Fans had “high hopes” as they piled into Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth on Sunday night to see Panic! At the Disco’s Viva Las Vengeance world tour, which kicked off in the Lone Star State with performances in Austin and Houston before stopping in DFW.

Singer Brendon Urie — who is currently the only member of P!ATD — is hot on the heels of the release of the group’s seventh studio album, Viva Las Vengeance, brought artists Jake Wesley Rogers and Beach Bunny along for the ride.

Dickie’s Arena opened in 2019, and the pristine facilities almost made the 40-mile drive across Interstate Highway 30 worth it. The 14,000-seat arena was set up with a catwalk-like stage surrounding a small pit that was reminiscent of an orchestra pit at an opera production. The small standing-room-only area was jam-packed with fans who showed up early to catch the openers.

Glam pop artist Jake Wesley Rogers was dubbed “Gen Z’s Elton John” by Vogue, and that energy was on full display as he got the night off to an exciting start. Rogers donned a fabulous all-white ensemble, complete with sparkly red heels that he called his “little Dorothy shoes.” The 25-year-old owned the stage with a commanding 30-minute set and only a touch of pandering in the form of a “Welcome to the Black Parade” medley. It’s easy to see why his star is on the rise.

Next up was Chicago-based indie rockers, Beach Bunny, a group that’s been around since 2015 but rose to fame in a spectacularly Gen Z fashion, on TikTok. Their song “Prom Queen” went viral on the social media platform in 2020, and they recently released their second studio album, Emotional Creature. Frontwoman Lili Trifilio got things started by asking the audience to get on their feet when the “music kicks in.” Very few fans obliged, but the singer had her back to the audience and seemed unbothered, keeping on with the group’s fun, easy-listening set with driving rhythms and punk-inspired guitar riffs.

Panic! At the Disco is currently a one-man operation, but that hasn’t always been the case. Brendon Urie and his three friends, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith and Brent Wilson started Panic! in 2004 when they were just teenagers, and the Las Vegas natives’ debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out with the megahit, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” charted their course for success early on. Over the years, the founding members have dropped out of the band for various reasons, and Urie has been the last man…