Panic! At The Disco, tour review: For all the omnipresent whoa-whoa factor, there was too little wow-wow

 Despite his hubris, singer Brendon Urie was underwhelming, says John Aizlewood
Lacking presence: Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco
Duane Prokop/Getty Images
John Aizlewood13 January 2016

Panic! At The Disco’s career has become an uphill slog in recent years. Singer Brendon Urie’s solution has been to make their fate-temptingly titled current album, Death of a Bachelor, a solo outing in all but name.

Live, though, he still needs hired hands (including bassist Dallon Weekes, downgraded to a touring member only), but just to remind us that Urie would have preferred this to be a one-man show, when the only drum solo of the evening arrived on Let’s Kill Tonight, Urie defenestrated the proper drummer and bashed away himself.

Despite his hubris and customary backflip during Miss Jackson, Urie lacked the presence to carry an entire evening and so for all the omnipresent whoa-whoa factor, there was too little wow-wow. A silly karaoke cover of Bohemian Rhapsody segued into David Bowie’s Oh! You Pretty Things, but, offering a more practical tribute, Urie donated his merchandising profits to Cancer Research UK.

The older Time to Dance and I Write Sins Not Tragedies stirred ancient, tub-thumping memories, but after 12 years at the coalface Panic! At The Disco remain a work in progress.

Latest music reviews

1/168

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT