On Tuesday the 4th of October, thousands of Panic! At The Disco fans gathered at FLA Live Arena to catch the band’s Sunrise, Florida stop on their 2022 Viva Las Vengeance Tour. Viva Las Vengeance, released on August 19th, 2022 is the 7th album by Panic! The tour for the record began less than a month later in September 2022 and feature support by Marina, Jake Welsey Rogers and, on select dates, Beach Bunny. A week before the scheduled Florida shows in Sunrise and Tampa, Hurricane Ian made landfall on the west coast of the state. While the shows were luckily unaffected, the lives of so many Floridians were. Early on the 4th of October, the band released a statement that $1 from every ticket sale for both of these shows would be donated to help the now recovering communities. This gesture had not gone unnoticed by fans, with some even traveling from these areas to share in the music they love.
Doors were opened at 6:00PM, an hour before showtime, and the fans that had lined up outside began to pour in. Much of the arena was set up to be assigned seating, with chairs covering the main floor. A small pit was set up in the middle of the stage for standing General Addmission or GA, with a 360 degree view of the main stage and the semi-circular runway that wrapped around it. Jake Wesley Rogers, a singer-songwriter hailing from Springfield, Missouri was the first opening act of the night and took the stage at 7:00PM. Although, his first album Evergreen, came out in 2017, all songs on his 6 track set were released within the past year. “Hindsight” and “Lavender Forever” were the first two songs played and are the most recent releases in Rogers’ discography. Both singles dropped in 2022 and will appear on his next EP titled LOVE, which is set to hit shelves on October 21, 2022. “Pluto,” the title track from his 2021 EP, was a strong closer and featured a performance of the intro to My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade” partway through. Panic! At The Disco’s fanbase heavily overlaps with that of My Chemical Romance, so this combination with one of Rogers’ most popular songs made for a full five minute crowd pleaser.
Jake Wesley Rogers:
Jake Wesley Rogers – Vocals, Piano
Mike Miller – Keyboard
Emma Lambiase – Bass
Simon Knudtson – Drums
Setlist:
1) Hindsight
2) Lavender Forever
3) Middle of Love
4) Cause of a Scene
5) Pluto
6) Welcome to the Black Parade (My Chemical Romance Cover)
Direct support for this show was Marina, a Welsh singer-songwriter formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds. New set pieces were added to the stage between sets, including a large banner reading “MARINA” and a circular, white platform that now sat center stage. At 7:45PM, Marina’s band appeared on stage in all white, matching suits. Shortly after, Marina climbed up onto the center platform to begin her 12 track set which consisted of songs from her debut album all the way to her most recent 2021 release, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land. The newest releases again were played first, with the title track and “Venus Fly Trap” taking the first two spots.
Marina then mixed in a few songs from earlier projects, including title track from her 2015 record Froot and a few from her first album, The Family Jewels. Throughout her performance Marina mostly stuck to the main stage, but towards the end of her set she ventured onto the runway, playing to those in the back of the center pit and the floor seats behind. The final three songs on Marina’s set were introduced as “the Electra Heart part” of the show, featuring “Primadonna,” “How to Be a Heartbreaker,” and “Bubblegum Bitch,” all popular tracks off of the 2012 record. While the crowd had been enjoying the entirety of Marina’s performance, these last tracks seemed to be her most well known and the set ended on a definite high.
Marina:
Marina Diamandis – Vocals
Setlist:
1) Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land
2) Venus Fly Trap
3) Froot
4) Man’s World
5) Blue
6) Oh No!
7) Purge the Poison
8) I’m a Ruin
9) Hermit the Frog
10) Primadonna
11) How to Be a Heatbreaker
12) Bubblegum Bitch
20 minutes after the end of Marina’s set, the murmur of the crowd turned to full blown screams as the stage screens changed to reveal a digital timer counting down from 10 minutes. As the remaining time ticked by, anticipation built. Finally, at 9:00PM, the clock showed 00:00 and was replaced with a live video of frontman Brendon Urie walking through the backstage area singing the intro of “Say Amen (Saturday Night).” Right before the first chorus hit, the crowd roared as Urie rose up through a trap in the center of the front runway. Smoke billowed over the stage, hugging the floor in a way that made it look like Urie was standing on clouds. The first “OH” of the song hit with a pyro cue that lit up the back of the stage and was the first of many. All together this opening was as theatrical as expected for a band like Panic!, who has always had a flair for the dramatic. A full band accompanied Urie on stage, including a string trio and brass trio in addition to drums, guitar and bass. Occasionally a third trio would join in with more guitars and a keytar. The impressively long 25 track, hour and 45 minute set was split into 3 sections. The first and third featured popular songs from across the complete Panic! discography, while the second was an entire playthrough of the 2022 record Viva Las Vengeance. Starting out in a black paisley suit with gold trim, Urie would undergo a wardrobe change to kick off each section. Once the first 6 songs ended and the Viva Las Vengeance segment started, Urie appeared in a color-blocked jacket reminiscent of the one featured in the album artwork and music video for the title track, followed by a white jacket (which turned to no jacket) for the third and final stretch. Throughout the night a huge screen behind the band would provide a backdrop for each song, ranging from giant tentacles to singing skulls to theatre curtains. Pyro effects were another recurring feature of the show, including large, synchronized flamethrowers during “Victorious,” sparklers that rained down during “This Is Gospel,” and fireworks during “Girls/Girls/Boys.” All of this plus an incredible lighting and laser display and confetti cannons that fired during the final song showed just how much care and effort went into the production of this show. The incredible performance by Urie and the band along with the production make this show a must see for any Panic! fan.
Panic! At The Disco:
Brendon Urie – Vocals
Mike Naran – Guitar
Nicole Row – Bass
Dan Pawlovich – Drums
Chris Bautista – Trumpet
Erm Navarro – Trombone
Jesse Molloy – Saxophone
Kiara Ana Perico – Viola
Leah Metzler – Cello
Michelle Shin – Violin
Jake Sinclair – Guitar
Mike Viola – Guitar
Rachel White – Guitar
Setlist:
1) Say Amen (Saturday Night)
2) Hey Look Ma, I Made It
3) Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time
4) This is Gospel
5) Miss Jackson
6) Emperor’s New Clothes
7) Viva Las Vengeance
8) Middle of a Breakup
9) Don’t Let the Light Go Out
10) Local God
11) Star Spangled Banger
12) God Killed Rock and Roll
13) Say It Louder
14) Sugar Soaker
15) Something About Maggie
16) Sad Clown
17) All By Yourself
18) Do It to Death
19) Girls/Girls/Boys
20) House of Memories
21) Nine in the Afternoon
22) Death of a Bachelor
23) I Write Sins Not Tragedies
24) Victorious
25) High Hopes
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My name is Courtney and I am a concert photographer based outside of Orlando, FL. For decades I’ve been an avid enjoyer of music and photography (separately), but recently found the joy that comes from putting them together. There is nothing that beats the rush of live music, but being able to relive that time through photographs sure comes close. Join me as I dive into the Central Florida music scene!
