Magic tricks and stripper poles were promised to appear during a Dashboard Confessional set on Saturday night.
"But one is just for after the show," laughed lead singer Chris Carrabba during the band's performance.
About 2,700 people filled the O'Connell Center for MTV Rock Band Live, a four-hour medley of pop-rock musical sets and wannabe rockers.
Wearing matching black and white ties and vests, The Cab worked the crowd as lead singer Alex DeLeon swayed and skipped around stage.
Although they were the least-known band on tour, fans hummed lyrics from some of their songs, such as "That '70s Song" and "Bounce," even from outside the arena, where things got a bit competitive.
Concert-goers tested their karaoke and manual-dexterity skills on three "Rock Band 2" stages. Four high-scoring bands got their kicks on the main stage after the second and third musical acts.
Although some spent weeks preparing for their chance to perform under the lights, others played the game on a whim.
"We actually just got the game the day before, and none of us had really played it," said Jason Bell, a graduate student who went onstage with his band, Claws and Fangs. "But we're all former musicians so we picked it up pretty quickly."
Steve Caddy, Rock Band Live tour man ager, said fans tense up on stage after substantial differences in their practice and live scores.
"They act all big, but as soon as they get on stage, they get stage fright," Caddy said. "In Orlando, I had a veteran from Iraq that said this was scarier than going to war."
During a 45-minute set by the Plain White T's, singer Tom Higgenson brought out his acoustic guitar for "1, 2, 3, 4" and the band's hit song "Hey There Delilah," garnering shrieks and squeals when he jumped the barricades to greet a few fans.
When Dashboard Confessional graced the stage, Carrabba immediately made reference to the band's Florida roots.
"Last time I was in this gym, my brother was graduating," Carrabba said.
The band showed off some card tricks as a backdrop to "Thick As Thieves" and continued with an acoustic "Screaming Infidelities."
Carrabba was even joined by members of the first two bands in an energetic rendition of P!nk's "So What."
After almost three hours of waiting, camera flashes bounced off a circus set of rainbow drapes and drooping yellow lights towering over two multi-color pillars where Panic at the Disco's drummer and pianist settled.
Band members wore either paisley shirts with raggedy hair or tight-fitting suits and mop-top haircuts, each seeming to represent a different Beatles' phase.
The garb was amplified when they played "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," a psychedelic ballad of The Beatles', as a bridge between their own "In The Middle of the Summer" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies."
Singer Brandon Urie ended the show with a final cover of The Isley Brothers' "Shout!" that made fans dance throughout the aisles.
"I loved Panic at the Disco," said 14-year-old Katie Lowe, of Hawthorne, who attended the show with her mother.
"I told my mom they were groovy."
