Party at The Park: Panic at the Disco & Weezer

Panic at the Disco, Weezer and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA
07.29.16

The lineup read like a square peg in a round hold. Pop-rock powerhouse Panic at the Disco and old-school geek-rockers Weezer, with the addition of piano-pop-composer Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness? But somehow it worked. The crowd lined up a football field long through Marymoor Park to get into the show, gates were late, and restrictions were tight. But they came, they saw, and they definitely sang along.

The night opened with AMITW, and while the crowd was still building (the strangely-seated center floor was sparse, with the lawn filled in), delivered their signature piano-driven pop tracks with a bounty of energy. The crowd stood around the edges of the floor area singing along, until McMahon himself jumped off the stage and came down to say hi, not once, but twice during his 30-minute set. He wandered the crowd giving high fives and making everyone’s night. And yes, he did jump on top of his piano and closed with his major hit “Cecilia and the Satellite.”

Up next was PATD, whose fans were desperately trying to sneak peeks of them backstage through the fence, and came bearing their true colors and plenty of branded merch. With the band in black suits and lead vocalist Brandon Urie in a blue jacket and leopard-print shirt, the group exploded on stage with opener, “Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time.”

A band that definitely puts on a show, PATD played up the instrumentation with a horn section and plenty of big rock guitar riffs, but frankly, Urie’s vocals and manic presence are key. At points, he nears a yodel while transitioning from a deep bellow to his super-high falsetto. The only point it may have failed him was a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” that felt a bit like the band was trying too hard, especially given that the crowd clearly didn’t need it to be dancing and singing along throughout.

Yes, Urie took his shirt off, and yes, he backflipped, and there were standout piano turns and a “Fuck Yeah Friday” metal break that was a surprising pleasure. Urie’s encouragement of people being themselves and doing what they want was conveyed in some banter, as was his personal respect for Weezer as an early inspiration. The interesting thing about the band was the balance of very young fans adoring their new material and the slightly older crowd who got into tracks like “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”

Following up this major showmanship was Weezer, who put on a surprisingly bright and fun set despite their culty, geek-rock status. Albeit, they’ve moved into more pop-rock territory as of late, having experimented with a gamut in between. They kicked off the set with “California Kids” and immediately let loose the confetti canons, an interesting counterpoint to the guns/cigarettes/pills that danced across the video backdrop during second song, “Hash Pipe.”

Weezer’s performance had plenty of fans up and singing along, the lawn crowd standing for a better view as they let loose rainbow beach balls and at one point, lead Rivers Cuomo even came out into the crowd for a minute. During “I Love the USA” they got everyone to light up their phones, and from there out, they saved the big hits for the back half of the set.

Overall, the tour and lineup seemed to work better than expected, and the night was a solid show, so kudos to whomever organized this surprising partnership.

Review by Stephanie Dore
Photos by Sunny Martini

Panic at the Disco