Trick-or-treat. Panic! at the Disco was a spooktacular show for all this Halloween. On Oct. 31, 9:30 club was the place to be as the Las Vegas-based band put on a frighteningly fantastic performance.
Panic! at the Disco’s division in 2009 caused a panic in itself, when guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band to form the Young Veins.
But, frontman Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith reassured all that the Panic! could persevere.
A few months ago, Panic! released their third album “Vices & Virtues.” This fall, they set off on a full U.S. Tour.
Seeing as to how it was Halloween, 9:30 club held a costume contest where the winner received two free tickets to any show at the venue for the month of November.
Opening for Panic! was Foxy Shazam, a six-piece band from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Named after a high school term meaning “cool shoes,” Foxy Shazam’s last self-titled album was released in 2010, and their next album is expected for release in early 2012.
Nally wore glittery black attire with a fake baby attached to his stomach, which he threw into the crowd later.
Horn player, Alex Nauth boogied in zebra print stretchy pants and a red jacket.
The other band members, including drummer Aaron McVeigh and keyboardist Sky White, started off with masks on their faces that ended up falling off.
Foxy Shazam embodied old school rock at its finest with a tang of filth. They really got down and dirty in their song “I Like It” with the lyrics “that’s the biggest black ass I’ve ever seenAnd I like it / I like it / a lot.”
To end their 30-minute set with a bang, Nally asked the crowd for cigarettes and a lighter, smoked five cigarettes at once and then ate them all. The other band members practically, if not completely. destroyed their instruments by smashing them repeatedly on the stage.
Following Foxy Shazam was Patrick Stump. Formerly the lead singer of the Illinois based band Fall Out Boy, Stump went solo after the group’s hiatus in 2009 and subsequent break-up in 2011.
Since then, he’s released a six-song EP called “Truant Wave” in February and a complete solo album this month, titled “Soul Punk.”
Stump dressed up in a bloody-red suit accessorized with glowing red devil ears, making him resemble Adrian from the movie “Little Nicky.” He used “Ghost Busters” as an intro into “Spotlight.”
Stump’s new sound, which he dubs “soul punk” and “smart pop,” is a blend of electronic, soul and pop.
Every one of his songs had people dancing.
Though it’s nowhere near the sound of Fall Out Boy, Stump doesn’t stray too far from his pop-punk roots. He was also quite versatile, playing guitar, drums and a miniature trumpet.
He closed his set with “This City,” his new single that features Lupe Fiasco.
When Panic! At the Disco was summoned onto the stage, it was like the Second Coming. The stage was set up like a church for sinners and Urie was Jesus. (No joke, he actually decked himself out in a Jesus Christ costume.)
One of the guitarists dressed as Hit Girl from the movie “Kickass” and Smith was Ron Burgundy, Will Ferrell’s hilarious character in “Anchorman.”
Panic! opened with “Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind),” followed by “But It’s Better If You Do,” “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” and “Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off.”
After slowing it down a bit with “Camisado,” the band played “Hurricane,” stirring every fan in the audience to sing at the top of their lungs.
Panic!’s live show was less theatrical than in their earlier days, but still entertained the crowd with their jokes and tricks.
Their set also featured a few covers, including Foster The People’s hot single “Pumped Up Kicks.”
Urie acted like he was in church, calling the audience “brothers and sisters of the congregation” and asking them to bow their heads and pray together. He was quite the character, doing a backwards flip off of Smith’s drum set, shimmying and shaking and getting in his band members’ faces.
Urie hopped on the piano for “Nine in the Afternoon” after playing “Always” acoustically on the guitar.
He sneakily changed “That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)” when he switched the line “I never said I’d leave this city” to “I never said I’d leave the D.C.,” pleasing all.
Throughout their set, fans crowd surfed and attempted to mosh.
Panic! then treated their fans to a cover of “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas. To get everyone back in the mood, they sensually performed Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
“I want to get you naked, D.C., and give you a naked bear hug,” Urie said. “I’m going to take you to church and make love to you.”
