Panic! at the Disco
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| Panic! at the Disco | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Pop Rock |
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| Years active | 2005 - Present | |
| Label(s) | Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen | |
| Website | Official website | |
| Members | ||
| Brendon Urie Ryan Ross Jon Walker Spencer Smith |
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| Former members | ||
| Brent Wilson | ||
Panic! at the Disco is a band from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA whose sound incorporates elements of pop, electronica, dance, and rock. Their 2005 debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out reached #13 on the US Billboard 200, and has sold over one million copies since its September 2005 release.[1]
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History
2005: Origins and signing
Panic! at the Disco was formed in the suburban area of Summerlin, Las Vegas, by childhood friends Ryan Ross on guitar and Spencer Smith on drums. Since the age of thirteen, the two played blink-182 covers in bands of different formations, but finally recruited Brent Wilson on bass and Brendon Urie on vocals and guitar.
Before acquiring Urie on vocals, the band went by the title "Summer League," possibly a reference to the town in which they lived, Summerlin. Once Urie was officially with the band, they settled on the name Panic! at the Disco. The band has stated that the name "Panic! at the Disco" comes from the song "Panic" by The Smiths, which includes the line "burn down the disco", as told on their DVD box set, as well as in several interviews. Another theory, as well as the most popular, is that it originated from a song written by Name Taken titled "Panic", which includes the line "panic at the disco".
In order to get their music heard, the band contacted Fall Out Boy bassist Peter Wentz, through LiveJournal, and sent him a link to their PureVolume site. Wentz was so impressed that he took a trip to Las Vegas to meet the band in person. After seeing them play in their garage, he asked if they would sign with his Fueled by Ramen imprint label Decaydance.
2006-2007: Commercial success
The band officially announced the departure of their bassist, Brent Wilson, with a message on the band's website on May 17, 2006. No official reason was given for Wilson's departure, although later Wilson claimed he had been kicked out. The announcement stated that a long-time friend of the band, Jon Walker, would be filling in for the summer tour as a temporary bassist while a permanent replacement was sought. On July 3rd of that year, the band's MySpace profile was edited to list Walker as bassist/vocals, and Walker is now considered a permanent member of Panic! at the Disco.
MTV News reported the band and Wilson have now engaged in a war of words.[2] Wilson stated in an interview with Spin Magazine that he was fired without warning,[3] as opposed to the band's official statement that his departure was a decision reached by the entire band. In response, the band alleged that Wilson did not write the bass parts on their début album or even play bass on the recording. Wilson is currently demanding a cut of royalties from the band's debut album based on his work. If an agreement cannot be reached, he has threatened to take his former band-mates to court.[4]
Panic! at the Disco were featured on MTV's Total Request Live on January 17, 2006, where they premiered their music video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". Urie has since stated that the group feels both the song and video are overplayed, saying ""I Write Sins Not Tragedies" isn't the only song we've written".[citation needed] The video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", featuring Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque and an eerie circus wedding theme, débuted at #10 on the TRL countdown, catapulting the album to the top of the Billboard Independent chart and to #13 on the Billboard 200 in July 2006.
The video has been streamed more than 5 million times on YouTube, and is also the most requested song on New York City radio station Z-100.[citation needed] Both "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" have been on The Interactive Nine at Nine with Romeo at the same time.[citation needed]
Their second music video, for the single "But It's Better If You Do", has a storyline involving the band playing in a speakeasy in 1930s America. Urie commented, "Our new video is meant to show the fans the dark and secluded style of Panic".[citation needed] The single was released on May 1st in the UK and debuted (and peaked) at #23. That month the band completed their first headlining shows in Europe. All of the dates were sold out, with some (notably the show in Manchester) selling out in hours. Afterward, the band embarked on a two-month North American headlining tour with supporting acts The Hush Sound, OK Go, The Dresden Dolls, and Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque.
In July they released their third music video, "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off". The video features people with fish tank helmets walking the streets of what appears to be a studio back lot. The video only shows the band in one shot, reportedly because they felt that their looks were distracting from their music.
A remixed version of their song "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" can be found on the official soundtrack to the movie Snakes on a Plane. The song, which reached #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, is planned to be the next single for pop stations.[citation needed]
In early August 2006, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out went platinum, having sold over one million albums.[citation needed]
During P!atD's opening song on August 25, 2006 at the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival, an unknown audience member threw a bottle at the stage, which struck and temporarily knocked out Brendon Urie, forcing the band to stop playing. After some minutes, he got back up and shouted to the crowd, "You can't take me out! Let's see how well you guys do with my left side," and continued with the same song.[5]
At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" won the Video of the Year award, beating out artists such as Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While heading on stage to accept the award, Panic! was interrupted by a man named Six, who promoted himself for about five seconds before he was pulled off stage by security. The camera then zoomed back to the band. Walker jokingly said, "That was totally planned," and the band accepted their award with Urie commenting, "He's trying to throw off our thunder." Panic! also performed "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" during the award show.
The band embarked on a world tour in the later part of 2006. It included dates in Australia, New Zealand, and continental Europe. On November 7th, 2006, they kicked off their first-ever stadium tour with Bloc Party (who shortly dropped out because of drummer Matt Tong suffering a collapsed lung) and Jack's Mannequin. The Plain White T's were added to the next few weeks of The Nothing Rymes With Circus Tour. They opened up the shows beginning in New York through November 26th in Iowa. After that, Cobra Starship were on the tour through December 9th in San Diego. The band appeared along with Fall Out Boy, Marilyn Manson, and other bands on the special edition soundtrack of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas covering "This is Halloween", which was re-released in 3D on October 20th.
The video for "Build God, Then We'll Talk" recently made its debut in the UK. Scuzz TV debuted the video on Saturday evening on the March 10th, 2007 and MTV 2 followed this by debuting the video the following day.
According to Rolling Stone, the band has started working on their second album, due to be completed in mid-2007.
Performances
Panic! At The Disco is known for old-style circus shows, where they bring an entourage of contortionists and dancers on stage with them as they perform. At their recent shows at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and at the Patriot Center in Virginia, Panic! at the Disco performed covers of "Killer Queen" by Queen, and "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. They also had a notable performance in Times Square during the New Year's Eve celebrations in December 2006/January 2007 with Carson Daly. They performed two of their hit songs, "Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" (last performance in 2006) and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (first performance in 2007). Because the songs were performed on live network television, swear words in the songs went uncensored.
Live, they have also performed cover versions of Third Eye Blind's "Slow Motion" and Radiohead's "Karma Police".
Members
Current members
- Brendon Urie - Vocals, guitar, piano
- Ryan Ross - Guitar, backing vocals
- Jon Walker - Bass, backing vocals
- Spencer Smith - Drums
Former members
- Brent Wilson - Bass
Discography
Albums
| Cover | Album info | Chart positions | Sales | ||||
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| US Billboard 200 | US Heatseekers | US iTunes | US Independent Chart | UK Albums Chart | |||
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A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
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13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 1,559,078 (U.S.)[6] Platinum |
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Live Session EP (iTunes Music Store exclusive)
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TBD
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Philosophy behind A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
The album primarily deals with social issues that the band points on through various songs. Topics such as sanctity of marriage, adultery, drug addiction, prostitution, and religion are woven throughout the album. Guitarist Ryan Ross also relates two of the songs to living with his alcoholic father.
Singles
from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
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DVD
Panic! at the Disco released a limited edition collector's set. Only 25,000 of these were made worldwide and currently, about 1,200 are left for sale in mint condition. The box contains a DVD of their live concert in Denver, a limited edition CD of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, pictures of the band, a blank diary, a poster, lyric cards, tour program, a phenakistoscope, and a certificate of authenticity.
Awards
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- Won: Video of the Year (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
- Nominated: Best Group Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
- Nominated: Best Rock Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
- Nominated: Best New Artist in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
- Nominated: Best Art Direction in a Video (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
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- Won: Best Video International (2006) for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
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- Worst Band 2007
Trivia
- The band's debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, cites novels by American author Chuck Palahniuk on at least four occasions:
- The debut single, "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" is a quote from the novel Survivor.
- The song, "Time to Dance," is a musical synopsis of the novel Invisible Monsters.
- The song, "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines," borrows a concept from the book Diary of comparing weather to moods and feelings with very literal meteorological metaphors (i.e. "Just for the record, the weather today is slightly sarcastic, with a good chance of indifference...").
- The title of the song "Build God, Then We'll Talk" originates from a quote in the novel Choke.
- The songs "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" & "But It's Better If You Do" are both quotes from the movie Closer, spoken by Natalie Portman.
- The band appeared in a YouTube-only version of a video for "Backstabber" by The Dresden Dolls. The two bands toured together and there was endless rumours of conflict between the two bands, so they decided to make a video of members of each band trying to eliminate another as a mockery of this.
- The band appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where they performed "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" to promote their A Fever You Can't Sweat Out album.
References
- ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Pulse Music Board. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Panic! at the Disco Sued by Former Bassist. Altpress.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
- ^ Carsten (2006-08-25). Panic! At The Disco Frontman Collapse On Stage. PunkBands.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
- ^ [3]
External links
- Official website
- Panic! at the Disco's profile at MySpace
- Panic! at the Disco's profile at PureVolume
- Panic! at the Disco at MusicBrainz
- Panic! at the Disco's UK profile at MySpace
| Panic! at the Disco |
| Brendon Urie | Ryan Ross | Jon Walker | Spencer Smith |
| Brent Wilson |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums/EPs: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | Live Session EP |
| Singles: "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" | "But It's Better If You Do" | "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" | "Build God, Then We'll Talk" |
Categories: Cleanup from March 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles with unsourced statements since December 2006 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | Panic! at the Disco | 2000s music groups | American musical groups | Nevada musical groups
