“Oh, It’s Saturday Night” – Panic! at the Disco Performs at Toyota Center

Panic! at the Disco returned to Houston this past weekend to celebrate their seventh studio album Viva Las Vengeance. While the album fell flat with a lot of Panic fans but did well with critics, it’s always a great opportunity to check them out live. Last time P!ATD was in town was for the Houston Rodeo in 2019, when they were promoting their last album Pray for the Wicked. This time, Houston was the second stop on their new 2022 tour.

The first opener of the night was the immaculate pop singer Jake Wesley Rogers, who played his well-known tracks like “Modern Love” and “Pluto.” During the track “Cause of a Scene,” the crowd took out their phones and lit up the arena, where he exclaimed much gratitude. His persona was so infectiously positive, and it got the crowd ready for what was yet to come.

Up next was the indie-alternative group Beach Bunny, which consists of members Lili Trifilio, Jon Alvarado, Matt Henkels and Anthony Vaccaro. Most recently, the band released their latest album Emotional Creature earlier this year, which features songs like “Oxygen” and “Weeds.” They also played older songs like “Prom Queen” and “Cloud 9.” The band remained static on stage majority of the time, but hearing them play their songs made it worthwhile.

A few minutes prior to Panic! at the Disco’s appearance on stage, a timer came up on the big screens. Fans all counted down to the tunes of “About Damn Time” by Lizzo and “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush until it was showtime. Brendon Urie came up from the bottom of the stage and started singing the first song of the night “Say Amen (Saturday Night),” which was extremely fitting for the Houston show. He continued to play older songs like “This is Gospel” and “Miss Jackson.”

During a short intermission, Urie changed his jacket to one that’s associated with the new era and album, Viva Las Vengeance and began to play the title track. He played the entire album in full, and some songs were more entertaining than others. Fans were singing along to better songs like “Don’t Let the Light Go Out,” “Say it Louder” and “Something About Maggie,” but majority of the crowd was barely amused. Although, it’s noteworthy to say that Urie and his touring band had an amazing stage presence throughout the set, which indubitably made up for the prosaic musical content in P!ATD’s latest album.

Once Panic was finished playing their latest album, Urie once again changed his jacket to signify returning to an older era, this time starting with a classic gem from Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!. “Houston, You’re Beautiful” Brendon spoke mid-song as the arena lit up with colors from the rainbow when the band started playing “Girls/Girls/Boys.” Fans began to sing along and dance all around as Panic continued to play fan-favorite songs like “Nine in the Afternoon” and “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” where Brendon also commented that it’s the loudest he’s heard anyone ever sing the song. Panic! at the Disco then finished off their set at the Toyota Center with the song that made him reach the top of the charts – “High Hopes.”

While the show had a few silent moments from fans, hearing everyone sing the songs that made Panic! at the Disco a popular alternative band was truly an experience. Panic! at the Disco is currently on the Viva Las Vengeance North American tour with Beach Bunny and Jake Wesley Rogers, which is scheduled to end in San Francisco this October. If you are a fan of the new Panic album, we’d highly recommend seeing the show. If you are a fan of old Panic albums (like I am), it might be a heavy lift to sit through the VLV songs, but it’s still worth buying tickets.