Somehow downsizing has worked for Panic! At The Disco.

“Life has gotten a lot easier and there’s a lot less to deal with,” drummer Spencer Smith says during a recent phone interview. “It’s also allotted us time to remain focused on the band.”

In the three years since the Panic! At The Disco’s last album, “Pretty. Odd.,” the band saw its lineup shrink by two – founding members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band in 2009. But losing the members didn’t stop Smith and lead singer Brandon Urie.

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Footage from Panic! At The Disco’s amazing performance at the Take 40 Live Lounge. The full show will air on GO! on Sunday 9th October at 1.00pm and MTV on Tuesday 18th October at 9.30pm.

There have been rumours about a change in venue and audience restrictions for the Perth leg of the Soundwave Counter Revolution tour, but now the festival’s promoter AJ Maddah has confirmed that changes are real.

Last night the Perth streetpress paper posted a comment on their Facebook page to announce that “According to ads in tomorrow’s X-Press Magazine, Counter Revolution is now taking place at Amplifier and Capitol; while Every Time I Die, The Acacia Strain and The Word Alive takes place at the Civic Hotel. Both shows are on Monday, October 3.The fine print says it is now an 18+ show”

This set off a flood of worries from under-aged fans concerned that they wound no longer be able to attend the show and see Panic! At The Disco, All Time Low, Yellowcard, Story Of The Year and the rest of the lineup.

Sadly, Maddah has now confirmed the news via Twitter announcing that “Yes. It’s true. The problem is that not enough under 18 kids have bought tickets to make an all ages show feasible. And of course if you have a ticket and can’t attend you can have a refund. Sydney & Melbourne are selling out; Brisbane is great while Perth is awful”. Read the full article »

Muso’s Guide’s Natalie Shaw talks to Panic At The Disco backstage at Leeds Festival as part of a summer of festival coverage with Vodafone VIP.

Panic! At The Disco will play a show at the Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom on January 28, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets will go on sale on September 23rd at stereoboard.com.

We are extremely excited to announce that Panic! At The Disco is coming to Australia, and we are giving you the chance to see them live!

You know they’re in Oz for the Counter Revolution Festival but did you know they are also doing ONE solo show in Sydney this year for the Take 40 Live Lounge presented by Debit Mastercard?

Panic! At The Disco’s last Australian tour saw all shows sell out in just minutes, cementing their place as one of the world’s most electrifying and in-demand pop punk bands around. After forming and recording their first few demos while they were all still in high school the band has gone on to receive critical acclaim and commercial success across the world.

This year the band released their third studio album Vices & Virtues and they will be playing hits from this album and more at this exclusive performance!

The Take 40 Live Lounge presented by Debit MasterCard will have just 150 guests within an intimate venue, and will get you up close and personal with the band! This is your chance to get a piece of the action!

Money can’t buy this prize: On September 27th, you and three mates could receive VIP tickets to the show, and we’ll provide flights, accommodation and $500 spending money on your Debit MasterCard. It doesn’t stop there though, you get to MEET the band as well!

Click here to enter!

Source: Take40.com

When a teenage Brendan Urie announced to his mum and dad that he was dropping out of high school to become a rock star, things didn’t pan out too well… To be blunt, they kicked him out. And in drummer Spencer Smith’s case, it was pretty much the same scene. Several years and three albums later, though, their band is pop-rock juggernaut Panic! At The Disco – and the lads’ parents are very proud of their sons indeed. According to Smith, all’s forgiven and forgotten.

“Yeah, everything is fine with mum and dad now!” he laughs. “I think they were probably more surprised at our success than we were. They were almost shocked that we were able to turn this dream into a real band and into a real job. I was just a kid that was obsessed with listening to my records and collecting all kinds of things to do with my favourite bands, and I think they thought it was just a phase. They have been very supportive in the last few years, but it took some time,” he continues. “The rest of the Las Vegas scene was kind of the same in that respect. Once we started doing proper tours and became more than just a ‘local’ band, things changed. The problem with that town is that there’s a lot of venues, but they’ll open just to close a year later. It’s frustrating for a band trying to establish themselves – there’s no good, solid foundation there for them at all. I still think it’s a pretty big issue for Las Vegas.”

Not that that impacts Panic! At The Disco anymore. As Smith points out, the band is no longer considered a ‘local’ act; with their now-gruelling touring and recording schedules, it’s become next to impossible to keep up with what’s going on in the music scene back home. “Unless you’re like The Killers or something, there’s a lot of metal bands in our hometown!” chuckles Smith. “I don’t think it matters where you come from or where you’re based geographically anymore. You’re not required to start off as a really big local band before you’re able to move on to national touring. That doesn’t matter anymore because of the internet, obviously – you can generate a lot of buzz for yourself without really having a local fanbase first. I’m not really sure anymore who’s doing good things back in Las Vegas, because we’re hardly ever there anyway. To be honest, when it comes to most of the bands that I like and admire, I have no clue where they’re from! It’s just not relevant anymore – that’s how much has changed in the industry since we started out.” Read the full article »

As previously reported, Panic! At The Disco will headline Counter Revolution in Australia and now dates for Sydney and Perth have finally been released. Check out all five festival stops below, tickets can be purchased through soundwavefestival.com/tickets.

BRISBANE
SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER
Brisbane, The Riverstage

SYDNEY
SUNDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER
Sydney, Big Top Luna Park

MELBOURNE
FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
Melbourne, Myer Music Bowl

ADELAIDE
SUNDAY 2 OCTOBER
Adelaide, Showgrounds

PERTH
MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER
Perth, Challenge Stadium

After the news of Soundwave Revolution being cancelled due to Van Halen dropping out of the bill, bands were left scrambling trying to still make it over to Australia. The Soundwave organization has now announced a new festival called Counter Revolution that will take place in late-September and October to replace Soundwave Revolution. Panic! At The Disco, All Time Low, and Yellowcard, among many others will still be playing the festival.

BRISBANE
SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER
Brisbane, The Riverstage

MELBOURNE
FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
Melbourne, Myer Music Bowl

ADELAIDE
SUNDAY 2 OCTOBER
Adelaide, Showgrounds

Tickets can be bought HERE.

Source: Property of Zack

Panic! was scheduled to perform at Pukkelpop 2011 in Belgium tonight (local time), however in the early evening a huge storm moved through the festival’s grounds. There have been deaths reported and all performances have been put on hold. Spencer posted the following message on Twitter…

Everyone at pukkelpop, first of all, we hope you are safe. We will play if they let us, but it’s not our call. We’ll keep U posted -Spencer

Be safe everyone!

Update: From Zack Hall’s Twitter…

There is a storm about to hit Belgium that is kinda worrying me..

Just went through a flash storm and watched trees get uprooted right in front of us.. Also tore open a door to get the band in a trailer..

Watching people walk around like zombies cleaning up after that mother nature ass whooping. I hope everyone is ok after that.

My heart goes out to all the people injured today.. This day was insane.. twitpic.com/683p1e

Coverage of the tragedy:
- Alternative Press — Stage collapses at Pukkelpop festival, three confirmed dead
- Alternative Press — Musicians respond to Pukkelpop stage collapse
- Rolling Stone — At Least Three Dead in Belgian Stage Collapse (w/ videos)
- SPIN – Three Dead at Belgium’s Pukkelpop Festival (w/ video)
- NME — Stage collapses at Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival
- NME – Footage of Pukkelpop stage collapse emerges online (w/ videos)
- Billboard — Stage Collapses at Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, At Least Three Dead, Scores Injured