Panic! At The Disco
W/ Jack’s Mannequin and Plain White T’s
Nov. 16, 2006
Ricoh Coliseum

When Bloc Party pulled off of this tour a lot of people where unimpressed. I’m sure a lot of indie kids returned their tickets, but what they don’t realize is that this night was NOT about some British pop. That was clear from the moment you saw the circus tent stage setup. So although the floors of Ricoh never got more then half full it really wasn’t too upsetting to the teens and pre-teens that there was a last minute change to the show. This was a spectacle that wasn’t lacking anything.

Plain White T’s, the Bloc Party replacement, hit the stage first and it was surprising to see how well they could get the crowd going. Ricoh is a huge stadium for a band of their size. The whole band filled the stage and their sound really filled the room. Sure, they sing very basic kiddie sappy love songs, but that’s who was in the audience so perhaps it was more fitting for the crowd. Surprisingly, they even had more then a handful of fans in the audience who sang along to ever word of clearly their most popular track “Hey Delilah.”

Then came Jack’s Mannequin. Now, I knew that Something Corporate had a lot of fans, but who knew that pre-teens loved this band so much too. Just the sight of the backdrop made the crowd erupt into screams. Andrew McMahon and co. burst on stage to a plethora of screams and played the most extreme EMO set you can get anywhere. Anyone who cares for Something Corporate knows that voice can tug at your heartstrings with one note, even if you don’t know any Jack’s Mannequin. That wasn’t a problem for most of the attendees who screamed out every word. For their first time in Toronto, they got an amazing response from the entire arena, who even did the wave for him on command. Even with all of the love they were receiving without doing anything at all, the band gave it their all with McMahon pounding away at his keys (with hands and feet) and even running the length of the stage at each free moment and playing with his bandmates. I hear they are coming back soon. It will be nice to see how they work in a smaller venue where they can really take control.

Then the tension mounted, we all knew we were going to finally get to see what was behind those big theatre curtain. When they opened I don’t think anyone was disappointed. There were 11 band members and actors on stage when the curtains opened and energy of a circus exploded on stage. I think we saw everything and more then we expected from seeing a Panic! At The Disco video. The drums were on a riser about 20 feet in the air, while keyboardists and cello players were sat upon animal cages (sorry no real animals, but a pretty freaky looking dude). To describe the actors and contortionists and little skits onstage would be impossible, but we saw everything. Even if you didn’t like Panic! you could simply spend your time watching the other actions going on around them. From a mock wedding gone wrong on stilts (“I Write Sins Not Tragedies”) to people in straightjackets (“Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks”) to school girls turning into showgirls (“But It’s Better If You Do”), you definitely got a spectacle.

Their set list was almost exactly like their set only a few months ago at the Amphitheatre. Since the band hasn’t had much time to write with all of their touring, it was to be expected but they definitely used all of their free time to turn up the volume on their showmanship. Aside from the addition of the number of actors assisting them Panic! looked more comfortable on stage and looked generally happy to be there.

Frontman Brandon Urie interacted with the dancing girl to give us a few elaborate dances and nearly kissed his guitarist more then once. He looked like he’d been doing this act for years. He also decided to show off his vocals a little more. It seems Urie has found his falsetto while on tour. Although he hasn’t quite perfected those high notes as of yet, it will be interesting to see where he takes it.

They did offer a few surprises themselves. Such as when the entire band left the stage only to return dressed as a marching drum band (complete with a few garbage cans). They proceeded to play a little drum number/Stomp routine. The covers also changed with them touching upon Queen (“Killer Queen”) and a very classy and low key version of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”

Panic! At The Disco did every track off of their album in the style that only they can do. So with suspended disbelief on what was actually going on onstage, the kids ate it up and danced and screamed. They finished it off with “Build God, Then We’ll Talk” took a bow and left the stage with no encore.

The kids practically bounced out of the arena still high on the energy. And as if the band had called for it, we exited into a foggy night to find our way back to reality.

How the hell are they going to top that next time?

P.S. The sound at Ricoh really isn’t that bad, maybe it’s just the bands you’re seeing. 

For more photos from the craziness go here.

- Stephanie Joudrey 


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