Since dropping their mid-2000s hit, “I write sins not tragedies,” “Panic! At the Disco” has been out of the limelight until their most recent tour. Growing up I listened to “Panic! At Disco”often but as I grew I weaned out of the angst alternative music only to be pulled back in this summer with their album, “This is Gospel.”
Their last concert on the 2014 tour at McMenamin’s Edgefield was almost a trip back in time to 2008 when everyone listened to “Fall Out Boy,” wore guy-liner and shopped at Hot Topic.
The performances started with the indie band “Youngblood Hawke.” Their set sounded like one whole song of big drum sounds and lame lyrics. The second opener was a similar but extensively better indie band named Walk the Moon. They sang a mixture of low key cute songs and high energy crowd movers.
Everyone was ecstatic for “Panic! At the Disco’s” lead singer Brendon Urie to enter the stage but no one could have prepared me for how crazy every girl was in the crowd. There was constant pushing and screaming and more pushing. At first I tried to anchor myself but there came a point where I truly just had to let it happen. As the night went on I finally understood how much of a powerhouse Urie is. I knew he had a set of pipes on him but his cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” sealed the deal on his level of vocal power, almost on par with Freddie Mercury.
I give the concert an A because I enjoyed watching “Panic! At the Disco” more than I thought I would with the blast of nostalgia I felt. Edgefield is one of the best places to see a concert because there is so much space and even a nice breeze on a warm summer evening. After attending a concert there it will be hard to go back to seeing bands in the cramped and hot venues around Portland.