After Bellagio fountains, Panic! At the Disco to play Las Vegas Strip
The last time we saw Panic! At the Disco play the Strip, the band might as well have been covering the Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA.”
The mini-concert was staged June 7 at Bellagio Fountains. The band, placed in the middle of the lake, was to run through multiple takes of their single “High Hopes.” The made-for-TV performance was arranged for the pre-game telecast for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Golden Knights and Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena.
As the band started its first take, the fountains shot water skyward. As if on cue, a gust of wind swept across the lake and doused the lot of ‘em.
“We were soaked! Totally soaked!” Brendon Urie, the band’s frontman, said in a recent phone chat. “It was incredible. It was kind of a wild dream coming true, and then the wind changed directions and this mountain of water came through and hit us.”
Urie knows those fountains well. He recalls taking field trips as a student at Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas.
“Every 10 seconds, 100,000 gallons of water are shot in the air!” Urie said. “Something like that. But for a guy from Vegas to play there, it was just crazy.”
PATD is playing a venue actually constructed for live entertainment, T-Mobile Arena, on Saturday night. Though Urie is just 31, Panic! At the Disco is going on its 15th year as a band, in one form or another. In July 2009 Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band; big news at the time, as fans fretted that Panic! might unravel.
But the band rolls on, touring in support of its new album, “Pray For The Wicked,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Charts this month.
Urie says he has been especially inspired by stage shows in Las Vegas, specifying Blue Man Group and The Beatles/Cirque show “Love” as particular favorites.
“Going to the shows, Blue Man Group, Cirque, you see something you don’t get in other places,” Urie said. “When ‘Love’ opened and we were really just starting touring, it blew our minds. I was 14 years old when I saw Blue Man Group for the first time, and it was the same thing, watching what could be done with production.”
Urie was also swept away, for real, by “Stomp.”
“I saw Stomp when I was 9 or 10 years old, a very big show for me,” he said. “I loved the guy played drums on pots and pans, trash cans. I built my own drum set out of detergent buckets, paint cans, a trash can, and I duct-taped it together … that kind of started everything for me.”
Urie’s is known for his expert stagecraft —- he held the crowd by singing a cappella as the band and stage were dried off at Lake Bellagio. He performed in “Kinky Boots” on Broadway, in the role of shoe-company heir Charlie Price. In yet another Vegas link, the U.S. tour for that musical started in Las Vegas.
Urie is also a contemporary of, and is friends with, Imagine Dragons and hopes for an informal reunion soon.
“I’ve been talking to Dan Reynolds, just about hanging out,” Urie said, referring to Imagine Dragons’ frontman. “We have not talked about anything collaboration-wise. But I knew Dan from church, at first, and sometimes I’d see him at school events. I see he’s all buffed out now (laughs), like he’s a superhero. But I’m looking forward to seeing him.”
Urie has not yet seen Reynolds’ documentary, “Believer,” focusing on Reynolds’ struggles with his Mormon faith and the church’s policies against the LGTBQ community. Urie is also LDS and is also friends with Neon Trees lead singer Tyler Glenn, also featured prominently in the film.
“I need to see it,” Urie said. “I know Dan, I know Tyler. I’m sure it’s amazing.”
Urie recalls the moment when POST began its ascension to stardom, one night in 2005.
“We were playing this club called the Alley on Charleston Road, and I was outselling merch before the show,” Urie said. “This place was in the back of a music store, and we’d never played a live show. It seated about 200, but about 350 showed up. I’m walking around and a couple came up to shake my hand. They were from Orlando. They’d gotten a hold of two demos from us and decided to check us out on a trip to Vegas.”
“The next year, we were playing House of Blues,” Urie said. “I was very freaked out. You never know how it’s all going to work out, you know?”
We’ll stop at saying the band can actually walk on water, but if Panic! At the Disco returns to Bellagio Fountains, we’re there.
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John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
