Disco fever is back

Panic! at the Disco promise a memorable show in Auckland next week.

Panic! at the Disco are from the strip club capital of the world - so these Las Vegas punk-pop newbies know how to put on a show.

"I was born there and I didn't know anything else," says the band's songwriter, guitarist and lyricist, Ryan Ross.

"There's the strip - with the shows, the casinos and the strip clubs - and I grew up 15 minutes from all that, so I wasn't seeing it every day, but I think it had an effect on how we feel about the importance of putting on a big show."

But sometimes their youthful enthusiasm to spend up large on making gigs memorable has to be tamed by their management.

"We tend to go a little crazy on tour with what we want for the stage show, and there's been times when we've come up with proposals and we would definitely be spending more than we're making. So we compromise because sometimes our ideas would bankrupt us," he laughs.

Their concert in Auckland on Monday night at the St James is sold out, something the band has become used to since forming last year.

"I'd never really travelled before, and when we started going places, like Japan, France, Germany and all over Europe, it's been interesting to see how different cultures work. But to be there playing music makes it so much better," says Ross, in his lazy drawl.

"In Japan, the way they act at shows is very different from home because they don't yell, they clap for about 10 seconds after the song and then it's completely silent.

"So we're curious to see how the New Zealand audiences are."

Panic! have become a mini-phenomenon since releasing their debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, late in 2005. For a mainstream-friendly album it is oddly experimental, combining pop, punk, electronica, dance and rock'n'roll.

The hype escalated earlier this year with the release of the catchy single, I Write Sins Not Tragedies, which recently won video of the year at the MTV Music Video Awards.

The album was a late bloomer in New Zealand but for the last four months it has been sitting in the top 20. It was no surprise you had to be in quick to get tickets to the St James show.

For fans in the know - thanks to Panic!'s own website and their myspace site - there was a special one-day offer of cheap tickets in early August.

And Rob Jefferson, the founder of Solid Entertainment, a relatively new company that's brought diverse acts such as Motorhead, Sigur Ros, and the Eels to New Zealand recently, says the 2500 tickets sold out almost instantly.

"We had exclusive pre-sale tickets for $39, which is incredibly cheap for an international act, because that's what the band wanted to do," he says.

The rest were sold for either $49 or $59.

Panic!'s rise to fame has been fast, but Ross insists they don't feel the pressure.

"It's been an opportunity for us to do what we want to do in front of a lot of people, and show them what we are," he says.

However, he does feel like he's living his dream.

"I always said as long as I had enough money to feed myself and have a place to eat then I'd be doing music. Even when we were stuck touring, earning $100 a day, I never thought I'd even make it that far.

"Now, I feel five years older than I should. But I wouldn't have it any other way and in the last year I've learned more than in my entire life."

Ross started playing music in high school with drummer Spencer Smith when the pair were 13. They played Blink 182 covers and later added singer/guitarist Brendon Urie and bass player Brent Wilson (who was replaced by Jon Walker in May). Up until Urie joined Ross was the singer, as well as song and lyric writer.

"But when we tried Brendon out we realised he was a great singer. We asked him, 'Why didn't you tell us you could sing?'." '

Although Ross hasn't started writing material for their sophomore album he has a few ideas about the direction he wants to head in.

"I'm really big on movie scores," he says. "They have recurring themes throughout, and they remind you of a certain feeling or thought, and so on the next record I want to experiment more with that sort of stuff.

"And also orchestration, and other styles of music that we weren't able to get into this album."

If A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was a mixed bag of tricks, it looks like the next album will be a real mongrel.

PERFORMANCE

* Who: Panic! at the Disco
* Line-up: Jon Walker, Brendon Urie, Ryan Ross, and Spencer Smith
* Where and when: Monday, St James, 8pm