Source: promo image
We were lucky enough to catch Panic! At The Disco on their current European tour, playing to a sold out venue in Hamburg, Germany. Sold Out at Docks means an audience of 1,200 people, which is a tenth of their Alexandra Palace shows in London.
How are German concerts different to English ones? Well, the first thing we noticed as we approached the venue was the long line of towels. Kidding. When we arrived, it seemed like each and every single one of the 1,200 people had formed an orderly queue outside venue and down the road. Doors opened at 7pm, and everyone was pretty much in by 7:30pm. By 8pm the already excited fans were more than ready for Australian support band,Tigertown. A really nice and refreshing experience, compared to the ‘Don’t know, don’t care’ attitude towards lesser known bands we have previously come across at gigs. It definitely turned the whole evening into a proper night out, rather than just an ‘I popped in to listen to some music’ kind of scenario.
We here at Mosh have seen the band many times over the last few years, but tonight was truly special.
The lights went out, and the crowd went mental. It felt like our eardrums went ‘Nope’, shut down, and left us with nothing but what can only be described as a super loud humming noise with a generous side portion of vibrating brain. If you could get brain freeze at a gig, we imagine that’s what it would be like.
One by one the band members walk on stage, while frontman Brendon Urie’s voice filled the room, as he started to talk to the audience in German. More screams. Obviously. We doubt anyone could actually understand what he was saying, as it was way too loud, but we managed to catch a few words like ‘Hello Germany’, ‘How are you?’ & ‘We love you, Germany’.
After building up enormous amounts of anticipation (one girl had to be pulled out of the crowd as soon as the lights went down), Urie came running on stage, looking smart as always in all black with a red jacket. The band immediately started playing ‘Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time’ and what a song to open with. Party anthem, or what?
The phrase ‘Start as you mean to go on’ comes to mind, as the band power through a mixture of old and new hits, making sure that the words ‘Panic! At The Disco’ and ‘dull moment’ will never be affiliated with each other. Brendon seemed to love the smaller crowds, as he continuously interacted with the fans, letting out one ‘Dankeschön’ and ‘Wie geht’s?’ after another, telling the audience with a beaming smile “Even if we haven’t met yet, know that I love every single one of you”. At one point he smiled and nodded at a couple of girls holding up a banner saying ‘Sing With Us’. Urie handed over the microphone to the girls during ‘Golden Days’, as he continued to dance on stage, letting the fans finish the song.
For ‘Nine In The Afternoon’ and the always popular Queen cover ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the multi-talented frontman sat down at the piano, for ‘This Is Gospel’ he started playing the guitar, and a small brass section joined him on stage for ‘Crazy = Genius’ and ‘Death Of A Bachelor’, which he killed, by the way. The last song before the encore was their new single ‘LA Devotee’ and it went down a storm.
One thing we love about German fans is the way they ‘ask’ for an encore. They start stomping their feet; first slow, then getting faster. They do this over and over and it really does sound incredible. This went on for ages, it seemed, pretty sure the band were proper milking it. Understandably so. As Urie returned to the stage and the band started playing the first chords of ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’, he announced “This is a new one. Bare with me, if I mess up the words….” He started to laugh, as he’s well aware that this is still one of their most popular songs despite being released a decade ago. As soon as the song was finished, he started to hand out his and the bands unused bottles of water, adding ‘If you’re water rich, hand it to the water poor.’
Ending the evening with the massive feel good song ‘Victorious’, Brendon thanked the crowd once again for a brilliant evening with an “I’m very much in love with you”, as he held up his hands in a heart shape.
If you haven’t seen Panic! At The Disco live yet, sort out your life!
Review by: Claudia Gronke
