Panic! at the Disco, Yahoo giving free concert for ASU students

PHOENIX — After finishing up their Gospel tour earlier this year, Panic! At the Disco is taking a day off from working on new music to perform at Comerica Theater in Phoenix on Wednesday night for Arizona State University students.

The show is put on as part of the Yahoo Live: On the Road tour, which brings different top musicians to 13 campuses across the nation.

Lead singer Brendon Urie said the 60-minute show will allow them to play their best music, making for a more exciting show than normal.

“We’re going to play as many of the high-energy hits as we can,” he said. “An hour is a good amount of time for us to knock out all of the hits and make sure we cover all of the top songs.”

Urie said he loves coming back to the Valley because it holds a special place for him.

“I actually applied to Arizona State University before the band took off,” he said. “I wanted to go there to learn how to produce records and be a recording artist. So it worked out, either way I was going to do music.

“The first headline show we played after leaving our hometown was in Arizona at the Marquee Theater and that was huge. It’s special to me because I have really early memories there.”

As for what does with free time when in the Valley, Urie said he likes to try the local breweries.

“Last time we were in the Phoenix area we went to Four Peaks in Tempe,” he said. “I really loved it. It was delicious.”

Tickets for the show were given out across ASU this week, but the show will also be available to stream through the Yahoo Screen App on iOS, Android, mobile Web, desktop and Smart TV platforms including AppleTV, Roku and Xbox 360.

The band takes the stage at Comerica Theater at 8 p.m.

Panic! at the Disco has been around since 2004, but their debut album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” put them on the national scene the following year. The band’s recent cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was viewed millions of times online.