Brendan Urie of Panic! At the Disco at the Amphitheater in Tampa this past Wed., June 15, 2016. Credit: Tracy May

Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May

When you look at a tour line-up, it's easy to imagine it as a meal. If the co-headlining run featuring Weezer with Panic! At The Disco were a meal, it would be the oddest one around, like fillet mignon seasoned with pixie sticks and fried in hair gel. You just shouldn't eat that, you shouldn't want to eat that, eating it is a declaration of insanity … but they want to serve it to you, and even though the adult side of you says "no," the 13-year-old in you screams "yes!yes!yes!".

It wasn't as bad as that Bieber/Cannibal Corpse tour a while back (okay, that never happened), but certainly, the sounds at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater last night were discordant enough to make note of. Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness opened, and it was a fantastic, no-frills display of someone with incredible composition talents and sonic diversity. If you ever have the chance to check him out, jump at it. But you're here to hear about Panic! or Weezer, which is understandable; their respective artistic legacies are undisputed. [Text by Brian, photos by Tracy.]

Rivers Cuomo, Weezer Credit: Tracy May

Panic! at the Disco was safe. It was anemic. It was pop-rock on repeat with a meticulous level of production. Yeah, Panic's live show is explosive, anthemic, and lead singer Brandon Urie has become one of those kind of rock stars, you know, the kind that spurs dreamy commentary from his teenage fans ("I can't wait till he has kids, his wife is hot, their children will be so hot, WOOOOO, BRANDON HAVE MY BABIES!!") That's it. That's what you're getting into. Just understand and accept that.

As far as setlists go, Panic! didn't stray far from the ordinary. They did not play "Camisado" and more or less ignored anything off 2005 debut A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Their performance was full of fanfare and gimmicks that became old decades ago, including a cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" introduced with a wistful, "I wish I wrote this next song." Who doesn't? Oh, and let us not forget the dueling drum solos that weren't exactly displays of masterful precision and energy. It's just tiring and soulless and I hate saying that because damn, they had some fine songs in the day. Unfortunately, this just wasn't up to their previous standards.

But let's talk Weezer. Weezer was too good for this audience. We didn't deserve them. But the elder '90s-spawned group obliged us anyway, delivering a high-energy performance and coming on heavy with a "California Kids" opener and a concussive blast of confetti. The setlist only got better as the show progressed and they played "Tired of Sex" off Pinkerton. Pretty much no one but a noble few knew the lyrics and sang along, and it was a damn fine performance. Weezer also mixed it up a bit and played around with song structures, repeating a chorus or starting a bridge differently as with "My Name Is Jonas." And the band managed to make even their most trite and overexposed material sounded phenomenal. After a final cannonade of confetti and glitter, Weezer's soaring encore ended and the mass exodus of parents who went to see Weezer and their kids who'd come to see Panic! made the long trek back to their cars. It was fun for the whole family, I guess.

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Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At The Disco Credit: Tracy May
Panic! At the Disco Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May
Weezer Credit: Tracy May