Happy snowy Monday, my fellow elder emos (and the like)! Hope everyone is staying warm and spending quality time with loved ones! Today, in honor of their new album, a re-release of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out with live demos added, we will do a deep dive into one of the emo trinity’s core bands, Panic! At the Disco!
A Brief History of Panic! At the Disco
Panic! At the Disco was formed in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada by high school friends Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith, who later invited bassist Brent Wilson and guitarist-turned vocalist, Brendon Urie, to complete the band. P!ATD began to rehearse their “lighter, more accessible songs” to the Vegas heavy metal scene in Spencer’s grandmother’s living room, gaining inspiration for their band name from a song by The Smiths, and creating alt rock/emo music heavily influenced by the theatrical/cabaret scene at from their Las Vegas roots. The bandmates became so invested in their music that they left their education behind to pursue this career choice, with Brendan even picking up a job at Tropical Smoothie Cafe to pay for the band’s studio space, singing for tips in the process.
After pouring their heart into rehearsing, the band decided to send a demo of their emo/cabaret style music to Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, who became so impressed by P!ATD’s music he drove out to a rehearsal to see them and signed them immediately to new label, Decay Records, afterwards, hyping up the newly signed band every chance he got on his press tours.
P!ATD went on to record their first studio album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, in 2005 in College Park MD, and later joined their mentors, Fall Out Boy, along with Motion City Soundtrack and The Starting Line on the Nintendo Fusion Tour that summer, spring boarding their album to become a huge success on the Billboard for Independent Music in September of that year. From then on, Panic! cemented themselves as icons in the emo music scene, with their music video for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” even winning Video of the Year at the 2006 VMA’s.
In 2006, Wilson was kicked out of the band for his lack of focus and was soon replaced by Jon Walker, and the band continued to tour and write music. releasing their second album, Pretty Odd, in March 2008, with the band focusing heavily on environmental efforts with much of their media releases, even partnering with a few environmental nonprofits.
Later in 2009, Ross and Walker left the band due to creative differences with Urie, but P!ATD went on to continue heavy major touring alongside other emo icons and went on to release their third studio album, Vices and Virtues in 2011, with a hit single even being featured on the movie, Jennifer’s Body. In 2013, the album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die, was released, followed by Smith’s departure from the band in 2015 and subsequent album releases Death of A Bachelor in 2016 (Urie’s solo project that sparked new popularity), Pray For the Wicked in 2018 and Viva Las Vengeance in 2022, with Urie being the sole remaining original member of the band until their break up in 2023.Though Panic! At the Disco underwent several lineup changes and experimented with their sound over their roughly twenty year career, their musical blending and creativity, theatrical performing spectacles and timeless voices continued to resonate with the emo crowds for years to come.
Panic! At the Disco in Pop Culture
Panic! At the Disco is considered one of the big three in the “emo trinity” (Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Panic! At the Disco) largely because not only were they discovered by one of the other big three bands (Fall Out Boy,) but their popularity exploded when emo music was at its peak in pop culture (2005-early 2010s).
They were mainstays of the Vans Warped Tour, arguably the biggest tour for rock/alt/emo/pop-punk music of the time. Their popularity on these big tours, their VMA win for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” in 2006, and their clever blockbuster references on their debut album (such as “Lying is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” from the film Closer), catapulted them into mainstream popularity in the late 2000s, where they went on to top the charts with songs like “High Hopes” and Urie even collaborated with pop queen, Taylor Swift, on her 2019 song, “Me!” Their music even went on to be a backdrop of other major blockbuster hits, such as Love, Simon, in 2018, a film whose major themes included love and self-acceptance, which is the pinnacle of what all emo music means at its heart.
P!ATD is a core artist of emo music not only because they made it mainstream out of the emo explosion of the early 2000s, but because they also practice the themes of love and acceptance from their music in real life, with Brendon Urie establishing the Highest Hopes Foundation ” to share strength, courage and motivation to all people and communities who are subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.” Though Panic! At the Disco is technically a retired emo band, its music, longevity and legacy of promoting love and acceptance will live on for decades. Check out P!ATD’s discography here!
Till Next Time,
XOXO,
Meagan