Panic At The Disco

Birmingham Carling Academy
Sunday 9th March 2008


I have no idea what the support bands, Black Gold and Metro Station, sound like as I bumped into an old school friend at the gig and subsequently chatted to him rather than listen to the bands. However I do remember walking in and thinking the band on stage weren’t bad, bit too nu-rave. Yet as they progressed I entirely forgot they were on, even when I was paying attention it wasn’t that noticeable. Like I said bumping into someone you haven’t seen for years will generally negate any real opinion to the opening acts.

Panic at the Disco sounded technically very accurate and playing a good mix of songs from A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and some newer stuff from Pretty Odd. But they played an incredibly short set. For a sold out tour I’d expect more than an hour (encore included), which is what we were served with. Yes they were very good and they played a lot of fan favourites; including Lying Is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have With her Clothes On was a particularly good song, which was dedicated to all the single people in the audience who he would see later. An acoustic version of I Write Sins Not Tragedies was an interesting take on arguably their most popular song - the carnival-esque piano part given over to audience participation.

The newer stuff was thrown into the set, punctuating the older material nicely. Opening with Nine In The Afternoon, the carnival nature of the first album was shown to make a transition on the new album (Bahktin would be proud) but with a more mature and less Fall Out Boy sound. In fact the newer songs in general seemed to fit in well with the older songs, but seemed more mature, less gimmicky and toned town the over theatrical but still kept the unique Panic sound.

Overall it was a good gig - they sounded spot on, there was a good mix (though the cover song seemed a little lost) of old and new songs. It was just a shame that it was such a short set, surely there could have been more older songs and they could’ve used the gig to plug Pretty. Odd which is released in a matter of weeks. Heading out on such a large tour it’s possible that this was a preventative measure to ensure an overall quality, but many left feeling short changed.

The Matches

7th March 2008
Birmingham Barfly

The Matches deserve more aficionados than they have. A fantastically quirky band that’ve developed eons from supporting Reel Big Fish back in the summer of 2003 to a small headlining tour and a new album, which has already been leaked and loved.

Well aware that most people here have probably heard their new album before its release, they remain cautious of overplaying new material, and stick to playing songs off the fantastic 2005 album Decomposer. The brilliant if unseasonal ‘December is for Cynics’ – a song which perfectly highlights the superbly real and honest lyrics and the equally fitting yet quirky music produced by The Matches, is a personal highlight. Even new music such as the wonderfully entitled ‘Yankee in a Chip Shop’ shows the level of time and appreciation the band must have for their British shows. The energetic and engaging show is lapped up by die-hard fans singing along enthusiastically with lead-singer ##’s vocals. # emits a mass of stage presence which certainly deserves to be imparted to more than the audience members present.

A fantastic show which sadly lacks the rightful amount of crowd, The Matches are capable of putting on a show which engages with the audience and draws in those that may be unsure of the more quirkily sinister edge their music took on after ##. The alternative press is just starting to take note of The Matches and with their upcoming album release ## they will hopefully gain hoards of new, but similarly intense fans to fill the Barfly next time they (hopefully) come back.