Panic's Disco Is Lame In Mississauga

Arrow Hall

Mississauga, ON

on Oct 24 2008

Stephanie Joudrey (CHARTattack)

10/27/2008 4:06pm

Anyone entering Arrow Hall last Friday night would have expected to meet the screams of hundreds, if not thousands, of teenage girls.

This wasn't the case, as the crowd barely filled a portion of the venue. You crossed through a practically empty convention hall to get to the stage, and the sheer size of this venue made the audience seem pitiful.

It goes to show that when Panic At The Disco lost the exclamation mark in their name, they apparently lost something else, too. And without the circus style antics, they just weren't enough to make people drive to Mississauga.

It seemed strange to throw Dashboard Confessional's noted emo songwriter, Chris Carrabba, between PATD and "Hey There Delilah" opener Plain White T's. But if anyone questioned the choice, Dashboard Confessional put all fears to shame.

The last thing I expected was for Dashboard Confessional to be loud, but Carrabba certainly rocked with a full band behind him. "Don't Wait" was gigantic and rocked more than any Dashboard Confessional album. That said, Carrabba's voice didn't sound as great when it was hidden by so much other noise. It didn't sound up to par until it quieted down for "Screaming Infidelities."

Carrabba's stage experience easily elevated him from the other acts. He charmed the very young girls in the front row who screamed his name, and he laughed at his own face in the giant screens. Although Carrabba is known for his time spent behind his acoustic guitar, he gave the crowd a little look at his lighter side by putting the guitar down and inviting members of openers Plain White T's and The Cab out to do a cover of the new Pink single, "So What." Carrabba really knows how to use the stage when he gets the chance, and it was nice to see him running around for a bit.

The crowd didn't get any larger as the night wore on and Panic At The Disco hit the stage. They opened with "We're So Starving," the first track from their new Pretty Odd album, and the crowd gave them a warm welcome. It's undeniable that they've drastically changed over two albums. The dancing girls and costumes are gone and have been replaced by a more normal band and less shtick, which helps the music shine through. But that's not always for the better.

Within the first few songs, it was obvious Panic are still trying to find their way without the flash. Since they're clearly still trying to make their two very different discs work well together, how they arrange their set is still a little bit of a mystery.

The band clearly paid more loving attention to making songs from their newer disc sound good. And the songs from their debut were dampened with a more mellow rock vibe to make them fit with the newer material. Guitarist/singer Ryan Ross continued to look like the fifth Beatle and played a few mediocre guitar solos that didn't really fit. He may sound good on record, but he's far shakier live.

Frontman Brendon Urie, on the other hand, seems completely sure of himself as a singer, and may even be too confident. His voice generally sounded fine, but he insisted on improvising squeaks and squeals in almost every song. He made noises during "Camisado" that I hope to never hear again. He even went so far as to scream the second verse of "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off." It felt like there was no middle ground for him. It was either really good or really terrible.

Urie's also the sole showman of the group, so it's a shame he doesn't put the guitar down more often. He's quite sweet when he's acting out lyrics and hopping around the stage. At one point during "When The Day Met The Night," he jumped from the piano on one side of the stage to a set of drums on the other, all the while staying perfectly timed for vocals.

When Urie would go on forays like this, it would only make it more obvious that this band was made to put on an act for us, not present us with lame contemporary rock. In fact, about the only moment to match the spirit of their previous stage shows came during their set-ending cover of The Isley Brothers' "Shout." The whole band came up to the front of the stage, drums to the right and guitars and piano to the left, while Urie used the whole stage to sing, dance and actually entertain. There wasn't an encore, but it was a solid way to end their less than thrilling set.

If Panic want to be considered a serious band, they're going to need to sharpen it up a lot, and likely go back to playing smaller clubs.