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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Panic at the Disco performs Tuesday in Everett.   ADVERTISEMENT   Rock Band Live Features Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, the Plain White T's and the Cab: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Comcast Arena, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett; $29.95 to $39.95 before service fees, 866-332-8499, www.comcastarenaeverett.com.   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, October 10, 2008 The band you love -- or hate Panic at the Disco will perform Tuesday at Comcast Arena with Dashboard Confessional and others. By Andy Rathbun Herald Writer Panic at the Disco tends to provoke a strong reaction. Google its name with the word "love," you get more than 4.5 million hits. Change it to "hate," you still land 1.5 million hits. The group was named the worst band of 2007 by British magazine NME but, in 2006, nabbed video of the year from MTV. So why the mixed the reactions, the love-hate extremes? Before his Tuesday show at Comcast Arena, Panic bassist Jon Walker ventured a guess. "I think it might have something to do with the fact that we're so young, and we were so successful off our first album," he said. That's one theory. You can't argue that these guys are young and successful. The band's debut, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," went platinum before anyone in the band turned 21. Walker, the group's oldest member, just turned 23 in September. He now officially feels like he's "starting to get old," he said. But here's another idea. Maybe the group, known for its extremes and its shifts in style, simply provokes extreme reactions. The Las Vegas band shot to fame in 2006, dressing up its emo-pop tunes with Moulin Rouge theatrics. The sound hit big with teenage girls, and its debut sold more than 1.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, despite having songs -- "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off," for instance -- that didn't quite scream girl power. The group followed up that album with a marked shift in style. For the Beatlesque "Pretty. Odd.," released in March, the guys wiped off their eyeliner and started stressing 1960s-era harmonies. The album has landed one massive hit, "Nine in the Afternoon," but hasn't sold as well, moving about 342,000 copies to date, according to SoundScan. Like its sales, the group's live show also has been scaled back. One tour found the band surrounded by dancing girls and stilt walkers. Walker said fans should expect something simpler this time out. "We really wanted to put the focus on the music we were playing," he said. "Now that we're coming to do the Rock Band tour, I think we're all getting really better as musicians and playing tighter than ever." Speaking from his home in the Chicago suburbs, Walker said the group took a three-week break after a world tour in the summer. Now he is anxious to get back on the road. He has high expectations for the upcoming shows, which team Panic with emo-friendly acts such as co-headliner Dashboard Confessional and the Plain White Ts. Walker said it is the group's biggest tour to date, and he could be right. Last time Panic played Seattle, it headlined the Paramount Theatre, a significantly smaller venue than Comcast Arena in Everett. A bigger tour means higher expectations, but that could suit the group just fine. "I think people are going to walk away from it very satisfied," Walker said. "I hope so. I think so. I actually think I know so." Reporter Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or arathbun@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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