The Countdown Begins!!!

We are just a month away from Panic! At The Disco's new album debuting!!! This will be your one stop for all things Panic! I will be counting down the days with news, videos, and photos up until the release!

Here's an article taken from spin.com about the album.

For his band's third album Vices & Virtues (out March 29), Panic! at the Disco singer Brendon Urie did a lot of growing up, and growing up is hard to do.

Now 23, he's six years removed from 2005, when he blasted onto the charts with the band's two million-selling 2005 debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. There have been big changes -- one the biggest being his move last year from Las Vegas, where he's lived his entire life, to Santa Monica, California with Panic! drummer Spencer Smith. "Every time I turn onto Santa Monica Boulevard, I sing that Sheryl Crow song in my head," gushes Urie.

The road to Vices & Virtues -- check out the tracklist below -- was a bumpy one full of growing pains: In 2009, Panic!'s founding guitarist/songwriter Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left to form the Young Veins and further explore the throwback, '60s rock'n'roll sounds that emerged on Panic!'s last album, 2009'sPretty. Odd.. They remain friends, says Urie, going out for dinners and drinks occasionally, and Urie doesn't rule out working together again: "I don't see a reason why not," he says. But damage was done to Urie -- he was forced to step up his songwriting and lyrical duties, and he didn't think he could.

"We had always written as the four of us, so it was a matter of coming out of that comfort zone," says Urie. "I was struggling with my confidence."

To ease the process, Panic! teamed with Rob Mathes, who produced Pretty. Odd and has worked with artists ranging from Jay-Z to Lou Reed to Carly Simon, as well as songwriter-producers Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, Weezer, Pete Yorn) and John Feldman (Good Charlotte, Foxy Shazam). In the beginning stages, they even worked with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo -- "He was super nice," says Urie (no tracks from their writing session made the final album). Mathes, however, helped Urie come to terms with himself and his songwriting: "I didn't think of myself as a lyricist at all and I was apprehensive about it," says Urie. "I sat down with Rob and he said, 'If you really want to write then it has to sound like you.' I took his advice and kept doing that. He was a huge support."

As he continued to write, Urie started noticing trends in his lyrics. "They dealt with self-deprecation, pride, subversion, manipulation, but some good stuff too: self-expression, honesty," says Urie. "I was like, 'Are these the seven deadly sins or something'? [laughs]. We did some research and 'Vices and Virtues' popped up. Aristotle has this Biblical list that's tied in with themes of human behavior that we've been noticing in ourselves."

"This album is our study of our human behavior," he says. "It's about our changes growing up."

The band recorded with Feldman at his home studio. "Both of us had to pick up twice the work, double-shifts, and say, 'Okay, now we're down to two people. Let's push out as many ideas as we can.' It was nice working with less opinions, actually," Urie says.

The sessions led to experimentation with new sounds. "We really loved Paul Simon and got into using marimbas and string instruments," explains Urie. "We ended up buying some synths and messing around with them. It was two kids in a candy store… and we listened to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs on repeat for me for the past… well, since it came out [laughs]."

"These songs couldn't fit on our last two records," he adds of their new direction. "It's exciting playing with new sounds, ideas, arrangements, and instruments."

Panic! recently released Vices & Virtues' first single, "The Ballad of Mona Lisa," an anthemic power-rock ballad with dark and personal undertones. "On the surface it can seem like just the story of drama between a guy and a girl," explains Urie. "But it's really about what I've been going through, an inner-struggle within myself, and fighting the dualities of my personality -- the side that fucks everything up and destroys everything and the other side that tries to pick up the slack."

"It's all growing pains," he says.

Since moving to Santa Monica, which, Urie says, "was a huge part" of his growing up, he's taken up surfing and playing Call of Duty: Black Ops nonstop -- "the zombie version is so insane," he says. But one of the first things that started easing him into the process for Vices & Virtues was a girl.

"'Sarah Smiles" is about my girlfriend, actually, as sappy as that is," he says of the album track. "When I met her I wrote this song to try and impress her. I was infatuated with her. I played it for her and we've been dating ever since. That was a huge step for me, personally."

"I was able to build up my confidence to write and try to woo her," he adds. "I'm a lucky guy."

Vices & Virtues tracklist: 
1. The Ballad Of Mona Lisa
2. Let's Kill Tonight
3. Hurricane
4. Memories
5. Trade Mistakes
6. Ready to Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)
7. Always
8. The Calendar
9. Sarah Smiles
10. Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met…)

http://www.spin.com/articles/panic-disco-grow-new-album 

27 Days left!

How Much is Too Much?

When you attend a concert you normally want to take a little piece of it home with you, correct? The best concert memorabilia is merchandise such as CDs, posters, and t-shirts. Despite the popularity of merchandise at shows, it can be pretty pricey. Prices usually depend on who is headlining the tour. The headlining band usually sets all merchandise prices through what is called “price matching.” “Price matching” is the term that is referenced when bands set a certain price that the merchandise can be sold. Sometimes this hurts the bands more than help.
Normally when bands go on tour they take 3 opening acts. If the headliner sets a merchandis price match, the opening act bands normally suffer.. For example, if the headliner sets the minimum t-shirt price as $25, no t-shirt can be less than that even those sold by the opening act bands. Newer bands don’t have that many fans therefore it is unlikely that many concert goers would buy their t-shirts, especially when for the same amount of money they could buy a shirt from the headliner.
But who decides how much the shirts cost? Normally the headlining band and their management team determine the price, although many different factors come into play. One is coming up with a good business plan to sell the merchandise. Another is something called a “merch cut,” where the venue takes a cut of the merchandise sold. It can range 15-30% of the sales (Zemler, 2011). In most cases regarding the sale of merchandise it’s not just the band trying make profit, but also a lot of middlemen. Everyone wants a cut, which only increases the sale price
In the end, all things considered, is price matching fair? It has its ups and downs, but for the most part it creates a unified front at the merch tables across the tour. Also, no band is underselling the other band. These prices are becoming a norm for shows. I know when I attend a show I bring at least an extra twenty-five bucks for a shirt.


Zemler, Emily (2011). Retrieved on February 16, 2011 from
http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/expensive_white_ts_the_politics_of_price_matching/

P!ATD Video Premiere!!!

Hey guys! Check out Panic! At The Disco's new video, The Ballad of Mona Lisa!!!

Be on the the look in March for all the news Panic! leading up to their new album!!! but for now enjoy!!!!

Panic! At The Disco - New Music - More Music Videos

Fame and Fortune?

Bands in today’s music industry are having a hard making ends meet. Some musicians take on odd jobs just to pay the bills. But you would think they would be rich selling albums and merchandise, right? Wrong, there are a lot of different financial aspects to take in account.

First, it’s not all glamorous when a band goes on tour. Touring requires a lot of money, hard work and dedication. Bands need to pay for gas, food and hotels when they are on the road. Not mention all the taxes that cities add to perform in the venue. When you are buying a $40 ticket, most of the money is going to the venue and taxes. That is why you see bands selling their merchandise at shows.

If you want to support your favorite bands at shows buy the merchandise. Bands try to come up with creative merchandise so that the fans will want to buy. All Time Low came up with shorts to buy during their summer tour. Personally, I always try to buy a t-shirt at shows. I refuse to buy them from retail because the band rarely sees that money.  When purchasing merchandise at shows, bands can use the money immediately for  gas or food on the road.  When bands sell merchandise, they make a better profit than both ticket  and album sales.

Lastly, the band sees little  money from their album sales. If bought in a retail chain, half of it goes to the chain and the other to the record company. The record company uses that money to pay for the studio and producers that the band used to record the album. In this case again it is better to buy the CD at a show than at a retail store.  

To put things in perspective, let’s look at what the average mid-level bands such as Hey Monday, Rise Against, or We the Kings would have to pay when they go on tour: “Booking agents, managers, lawyers, business managers or accountants, buying or renting a van or tour bus, buying or renting a trailer, fuel, vehicle repairs, driver (if on a bus), hotel rooms, hotel rooms during the day for the tour bus driver, vehicle insurance, tolls, food, guitar picks, drum sticks, drum heads, instrument repairs, touring crew members, per diems for the band and crew members, merchandise, lighting, onstage production, wardrobe, taxes and, in some cases, medical bills” (Zemler, 2011).

Bands make sacrifices to do what they love. They go without food for a day or sleep on Wal-mart shelves, all because they love music. They want to see and meet fans. After all, “without someone to create for, you can't create.” – Sherri Dupree Bemis, vocalist/guitarist of Eisley.

Zemler, Emily. (2011) No Money, Mo’ Problems: Why even successful bands struggle financially. Retrieved on February 4 2011 from http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/no_money_mo_problems/