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Concert Review: Death of a Bachelor Tour

Date: March 10, 2017

Venue: The Palace of Auburn Hills (Auburn Hills, MI)

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

I bought my ticket to the Death of a Bachelor tour in late November and have been anxiously anticipating the show since. With incredible production, enticing setlists, and crowd enthusiasm to boot, Panic! At The Disco did not disappoint.

First on the bill was Saint Motel (★★★★☆). While I knew a few of their songs, the others that I didn’t were still exciting to listen to. The set engaged the crowd and got them dancing and singing along to their tracks like “Move” and “My Type”. Their utilization of entertaining production and graphics made their performance noteworthy and a memorable start to the evening.

Next up was Misterwives (★★☆☆☆), who put on an okay show overall. I’m a fan of some of their music, however the songs didn’t always translate well live, feeling stale and as though Misterwives was trying too hard to be unique, rather than producing content that represents themselves, unique or not. Unlike Saint Motel, they did not use much production, but rather some lighting effects on stage to entice the audience. Halfway through, they stopped and lead singer Mandy Lee gave a short speech about acceptance and individuality. While the sentiment was heartfelt, the speech was a bit generic and more off-putting than rallying for the crowd. It did not aid Misterwives, either, to follow this up with a cover of Chance The Rapper’s “Same Drugs”, which was bland and stagnant in their otherwise upbeat set. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with Misterwives and wish they would have done more with their set.

Finally came Panic! At The Disco (★★★★★), who has been my favorite band since I was 12 years old. They opened with new favorites “Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time” and “LA Devotee”, both of which got the crowd on their feet and set a fast-paced, electric mood for the entire night. Other highlights include a medley of songs from their debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, an exciting prospect for younger fans who missed out on the chance to see those songs live in their early years. Moreover, lead singer Brendon Urie walked through the crowd to come to a spinning, suspended grand piano in the center of the arena to play the piano version of “This Is Gospel”, before walking back through the crowd, offering hugs and high-fives, while singing “Death Of A Bachelor”. Along with their signature cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the band also added a cover of Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out”, aided by their onstage horn players. The most touching moment of the evening was the playing of “Girls/Girls/Boys”, and the paper hearts the crowd held up during the song, part of a tour wide project started by fans. The overwhelming love and support shown during this moment was touching and absolutely stunning, lighting the entire space with multicolored hearts. Opting out of an encore in favor of a longer play time, the band ended with hit’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and the rollicking “Victorious”, leaving the arena with an air of total contentment and excitement even after the band had left the stage, complete with showers of confetti and golden streamers, falling like snow as the house lights went on. Panic! At The Disco’s performance on their largest headlining tour yet, fresh off of a Grammy nomination, solidifies their place as a frontrunner of popular alternative music.