Roadtrips! at the Disco!
So, this week, me_maneuver and I drove 1,000 miles to see Panic! at the Disco in Sacramento. And it was TOTALLY WORTH IT.
OMG, YOU GUYS! PANIC! AT THE DISCO! THEY MAKE ME SO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY! They are so endearing and happy and fond of each other, and still so very very talented, and they put on the most glee-inducing show and I LOVE THEM A LOT, OKAY.
- DRIVING. So, I do not actually drive, so all the behind the wheel-ness falls on M's shoulders. Because she's awesome like that. And Sacramento is FAR. Even by "I live in the Western US" standard. ALSO, dude, technology = AWESOME. We haven't seriously roadtripped in YEARS, and now we've got smart phone apps that let you book hotels while driving through the middle of nowhere. I like living in the future!
- My life as an awkward meme:
Drive from Oregon to Central California:
[picture of some ridiculous animal]
Biggest rainstorm of the year.
Yep. It was COLD and CLOUDY and RAINING, and we still got in the Northern Downpour Meet and Greet line an hour early, sharing umbrellas and giggling about OMG, BRENDON AND SPENCER AND IAN AND DALLON!
- Meet and Greet:
So, as we've all heard, Brendon has been REALLY SICK. Like, I wasn't quite sure he'd be okay to perform sick. I was concerned that we'd drive all the way there just to have to show canceled. I definitely wasn't expecting him at the Meet and Greet, but nope. THAT KID We get a slightly truncated version of Zack's "Don't be a creeper" speech, with the addendum of "you might not want to touch Brendon, he might still be contagious", and then the boys come out, and Brendon is clearly SO VERY SICK, barely moving on his own, huddled into a sweater and a hoodie and a jacket and SHAKING, and he sort of melts into the signing table (cue fan chorus of "Awwwwwwwwww"), but then he just LIGHTS UP the moment the first person gets up there, and he's totally alive and engaged and still SO VERY SWEET and ENTHUSIASTIC. It's an amazing transformation to watch.
The whole MEETING THEM thing remains a blur - M had a mask she had made for Dallon's wife, and had made an additional one for the boys to sign, and they were all very enthusiastic about it. I remember thanking Brendon for wearing the bow tie I'd brought him last time, and he remembered me and teased us for showing up in CA. I told him it was worth the drive. I think I told Ian that I liked his work on The Cab's new album. And Spencer is VERY VERY PRETTY, IDEK, IT'S LIKE A TOTAL MINDWIPE OF HOTNESS. He apparently likes masks and has things to say about them, and M always manages to have a very nice conversation with him, because she's not TAKEN ABACK BY THE PRETTY. I made them all bracelets, so we shall see if those turn up in pictures.
- SHOW!
The venue was SUPER TINY and I didn't feel like fighting tooth and nail for a spot on the barricade, so M and I grabbed a spot at the railing of the bar, along the left side of the stage. Turns out, BEST POSSIBLE SPENCER VANTAGE POINT. LESS BRUISING. 100% WIN.
Foxy Shazam: These guys are INSANE. I'm not sure if it's GOOD INSANE or WEIRD INSANE. I enjoy them, and I understand why Brendon and Spencer enjoy them, but I'm not really sure it's a good choice for most of Panic!'s FANS? I tweeted something about how it's like showing orgy porn to a pack of 10 year-olds. No one is quite sure what's happening, but there's a lot of people, and we can all assume it's obscene.
That said, they seem to have toned down a bit since I saw them with Young Veins? There was far less swinging from the ceiling and launching into the crowd?
Patrick Stump:
Um, I REALLY REALLY wanted to like the Patrick Stump solo show. REALLY. But it was a bit disappointing, and a lot HILARIOUS. He sounds AMAZING, and he looks, well, NEW PATRICK. What's up with that!?!?! But the MUSIC just isn't working for me. I think this is problem with the whole "I recorded every thing on this album" concept - he's creating in a vacuum where, sure, it's pure PATRICK, but there's no one there to give some outside opinion that there's really no easy place to put this music?
It sort of rocks in the Bill and Ted version of the future?
Panic!:
OMG, SO GOOD. I never remember specific MOMENTS or SETLISTS or what I was thinking or feeling at any point. It's just a blur of GLEE. Brendon sounded AMAZING, which is surprising, given that he could barely get himself onto the stage. I think being so sick forced him to SING more, and spend less time growling and screaming. And Spencer is the PRETTIEST EVER and Ian is SUPER TALENTED and he just LAUGHS and makes everything look effortless, and Dallon is TALL and HILARIOUS and was really far away, so I might have missed a lot of awesome happening over there.
And there was a partial cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus"! Like it was specifically FOR ME! As Depeche Mode is the only band I love more than Panic! And an awesome version of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," complete with Dallon leaping from the stage (Brendon apologized for being to sick to learn a new song, but this one is SO FUN that I'd pick it anyway)
In conclusion: TOTALLY WORTH 1,000 miles of roadtrip. A+++. Would do again.
This one's my FAVORITE. I sort of can't believe I took it! Hi, SPENCER:
And there's 45 more at flickr , from both me and M.
VIDEOS:
Darkness cover:
I love Dallon stage diving right out of frame at the end. CRAZY.
And 30 or so seconds of "Personal Jesus"
They seem to have ALL THE FEELINGS about this song. As one should.
OMG, YOU GUYS! PANIC! AT THE DISCO! THEY MAKE ME SO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY! They are so endearing and happy and fond of each other, and still so very very talented, and they put on the most glee-inducing show and I LOVE THEM A LOT, OKAY.
- DRIVING. So, I do not actually drive, so all the behind the wheel-ness falls on M's shoulders. Because she's awesome like that. And Sacramento is FAR. Even by "I live in the Western US" standard. ALSO, dude, technology = AWESOME. We haven't seriously roadtripped in YEARS, and now we've got smart phone apps that let you book hotels while driving through the middle of nowhere. I like living in the future!
- My life as an awkward meme:
Drive from Oregon to Central California:
[picture of some ridiculous animal]
Biggest rainstorm of the year.
Yep. It was COLD and CLOUDY and RAINING, and we still got in the Northern Downpour Meet and Greet line an hour early, sharing umbrellas and giggling about OMG, BRENDON AND SPENCER AND IAN AND DALLON!
- Meet and Greet:
So, as we've all heard, Brendon has been REALLY SICK. Like, I wasn't quite sure he'd be okay to perform sick. I was concerned that we'd drive all the way there just to have to show canceled. I definitely wasn't expecting him at the Meet and Greet, but nope. THAT KID We get a slightly truncated version of Zack's "Don't be a creeper" speech, with the addendum of "you might not want to touch Brendon, he might still be contagious", and then the boys come out, and Brendon is clearly SO VERY SICK, barely moving on his own, huddled into a sweater and a hoodie and a jacket and SHAKING, and he sort of melts into the signing table (cue fan chorus of "Awwwwwwwwww"), but then he just LIGHTS UP the moment the first person gets up there, and he's totally alive and engaged and still SO VERY SWEET and ENTHUSIASTIC. It's an amazing transformation to watch.
The whole MEETING THEM thing remains a blur - M had a mask she had made for Dallon's wife, and had made an additional one for the boys to sign, and they were all very enthusiastic about it. I remember thanking Brendon for wearing the bow tie I'd brought him last time, and he remembered me and teased us for showing up in CA. I told him it was worth the drive. I think I told Ian that I liked his work on The Cab's new album. And Spencer is VERY VERY PRETTY, IDEK, IT'S LIKE A TOTAL MINDWIPE OF HOTNESS. He apparently likes masks and has things to say about them, and M always manages to have a very nice conversation with him, because she's not TAKEN ABACK BY THE PRETTY. I made them all bracelets, so we shall see if those turn up in pictures.
- SHOW!
The venue was SUPER TINY and I didn't feel like fighting tooth and nail for a spot on the barricade, so M and I grabbed a spot at the railing of the bar, along the left side of the stage. Turns out, BEST POSSIBLE SPENCER VANTAGE POINT. LESS BRUISING. 100% WIN.
Foxy Shazam: These guys are INSANE. I'm not sure if it's GOOD INSANE or WEIRD INSANE. I enjoy them, and I understand why Brendon and Spencer enjoy them, but I'm not really sure it's a good choice for most of Panic!'s FANS? I tweeted something about how it's like showing orgy porn to a pack of 10 year-olds. No one is quite sure what's happening, but there's a lot of people, and we can all assume it's obscene.
That said, they seem to have toned down a bit since I saw them with Young Veins? There was far less swinging from the ceiling and launching into the crowd?
Patrick Stump:
Um, I REALLY REALLY wanted to like the Patrick Stump solo show. REALLY. But it was a bit disappointing, and a lot HILARIOUS. He sounds AMAZING, and he looks, well, NEW PATRICK. What's up with that!?!?! But the MUSIC just isn't working for me. I think this is problem with the whole "I recorded every thing on this album" concept - he's creating in a vacuum where, sure, it's pure PATRICK, but there's no one there to give some outside opinion that there's really no easy place to put this music?
It sort of rocks in the Bill and Ted version of the future?
Panic!:
OMG, SO GOOD. I never remember specific MOMENTS or SETLISTS or what I was thinking or feeling at any point. It's just a blur of GLEE. Brendon sounded AMAZING, which is surprising, given that he could barely get himself onto the stage. I think being so sick forced him to SING more, and spend less time growling and screaming. And Spencer is the PRETTIEST EVER and Ian is SUPER TALENTED and he just LAUGHS and makes everything look effortless, and Dallon is TALL and HILARIOUS and was really far away, so I might have missed a lot of awesome happening over there.
And there was a partial cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus"! Like it was specifically FOR ME! As Depeche Mode is the only band I love more than Panic! And an awesome version of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," complete with Dallon leaping from the stage (Brendon apologized for being to sick to learn a new song, but this one is SO FUN that I'd pick it anyway)
In conclusion: TOTALLY WORTH 1,000 miles of roadtrip. A+++. Would do again.
This one's my FAVORITE. I sort of can't believe I took it! Hi, SPENCER:
And there's 45 more at flickr , from both me and M.
VIDEOS:
Darkness cover:
Click to viewI love Dallon stage diving right out of frame at the end. CRAZY.
And 30 or so seconds of "Personal Jesus"
They seem to have ALL THE FEELINGS about this song. As one should.