PANIC! AT THE DISCO + WALK THE MOON PLAY THE THEATER AT MSG

As I approached the legendary building that houses the Theater at Madison Square Garden one thing became very clear to me; Panic! At The Disco has some young and dedicated fans. The line to get into the GA section was nearly wrapped around the venue as hordes of people got there early to get the coveted rail spots to see their heroes up close. The first young ladies in line were there since the early morning hours and spent the day chatting with other fans and bragging about their spot on social networks.

Magic Man, hailing from Boston, started the night with a bunch of upbeat and danceable tunes that had the mostly full venue grooving along to their Indie-Pop dance songs. The five piece band has that certain something that makes me think that they won’t be an opening act for long so expect them to headline on their own tour sooner than later.

Next up was Walk The Moon, the incredibly popular Indie rock band out of Cincinnati, who brought tons of energy and fun with their near perfect set. I had heard quite a lot about this somewhat new group, with only one full EP to their credit they have rocketed to stardom with the younger audience and if they keep on putting on sets like at MSG the sky is the limit. All of Walk The Moon’s songs have a melodic feel with smart lyrics that blossom most in the form of “Anna Sun” which had the entire room dancing along to it’s hooky chorus.

Shortly before 9:30 Panic! At The Disco took to the fog shrouded stage while the nearly sold out crowd of mostly younger woman let the high-pitched shrieks fly in unison. Glad that I had my earplugs in, I began to shoot Panic!, which proved to be a difficult task due to the whole floor bumping up and down to the loud and strong beat. It was like trying to take photos on a boat in a rough ocean, not easy, but definitely invigorating. Panic! At The Disco has this whole live show thing down pat as they effortlessly played their impressive set-list including the hits “Let’s Kill Tonight” and “I write sins not tragedies” while blasting the audience with a killer cover of the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

The banter was brief as was the “intermission”, the set breaks were barely non-existent as the band seemed like they had something to prove and were strictly on a mission to rock everyone’s face off. A few songs in, to the delight of most, lead singer Brendon Urie shed his jacket and shirt and showed off his six pack while strutting his rock-star moves while the impressive light show and smoke plumes erupted around him. This was great gig, with insane energy and a passion from the dedicated fans that few bands can match. Panic! At The Disco is on tour now, if you want to see an over-the-top rock show, do not miss this!

Article by: Shayne Hanley