm-up, it's all about the songs"

The pretty little furnace that is the Bush Hall is crammed with young fans risking heat exhaustion in uniform black and intensely groomed fringes to see their heroes. The average age in the venue can be no more than 16 yet there is a air of restraint about proceedings – not due to indifference but rather because the hard part (getting a ticket) is done and now it's time to enjoy the music.

Panic! do not seem to notice the relative calm of their audience as they take to the little stage – shorn of their extravagant stageshow at this pre-Reading warm-up, it's all about the songs. Aside from having a lung capacity drainingly long title, ‘The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage’ is pure melodic bliss, the choruses lifted by several hundred young voices whose bodies dance with abandon (interestingly more boys than girls!).

The problem with a band with one album can often be that there is little to draw upon for a set. Panic! Have no such problem in an album devoid of filler as the fabulously titled ‘Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks’, ‘Camisado’ and ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ all make more than welcome appearances. Covers of Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ and the Smashing Pumpkins classic ‘Tonight, Tonight’ have raised a few eyebrows in the past – presumably more from disgruntled Radiohead fans – they needn’t have worried, as they are little more than respectful homages not sacrilegious re-toolings.

The band don’t play an encore, with frontman Brandon Urie explaining they have to rest for their forthcoming festival appearances at Reading and Leeds. Urie would subsequently be brained with a plastic bottle during the first song at Reading only the day after. Although he bounced back and finished the set, with the benefit of hindsight – maybe they could have treated their loyal, captive audience in Shepherds Bush a few more songs.

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