Panic! at the Disco

Panic! At the Disco Opener Patrick Stump 'Taking No Prisoners'

26 Oct 2011 10:12:23 EDT

Ex-Fall Out Boy singer and Panic! tourmate tells MTV News his solo project has 'very punk-rock moments, very Motown moments.'
By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker, with reporting by Matt Elias

Patrick Stump might be known to many as the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, but since the band entered an indefinite hiatus nearly two years ago, Stump has been working to create a name for himself a solo artist. Currently on tour as the opening act for Panic! At the Disco, Stump is doing just that.

"I know a lot of people still haven't heard me as a solo artist," Stump told MTV News. "[My current] band and I are starting to get into this groove where it's like we've really proven it to the immediate people around us, so now it's just going out and taking no prisoners."

Stump has taken the approach of developing a new sound altogether on his first solo studio album, Soul Punk. He said Prince and David Bowie were two of the record's key influences.

"The record itself and the live show: It's really an uptempo R&B kind of thing," Stump said, describing his new approach. "There are some very punk-rock moments, some very Motown moments."

Already closely associated with Panic! At the Disco through Fall Out bandmate Pete Wentz's efforts at getting them signed in their early days, Stump has seen the pop-punk headliners come a long way.

"When I met them, they felt like our little brothers," Stump said, laughing. "They've long since come into their own, and it's really awesome to get to open for them."

The Panic! tour, which kicked off earlier this month, hits Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday (October 26) and wraps up next month in Sauget, Illinois. While Stump is out to prove his validity as a solo artist, he knows there is already much to be thankful for: getting to do what he loves most for a living.

"I love being a musician," Stump said, smiling. "I write, and I play, and I think about music all the time. It's really fun to go into rooms with people who don't know what to expect."

Will you be checking out the fall Panic! tour with opening act Patrick Stump? Tell us in the comments below!

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Paramore, Panic! At The Disco Celebrate Label's 15th Anniversary

06 Sep 2011 06:53:13 EDT

Fueled by Ramen will mark the occasion with two nights of concerts in New York, and MTV.com will stream Wednesday's show live!
By James Montgomery

Fifteen years ago, Fueled by Ramen began life in the dorm room of John Janick, a student at the University of Florida. These days, thanks to a catalog that includes releases by Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, Jimmy Eat World and Yellowcard (to name just a few), an unusually strong commitment to their roster of artists and a harnessing of social media that borders on masterful, FBR headquarters is now located many stories above Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, in a space shared with the very major Atlantic Records.

Needless to say, things have improved slightly since those dorm-room days. And on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, the label will celebrate both their journey and their birthday with a two-night stand at New York's Terminal 5, a double bill that will include the likes of Paramore, Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes. Wednesday night's show will stream live on MTV.com, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, but to kick off the celebration, we asked some of Fueled by Ramen's biggest acts to think back to the day they inked their deals with the label — starting with Wednesday night's headliners, Paramore.

"We were playing a lot of local shows, it was around 2004. The guy we were working with in Franklin [Tennessee], he was kind of our manager at the time, and he was like, 'This guy, he has this label,' " frontwoman Hayley Williams laughed. "A couple people from [FBR] came down and watched us play older songs and newer ones — I think we played 'Hallelujah' for them, 'Here We Go Again,' I don't know, like a total of five songs — and thank God they liked it. We were really excited. From then on, I was like, 'OK, what are we going to do?' and we recorded most of those songs, and they showed up on our album, which was on Fueled by Ramen!"

The signing story of another of the label's breakout stars, Panic! at the Disco, is a little less traditional. Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz discovered the band online and rushed to their hometown of Las Vegas to add them to FBR's roster. Of course, given the label's strong Web-based presence, it would become the blueprint for the way they'd do business moving forward.

"We started doing demos ourselves, just on our laptop, and posting to our personal websites, like MySpace or PureVolume, and just tried to send out links to anybody that was in a band that we were fans of in hopes they would listen. And somehow, we got lucky enough, and Pete contacted us, so that was our first introduction to Fueled by Ramen," Panic! drummer Spencer Smith explained. "Pete drove out and bought us Del Taco and listened to the songs and said that he wanted to sign us as we were driving him back to his hotel. So it all just happened within two weeks, I think, from him listening to the songs."

Help MTV celebrate Fueled by Ramen's 15th anniversary this Wednesday, September 7, as we present a live party featuring some of your favorite FBR acts, including Paramore. Check out MTV.com at 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday to catch all the action!

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Paramore, Panic! At The Disco Advance To Musical March Madness Elite 8

30 Mar 2011 12:08:54 EDT

Defending champs Coheed and Cambria, upset-minded Sum 41 also survive ... Elite 8 voting now open on the Newsroom blog.
By James Montgomery

We've reached the Elite 8 of MTV's Musical March Madness tournament, and it's a fitting title, indeed. Because the eight bands left standing in the tournament are most certainly elite, each having survived increasingly tough challenges to stand on the precipice of championship glory.

Check out our MMM Bracket right here!

And nowhere was that more apparent than in the MMM's Sweet 16, which saw not only a historic number of votes being cast by fans, but more nail-bitingly close contests than we can ever remember: Fifth-seeded Paramore came from way back to nip #1 Linkin Park; #5 Panic! at the Disco edged heavily-favored (and top-seeded) 30 Seconds to Mars; and, in perhaps the most remarkable matchup in MMM history, defending champs Coheed and Cambria snuck by #7 Avenged Sevenfold thanks to a last-second surge in votes ... our first-ever buzzer beater!

It was, to say the least, a remarkable round ... and we expect nothing less in the Elite 8: One of these bands will hoist the MMM championship trophy next week, and you can help them do it. But you've got to hurry — Elite 8 voting is now open on the Newsroom blog, and will continue until Thursday at midnight ET.

Elite 8 voting is now under way over on the Newsroom blog!

We'll reveal our Final Four on Friday ... but before we get there, let's take a look at our Elite 8 matchups!

Midwest

In one of the few drama-free Sweet 16 contests, #9 Disturbed handled #12 Patrick Stump with relative ease, moving David Draiman and Co. on to the Elite 8. The undercard — the now-legendary Coheed/A7X tussle — was anything but: Upset-minded Avenged took an early lead, stretched it to more than 4,000 votes, and then, with victory in sight, got complacent. That allowed Coheed (and their fans) to sneak back into things, slowly closing the gap and, finally, with less than 10 minutes to go in voting, overtaking A7X for good. In the end, in a contest that saw some 60,000 votes cast, Coheed won by less than 300 ... a remarkable contest, and more proof that you should never underestimate the heart of a champion. And thanks to those last-second heroics, our Midwest final is now set:

#9 Disturbed vs. #6 Coheed and Cambria

East

We knew heading into the Sweet 16 that the 30 Seconds to Mars/ Panic! at the Disco battle was going to be epic, but even we had no idea just how huge it would end up becoming. Top-seeded 30 STM cruised to an early lead, but then, thanks to some pretty heavy campaigning, #5 Panic! slowly started to chip away, and with less than two hours left in voting, they overtook Leto and his boys for good, winning by nearly 5,000 votes. In the undercard, what was expected to be a barnburner ended up being nothing more than a laugher, as #3 Green Day blasted #2 Blink-182 — despite Mark Hoppus's efforts to rally the troops. And so, our East final is set:

#5 Panic! at the Disco vs. #3 Green Day

South

A pair of hotly contested Sweet 16 matchups here, as #5 Paramore came roaring back against #1 Linkin Park (behold, the power of Facebook!), erasing a 3,000-vote deficit in the round's final hours and ultimately coasting to a 2,000-vote win — a pretty slight edge in a contest that saw more than 150,000 votes cast. In the region's other battle, the unstoppable Tokio Hotel rolled on, besting a surprisingly game #2 Muse — TH's 3,000-vote victory is by far their lowest margin to date. And so, we head to the South final, with a matchup that's sure to deliver on every level:

#5 Paramore vs. #14 Tokio Hotel

East

Sum 41 continue their VCU-like run through the tournament, as they pasted the fourth-seeded Strokes in the Sweet 16. But, like their NCAA counterparts, can Deryck Whibley and Co. advance to the Final Four? Standing in their way are last year's MMM runners-up, #3 My Chemical Romance, who handled #2 Radiohead with ease. At this point, they could be the sneaky favorites to win the whole thing. But first, they've got to get past MMM's Cinderellas, in what is perhaps the most unlikely East final of all time:

#16 Sum 14 vs. #3 My Chemical Romance

MTV's Musical March Madness has reached the Elite 8! Voting is now open and will continue until Thursday at midnight, when we'll roll on to the Final Four. All winners are determined by your votes, so, if your favorite act is still standing, it's up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM — but get ready, things only get tougher from here on out!

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Panic! At The Disco Face A 'Tough Matchup' In Musical March Madness

23 Mar 2011 12:28:05 EDT

Will they come out on top against Florence and the Machine? Second-round voting is under way on the Newsroom blog.
By James Montgomery

Panic! at the Disco came into the 2011 Musical March Madness tournament brimming with championship confidence, and, after making quick work of Avril Lavigne in the opening round, it appears as if that swagger was justified.

But now, as we enter the second round of MMM, the guys in Panic! face another tough challenge, this time in the form of #13 Florence and the Machine, who handled Brandon Flowers with relative ease in their first-round matchup.

Second-round voting is now under way in the Panic/Florence matchup over on the Newsroom blog!

So while Panic! still like their chances of advancing to the Sweet 16, they're not about to overlook Florence (or her Machine). The way they see it, they're in for the fight of their lives against an upset-minded underdog.

"I'm no Florence Welch, I'll tell you that. I don't have that voice," frontman Brendon Urie told MTV News. "But, God, I wish I did."

"[They're an] awesome band, so we're not going to be able to do the trash-talking thing ... they've got some strong stuff going for them," drummer Spencer Smith added. "Florence has a lot of success recently, and it's sort of the new thing. It's a tough matchup."

But even though they won't admit it, thanks to the undying support of their fans, Panic! are definitely the favorites in their second-round matchup — and are quickly emerging as a dark-horse contender to dethrone Coheed and Cambria as MMM champs. After all, confidence is one thing; being able to back it up is something else entirely. And so far, Panic! at the Disco have certainly backed it up.

"We'll see what happens. I'm kind of surprised we moved on to the second round," Urie laughed. "I think it's definitely a possibility [we could win the tournament]. We worked so hard ... and I think if we pace ourselves, we can come out in front."

MTV's Musical March Madness has moved on to the second round! Voting is now open and will continue until Sunday, when we'll begin the Sweet 16. All winners are determined by your votes, so if your favorite act is still in the tournament, it's up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM — but get ready, things only get tougher from here on out!

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Panic! At The Disco Explain 'The Overture,' Prep For Vices & Virtues Release

21 Mar 2011 16:03:49 EDT

Their mini-movie is out now; their new album is in stores Tuesday.
By James Montgomery

Panic! at the Disco officially return Tuesday with Vices & Virtues, their first album in three years and the first since the departure of Ryan Ross and Jon Walker. But, of course, if you're a fan, you probably already knew both of those things.

What fans may not know is the message behind "The Overture," the mini-movie teaser the band posted earlier this month. Opening with a scene of frontman Brendon Urie telling two shadowy specters — who most assume represent Ross and Walker — "I'm gonna miss you guys ... looks like we're going to have to part ways" and featuring Panic! and a host of fantastical characters embarking on a journey (to points unknown), most seem to assume the clip represents the band putting their past to bed and heading out into the future.

And while those assumptions are (in part) correct, the way Urie and drummer Spencer Smith see it, "The Overture" (and, really, most of Vices & Virtues) is about something else entirely: the obstacles they overcame just to make it to this point.

"I guess the entire theme to be covered in a word would be 'perseverance.' It's really learning to drop your baggage and keep pressing forward with what you want to do. And having the passion but also the perseverance," Urie told MTV News. "So we're gathering up people [and] we're not really sure where we're going, and how it's going to be, how the trip's going to be, but that's not the point. You never really know how it's going to end up, and that was important for us to get that message out, too, because we've learned that in the past couple of years."

While Urie and Smith were mum about the identities of those two darkened figures at the beginning of the video, it's safe to speculate that they are, in fact, Ross and Walker. But they also represent basically everything Panic! at the Disco has had to endure ever since they burst onto the scene in 2005 with A Fever You Can't Sweat Out — the labels, the gossip and, yes, the almost-breakup. Because, like everything the band does these days, they're parting ways with the past.

"[The figures are] mostly a metaphor [for] that idea of what we thought we were in the past, learning to just let that go and pushing forward with the ideas we knew we wanted to do for this record," Urie said.

Are you looking forward to new Panic! music? Let us know in the comments!

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Panic! At The Disco Line Up Vices & Virtues Tour Dates

14 Mar 2011 12:52:16 EDT

Tour kicks off May 20 in Philadelphia, with fun., Foxy Shazam, Funeral Party tapped to open dates.
By James Montgomery

On their upcoming Vices & Virtues album, Panic! at the Disco return — at least in part — to their heady heyday as theatrically obsessed up-and-comers. So it should come as no surprise that when it came time to book the tour in support of that album, they'd go back to their roots once again.

Starting on May 20, Panic! will hit the road for a five-week run of shows that takes them back to the small(ish) stages they first played during their A Fever You Can't Sweat Out era, much like they did last month in New York.

The trek kicks off in Philadelphia, then crisscrosses the continent before coming to a close on June 29 in Omaha, Nebraska. Joining them for the jaunt will be their labelmates fun., with Foxy Shazam and Funeral Party splitting duties as the third act on the bill.

An exclusive fan-club pre-sale for all dates begins on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET through Panic!'s official site.

The tour announcement is just the latest bit of Panic! activity in the lead-up to Vices & Virtues (due March 22). Last week, they unveiled "The Overture," a mini-movie that features snippets of several songs on the album. And on Monday (March 14), they nabbed a #5 seed in MTV's second annual Musical March Madness tournament.

The full list of Panic! at the Disco tour dates:

» May 20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier
» May 22 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
» May 24 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
» May 25 - Hartford, CT @ Webster Theatre
» May 27 - Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
» May 29 - Pompano Beach, FL @ Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
» May 31 - Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
» June 2 - Norfolk, VA @ NorVa Theater
» June 3 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
» June 4 - Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
» June 5 - Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
» June 7 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
» June 8 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater
» June 9 - Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
» June 10 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Murat Center
» June 11 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
» June 12 - Kansas City, MO @ Beaumont Club
» June 15 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues
» June 17 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
» June 18 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues, Mandalay Bay
» June 19 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
» June 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
» June 22 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
» June 24 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
» June 25 - Portland, Or @ Roseland Theatre
» June 26 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
» June 28 - Denver, CO @ Odgen Theatre
» June 29 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium

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Panic! At The Disco Have 'Confidence' To Win MTV's Musical March Madness

09 Mar 2011 06:52:15 EST

Our 2011 tournament begins Monday, but Panic! at the Disco are already sounding like the band to beat.
By James Montgomery

Last year, without the benefit of a new album or a chart-topping single, Panic! at the Disco managed to advance to the Elite 8 of MTV's Musical March Madness tournament, riding a wave of fan support to upset victories by Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie and the Young Veins (a win that must've been particularly sweet, given the, uh, history between the two groups), before running out of gas against eventual runners-up My Chemical Romance.

It was quite a ride, but rather than dwell on their victories, for the past 12 months, Panic! have been stewing over that loss to MCR. They watched as Coheed and Cambria hoisted the championship trophy, unable to suppress the thought that, really, the hardware should've been theirs. And they're ready to prove that fact in 2011.

So not only will Panic! enter this year's MMM tourney with a chip on their shoulder, but they've got a brand-new album, Vices & Virtues, due March 22, in their arsenal, too. And considering both of those facts — not to mention their fervent fanbase — we'd be selling Panic! short if we didn't consider them the favorites this time around.

Not surprisingly, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith aren't taking their previous tournament success for granted. We found out they've actually been preparing for the 2011 MMM for months, and as we prepare to reveal our full bracket on Monday, we asked them to talk about their plan to win it all this year.

"We're going to have to persevere," Urie said. "We're going to have to start off strong and we're going to have to keep that momentum going."

"We're going to have to have great bench play ... the D's going to have to step up. We have to make plays. Guys have to get out there and somebody has to step up, and they will," Smith added. "We've already started our calisthenics and we're getting pretty agile. And, other than that ... [we've got] confidence."

And that confidence is key. It's what true champions are made of, after all. And though they'll face tough competition from the likes of Linkin Park and Adele, Panic! at the Disco are certainly looking — and sounding — like champions indeed.

"We're drinking Gatorade while we're running. It's good," Urie said. "We're not worried in the slightest bit. That's what it takes to win."

MTV's 2011 Musical March Madness Tournament begins Monday, March 14, when we reveal the full field of 64 bands that will battle for the championship. Winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act made the cut, it'll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM ... but get ready, it's gonna be a war.

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Panic! At The Disco's Vices & Virtues: Fever Dreams, New Perspectives

02 Mar 2011 06:52:06 EST

We preview the band's third album, which recalls their Fever heyday and pushes past Pretty. Odd., in Bigger Than the Sound.
By

Just who, at this point in their career, after a breakout album, a benign follow-up, and a near breakup, are Panic! at the Disco? Are they the frilly dramaturges made famous by A Fever You Can't Sweat Out? The stony, California-dreamin' canyon children that showed up on Pretty. Odd.? Or, with the release of their third album, Vices & Virtues (due March 22), have they transformed themselves once again?

Well, yes to the latter. And no. Because while Vices sees Panic! physically changed (it's their first album since the departure of guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, it is very much an album that harks back to their halcyon days. A whirling, whooshing thing that's long on dramatics — trilling strings, chittering electronics, Haunted Mansion histrionics — and short on pretty much everything from their Pretty. Odd. period.

That's not entirely true, of course. The second half of Vices is highlighted by a pair of songs — the hazy acoustic number "Always" and the herky-jerky "Sarah Smiles" (no relation to the Hall & Oates tune of nearly the same name) — that recall some of Odd.'s finer moments. But for the most part, it feels very much like the logical successor to Fever, almost as if their underappreciated sophomore album never happened. That's probably to be expected ... after all, Panic's remaining two members, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith have made no bones about the fact that Vices represents "a new band ... [and] a new start," and freed from songwriter Ross' whims, they've made the album unquestionably their own.

But just what does their version of Panic! at the Disco entail? Well, if you've heard first single "The Ballad of Mona Lisa," you have a pretty good idea. That song not only kicks off the album, but it serves as a blueprint for pretty much everything Panic! 3.0: namely, an absolute corker of a chorus surrounded by various fantasyland accoutrements. Vices & Virtues is loaded with chippy Casio beats, handclaps, stirring strings, crunchy guitars, blaring horns, chiming bells and an assortment of things that go bump in the night. Urie and Smith told me with much pride that, aside from the horns, they pretty much played everything on the disc, which not only lends credence to their dedication, but also sort of tips their hand: The strategy this time out is clear — more is most definitely more.

Because over 10 quick tracks, there's not a studio trick Panic don't employ, an instrument they don't fit in. One can imagine the pure glee Urie and Smith must've had making the thing, like kids left to their own devices in a sonic candy shop. Of course, that freedom works both to their benefit and their detriment. Songs like "Let's Kill Tonight" and album-closer "Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)" pile on the strings and spooky sound effects (and the choirs and Jeff Lynne vocal harmonies), yet still remain lithe, thanks in no small part to Urie's vocal theatrics and Smith's steady hand. But bursting-at-the-seams tracks like "Memories," which starts out as a widescreen Killers tribute but morphs into an arabesque exercise in excess, and "The Calendar," which dabbles in Lite FM R&B, feel strangely leaden, something that even the heaviest Fever tunes managed to avoid.

But really, those are the only two missteps that warrant attention. And that, in and of itself, is a minor accomplishment. Vices is at its very core a studio album, one stuffed with ideas and instrumentation, which not only positions Panic! as perhaps this generation's Brian-Wilsons-on-a-budget, but serves as a solid starting point for wherever Urie and Smith choose to go from here. It's not exactly new, not exactly old, but it's definitely something. Call it a fresh start, a return to form, a re-imaging of the past, just don't call it Pretty. Odd. because that ship has sailed. Panic! are back to their old tricks, exclamation point and all ... and perhaps that was the secret ingredient all along. Because if there's one thing Vices & Virtues is, it's exuberant. If you're not excited, you should be.

What do you want to hear from Panic! on their new album? Tell us in the comments!

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Panic! At The Disco's 'The Ballad Of Mona Lisa' Video: A Steampunk Wake

08 Feb 2011 11:56:15 EST

Panic! mourn the past, move on with the present in their comeback video.
By James Montgomery

The first thing you notice is the top hat. Covered in cobwebs, it's the same one from Panic! at the Disco's breakout "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" clip, which won Video of the Year at the 2006 VMAs, and has since been lost to the sands of time, forgotten by all but the most ardent of the band's supporters (the clip was the one with the mimes at the wedding, just in case you forgot). Which, of course, means that the top hat is meant to be symbolic ... because much like everything else from that bygone era, the Fever You Can't Sweat Out version of Panic! is dead and dusted.

Or, at least, that seems to be the deeper message in the video for "The Ballad of Mona Lisa," the first single from Panic!'s post-Pretty. Odd. post-bust-up comeback album, Vices & Virtues. Now pressing on as a two-piece (frontman Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith), Panic! are moving headlong into the future ... though they've still got to bury the past.

And in "Mona Lisa," they do just that. There's definitely death in the air — the whole thing is basically a wake for a recently deceased Urie — but give credit to Panic! and longtime director Shane Drake (who's done several clips for the band, including the aforementioned "I Write Sins ...") for not settling for heavy-handed symbolism. Because "Mona Lisa" is a lot more: part gushing steampunk tribute, part gloriously over-the-top performance piece, and, of course, a little bit murder-mystery dinner theater thrown in for good measure.

In other words, not only is it the most evolved Panic! clip, it's also probably their best. Not to knock their earlier productions, but vids like "Sins" or "But It's Better If You Do" or even "Nine in the Afternoon" pale in comparison to "Mona Lisa" — they're simplistic and decidedly, uh, thrifty looking. This time out, Panic! go big, with a video that not only looks great — the costumes, the set, the performance — but actually unspools as a compelling story piece.

We wonder just who is hidden beneath the funeral linens (for a second, I honestly thought it was going to be departed guitarist Ryan Ross), and why Urie is stomping around with his hair wild and teeth yellowed (it's because he's a ghost trying to solve his own murder). And, most importantly, we ponder who killed him. When the big reveal finally happens, you genuinely feel like you've been swerved. And then we get to see one of those steampunk guns in action. So, you know, win-win.

So are you captivated by Panic!'s "Ballad of Mona Lisa" video? Let us know in the comments.

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Panic! At The Disco Have 'That Feeling Again' On Vices & Virtues

03 Feb 2011 15:03:10 EST

Band's new album — due March 29 — and tour are about rediscovering the 'fun' they had in their early days.
By James Montgomery

If you happened to catch Panic! at the Disco during the tail end of their "sans exclamation point" period — a window that remained open from early 2008, with the release of their Pretty. Odd. album, to album to November '08, when they wrapped the Rock Band Live trek — well, then you witnessed history. It was not only the beginning of the end of Panic! as a four-man team, but also a run of shows that the current incarnation of the band (Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith) swears will never be duplicated.

And, believe us, it's probably for the best.

"I think that at the end of touring for Pretty. Odd., the stuff that was kind of happening with the relationships off the stage was starting to affect [the shows]," Smith told MTV News. "If you're not on the best terms with somebody, and the first time you see them that day is before you go onstage ... we were losing a bit of the fun that we were having before."

Those backstage tensions finally boiled over in July 2009, when guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker announced they were leaving Panic! to "embark on a musical excursion of their own." That excursion eventually produced a new band — the Young Veins — and, to date, one album, 2010's Take a Vacation! It also left Urie and Smith in the lurch — until they announced they had added two new touring members to the fold (Ian Crawford and Dallon Weekes) and hit the road for a run of shows opening for Blink-182. And, suddenly, things changed.

"I think that, although we weren't as practiced with the new guys playing live — we hadn't played the songs nearly as many times — we kind of got that feeling again of being really excited and having a lot of fun," Smith explained.

That excitement was apparent earlier this week, when Panic! returned to the stage in New York for their first Stateside show in support of the upcoming Vices & Virtues album. That show was, in a lot of ways, an exercise in catharsis for the band — a common theme on Vices. Much like putting their band back together, Panic! were forced to sift through the ashes on their new album. Not only did that mean revisiting old ideas, but rebuilding something from the ground up.

"It seems to be a process with us. When we think the record is done, then we find out that we've been writing and writing and writing. We just kick off old songs and keep putting new ones on. So, at a certain point, we have to say, 'We're done. This is it. We have to stop the process. The record is good,' " Urie said. "But I'm glad that we kept going, because some of my favorite songs are newer ones that were written later on. But a few of the ideas — like [first single] 'The Ballad of Mona Lisa,' specifically — was from an idea I had probably four years ago, before we even started touring on Pretty. Odd., and it was just sitting in my laptop collecting figurative dust on my hard drive, not really doing much. ... That ended up being a really good intro to the whole process."

Are you looking forward to new Panic! music? Let us know in the comments!

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