After 3Oh!3 rocked the crowd, students waited eagerly for a band most of them have been listening to since their middle school days. After a long intermission, a banner dropped down. It read “Panic! At the Disco” and the crowd screamed.

The three members of Panic! At the Disco, Spencer Smith, Dallon Weekes and Brendon Urie, took to the stage. Lead singer Urie’s beautiful voice filled the Fant-Ewing Coliseum and no one could stand still.

“I expected all of you to be toothless, but you’re beautiful!” Urie said jokingly to the crowd.

Panic! At the Disco had never played in Monroe until now.

“Do You Know What I’m Seeing?”

Traveling anywhere at the beginning of the band was crazy for him because they had never done anything like it before. Urie loves the feeling of waking up in a new city, seeing new faces and meeting new people.

“This is just kind of a dream, just being able to travel and play music,” said Urie. “I love seeing all the cultural differences in America.”

He also loves experiencing the climate differences compared to Las Vegas.

“There’s dry-ass desert and then humid-ass swamp,” said Urie. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Urie really liked visiting Monroe and experiencing “southern hospitality.” It was chill compared to Las Vegas. And Urie said that’s more his speed.

“Everyone seems a little more easygoing, a little more open to hangout and talk,” said Urie. “It moves at a much more easy pace and I like that.”

Earlier that day, Urie went to Bootleggers for drive-thru liquor. He was in awe about being able to drive through and get a daiquiri.

“Like what, you can do this? We don’t have those in Vegas. It’s pretty awesome,” Urie said.

Urie really wanted to go camping, but was worried about alligators. He’s always loved camping.

“I Wanna Be Free”

Urie was also always a hyperactive kid. When he was 13, doctors tried to diagnose him with Anxiety Disorder Nervosa. He always knew he had high energy, and he translates his nervousness into that energy.

“I just feel excited all the time. Like really, I am. I wake up, not too slow. Once my eyes are open I’m up. I can just jump up,” Urie said.

Urie finds performing an exciting thing. It gives him a chance to let out all of his energy with a crowd of people who love him. It’s an experience he is always excited to share with people.

For him, it’s more like an exchange rather than something he has to do. It gets his adrenaline flowing.

“You’re in the same room playing music, people are singing back at you, you’re singing at them. It’s more like performing together,” Urie said.

Urie was just as excited to perform for ULM as students were excited to hear him.

“Time to Dance”

Panic! At the Disco’s newest album “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die” came out October 8, 2013 and featured quite an electronic sound.

The album was very dance-driven as Urie is a huge fan of electronic dance music. And he loves to dance. It was inspired by one of his “favorite bands of all time” called The Faint.

“They’re just phenomenal. I think they have the coolest mix of live rock, punk instruments and electronic music. It’s awesome,” said Urie. “Any time I can try to recreate that for our own band is just a dream.”

Panic! At the Disco has experimented with different sounds such as their sophomore album “Pretty.Odd” which featured the fan favorite song “Nine in the Afternoon” and a folk rock vibe.

During the time of the second album, the band was still trying to get to know each other in the songwriting process.

“We basically wanted to just copy The Beatles and do a Beatles record,” Urie said.

Urie believes you get in a different mindset as you get older. You want to do something that surprises yourself and hopefully people will jump on board as well.

But Urie doesn’t favor one sound over the other. He just likes not repeating the sound. “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die” was also a much more personal album for Urie.

They spent a lot of time on it and the themes were very personal to Urie. He had to allow himself to open up more, and he was nervous to sing it in the beginning.

“This one is very special. I love it,” Urie said.

“Can’t Fight Against the Youth”

During tours, the fans come for them and the audience is there for them. The band controls their environment. But Urie compared performing on college campuses to performing in festivals.

He said he likes it when people don’t know who they are and they can showcase their talent to a broader range of people. They showcase their sound, who they are, build a persona and freak people out.

“It’s just fun to do that stuff, you know?” Urie said.

Urie respects the way 3Oh!3 builds their persona on stage.  He loves those guys and the party they bring with them.

“On a personal basis, they’re just personable, easy-going guys, like easy to talk to,” said Urie. “If someone ran up to them and was like ‘oh my god I love you guys’ they would be the nicest. They’re sweethearts, really.”

Sean Foreman of 3Oh!3 said Panic! At the Disco is like their extended family in the music business. They have a lot of ties within their circle and know a lot of the same people.

The bands hung out that day before the concert at Black Bayou Lake, a wildlife refuge, where they held snakes and alligators.

“We don’t have anything like that,” said Foreman. “But we come from a college town, we always feel at home on college campuses. It’s the party atmosphere which we love for our shows.”

Foreman and Nathaniel Motte, the other half of 3Oh!3, are both from Boulder, Colo., and started their band as a way to have fun and party.
Motte said it was less about performing and more about entertaining. But as they’ve gone further into their career they’ve tried to expand musically.

Just like Urie, Foreman said they thrive on having participation between them and the crowd.

“For people to be having a good time and bring their fun philosophy to our shows is insane,” Foreman said.

Urie closed the concert with the classic Panic! At the Disco song “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” and the crowd performed it with him.

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