Last night Panic! at the Disco’s Ryan Ross turned twenty-one in New York City at Angels and Kings, the East Village “dive bar” owned by labelmates Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is…, Cobra Starship and their management, Crush.

Ross was in town between last weekend’s gigs at the Reading and Leeds festivals and this weekend’s Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle. After that, it’s back to work on the band’s sophomore disc, which is Ross’ main focus: “We’re trying to finish up in the next month, month and a half,” he says. After Bumbershoot and San Diego Street Scene at the end of September the band plans to head into the studio with a release slated for February or March of 2008.

The scene at the bar last night was suitably carnival-esque for the dramatic Panic! guitarist.

Ross’ girlfriend, Keltie Colleen (of Pussycat Dolls-esque troupe Sugar and Spice) planned the ordeal: She hung mini versions of Ross’ high school yearbook photo (which she found on the Internet) from the ceiling by ribbon, commissioned Ross’ friends to wear T-shirts sporting the image of a twelve-year-old Ross holding a fish, and planned her own midnight surprise: having fellow Sugar and Spice members wheel her out in a wrapped box.

Though Ross and his bandmates chose not to invest in Angels and Kings when it opened because they were underage, the band is now halfway to legality (singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith still have to hit the twenty-one milestone) and Ross says its possible the band would buy into the investment in the future. Some of the current owners were also in attendance last night: Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy, whose band is heading out on the Young Wild Things Tour with Fall Out Boy this fall, and Gabe Saporta and Ryland Blackinton of Cobra Starship, whose next album comes out October 23rd.

Source: RollingStone.com

In a match made in punk-rock heaven, Photo Finish Records have joined forces with the staff at Alternative Press to create a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks from many of today’s hottest artists. For the past 22 years, Alternative Press has been a bible for music enthusiasts, breaking wide open the careers of countless bands on the Warped Tour’s mainstage and beyond. The first-ever Photo Finish/ Alternative Press compilation, “Press Play: Volume 1,” sees the staff of the magazine compiling tracks from their favorite up-and-coming artists such as Chiodos, Bayside and Gallows as well as established acts such as Say Anything, Gym Class Heroes and The Used, to create a comp that’s as groundbreaking and diverse as the magazine from where it gets its name.

“Press Play” is a comprehensive overview of the best bands in the scene handpicked by the tastemakers themselves. In addition to being a well-rounded collection featuring rarities, live tracks, acoustic renditions and remixes, a portion of the proceeds from sales of the disc are going to the Keep A Breast Foundation. Additionally, the disc will include liner notes from the magazine’s editor in chief Jason Pettigrew, as well as commentary from the bands themselves. “Press Play: Volume 1″ hits the streets September 25th with the following tracklisting: Read the full article »

08.30.2007 – back home..
Just wanted to thank everybody over in Europe for showing us a great time as always. Decaydance Fest was great, and Reading made us feel very welcome once again. As much as we love it over there, we are very glad to be home continuing to work on the new record.

We also have 2 shows for you west coasters coming up soon. This Saturday September 1st we will be in Seattle for Bumbershoot and Saturday September 22nd we will be in San Diego for Street Scene. That might be it for the rest of the year, so pllease make sure to come out if you can and say hello!

- panic

Tami shared with us some really cute pictures from the Reading Festival Meet & Greet. Thank you Tami!

More Than Good Hooks has been updated with lyrics for “It’s True Love”, “Middle of Summer”, “Nine in the Afternoon” and the cover song “The Weight”. I also added “What’s My Age Again?” a while ago.

These lyrics have been taken from the latest live performances so they might differ slightly from future versions. I had real trouble with transcribing “It’s True Love” due to the quality of the recordings, so I pretty much gathered all lyrics found online and made my own version of what I think it sounds like. Please point out any mistakes I may have made, I’ll go ahead and fix them asap.