Panic At The Disco go all in on "Viva Las Vengeance" at United Center (Show Review)

Panic At The Disco go all in on “Viva Las Vengeance” at United Center (Show Review)

United Center

Chicago, IL

Oct. 28th, 2022

By Colette Custin

Panic! At the Disco, the passion-project of sole founding member Brendon Urie, gave fans a dynamic blend of spectacle and performance at the United Center on Friday. Taking a massive stage complete with a glowing logo behind the band, the twenty-five song setlist went all in on the band’s new album Viva Las Vengeance, which was played in its entirety, giving fans a rare opportunity to get a picture of how the new material—all of the new material!—fit in with radio hits like “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and show closer “High Hopes” from the band’s 2018 album Pray for the Wicked.

Urie is the only original member of Panic still standing, and his last two albums under the band’s name have taken the band in a decidedly more pop radio direction, and the band’s epic sound was made for a venue like the UC. Opener “Say Amen” led with purple running lights and strobes that made it look like a UFO was about to land in the arena, and the Vengeance portion of the set really showcased Urie’s versatility, finding a sound somewhere between contemporary dance-pop and classic, vocally-driven rock like Queen; the title track saw a backdrop that brought the album’s artwork to stunning life and the string section in “Something About Maggie” dropped some baroque-sounding elements into a tune that dripped with old-school glam rock swagger. Urie’s ‘one man’ version of Panic has seemingly endless potential for experimentation, and his current touring lineup is a stellar mix of musicians that help to realize his vision in grandiose ways.

America’s Got Talent hopeful Jake Wesley Rodgers and Australian-American pop princess Betty Who kicked off the truly electric night at the United Center.