Last night, we were Victorious

This photo was taken by @alysseparis on Instagram. Click the photo to check out the rest of her amazing photos.

I have been listening to Panic! At The Disco non stop since last night. I have not been able to bring myself to listen to anything else because I am still haunted, in the best possible way, since the concert.

I will be turning twenty-five in a few mere weeks. Twenty-five, someone tells me, is the actual legal number given to the term “responsible adult”. So I figured, although I am a fangirl through and through, I was past the age of squealing and jumping up and down with regards to my favourite things. You know, being a responsible adult and all.
Boy, was I wrong.

This photo was taken by @anyssa.jade of Instagram. Click the photo to see more of her photos!

Panic! At The Disco was the very first proper concert I went to. This was back when the band still had its original lineup and the only albums we had were A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and Pretty. Odd.; back when costumes were still part of P!ATD’s MO. This was also before the days of Instagram, so the only photos I had were the ones I took on my digital camera because my phone didn’t have camera capabilities.
I have loved Panic! since I was  fourteen. They are one of my foundation bands. I feel like this band is a part of me because I also feel like Panic’s music helped to shape the woman I am today. So this concert was always going to be important to me. But what I didn’t expect was to travel back in time and feel like I was that fourteen year old girl all over again.

I do want to start by saying just one thing, though. The support act for P!ATD was Tiger Town. They were great and funky and really set the vibe for the coming headliner. But what happened was, when these guys announced that they had time for one more song, a bunch of people down the front started chanting “Brendon! Brendon!”. This is bad for two reasons:
1. Tiger Town were doing an amazing job and to chant for someone else is downright disrespectful. We all know that P!ATD hadn’t been in Australia to do a proper tour since about 2006, but that is no reason to be horrible to musicians who are simply trying to please the crowd and;
2. if you’re going to cheer for a band, cheer for the whole band. I mean, yes, Brendon is the only original band member left, and yes, he is an stupendous frontman, but there were other  sublime musicians up on stage last night. Incredible musicians who have brought us incredible songs since the big “creative differences” schism of 2009. So that was just damned rude.

The concert in and of itself, once P!ATD walked out on stage, was nothing but perfection from beginning to end. I still have that unfortunate memory block where I can’t remember the order in which things happened, but I have all of these amazing snapshotted memories that will carry me through until the next P!ATD gig (which will hopefully NOT be ten years from now):

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  This photo was taken by @nonexistent_0.0 on Instagram. Click the photo to see more amazing photos.

  The entirety of “Girls/Girls/Boys”. I’m going to be honest, I never really liked this song. BUT, I never knew the lyrics. Or, to  be more accurate, I never understood the lyrics. Not until Brendon was tossed a rainbow flag with which he festooned his mic stand. This whole song made me so happy, considering the current political climate surrounding LGBTQ+ rights in both this country and America (and, well, almost everywhere). Having P!ATD perform this song seemed to help create a safe space for people to be open about their sexuality. At least where my friends and I were situated. Because the two girls in front of us seemed to feel safe enough to start kissing in the crowd. I loved that. It made me so happy that one of my favourite bands had managed to create an atmosphere of love and acceptance. This song was essentially the highlight of the concert for me.

• Brendon’s falsetto. Seriously. That man’s voice is a gift for humanity. He didn’t just break into falsetto once or twice, he did it at least once or twice per song and it blew my mind. This was the source of much squealing. In fact, I’m 100% sure I squealed every time Brendon broke out the falsetto because the friend standing next to me confirmed this as we walked towards the taxi rank after the concert.
• Brendon’s voice in general. He made each and every song just a little bit unique. When performers go a little off-book in a live show, it makes me feel special as a fan. It means that the band has decided to put in just that tad extra effort into making a truly beautiful experience for their fans.
• The “horny boys”, a.k.a the brass section. When brass is used in rock music, or really any music, it adds this joie de vivre to the performance. Brass was used a bunch throughout the concert, both in songs that originally had brass and songs that didn’t.  This was amazing.
• Bohemian Rhapsody. Every person in that crowd sang along to every single word. When a crowd unites like that, it’s pure magic. And the guitarist nailed that solo. He was sensational.
• “Time to Dance”. Out of all the songs on A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, I was not expecting this one. I nearly lost my voice screaming for this one.
• When Brendon couldn’t start singing “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” because he was laughing so hard. Why was he laughing? Because the crowd was singing the words so loudly he very nearly wasn’t needed.
• Brendon backflipped. Twice.
• Before the gig started, I told my friends “Man, I so hope that Brendon gets behind the piano.” And guess what? He did.
• The smoke machine and the golden streamers. The streamers caught the light just so and made the stage and the crowd feel ethereal.
• Brendon called out that weird thing bands do where they leave the stage but come back anyway. We all know they’re going to come back. So he said “instead of doing that, we’ll just play an extra song for you guys”. Yes!
• Being at the concert with good friends. I go to concerts alone quite a lot, but sharing in an experience like this with friends? Nothing quite compares.

P!ATD’s gig held to to my expectations and surpassed them by miles. This band is all tied up in some of my best, most nostalgic memories. And I am so glad I got to see them again, as an adult.

How about my blogging friends out there? Were any of you at the concert? Or have you seen Panic! At The Disco live before wherever it is you are? Let me know!

This photo was taken by @jip_1985. Click the photo for more of his photos!

N.B. I have attributed the pictures I have used to the best of my ability. If you are one of the photographers and would like me to attribute in a different way or would like me to take the photos down, I am more than happy to do so.

 

 

 

 

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