Fall Out Boy
7th March 2018
Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
Pop-Punk.
Pop-Punk and Llamas.
Pop-Punk, Llamas and the All Blacks.
Tonight is probably the only concert in New Zealand in which all three of these elements could possibly be mixed together. Chicago’s four piece outfit Fall Out Boy, probably the only band who could do so.
Fall Out Boy have been around the block a few times, forming in 2001 and releasing their debut album entitled Take This To Your Grave in 2003 – the record often cited as a pivotal album and one that spawned the growth of the entire pop-punk scene of the early 2000’s – the boys have enjoyed phenomenal success over the last seventeen years. Tonight’s show is being held at Trusts Stadium in West Auckland and as such is an all ages affair; this often makes for amusing people watching as the older fans who have been with the band from the beginning camp out near the back, Dads escort almost frothing teen daughters, many of which for whom this will be their very first concert and parents wrangle the occasional primary school kid, ensuring they are safely secured on the side while sporting a giant set of ear muffs. Many of the older fans may have been surprised that the show was cited as all ages, Fall Out Boy last appearing here in Auckland in 2015 as part of the Westfest line-up (their previous visit before that seeing them play a very much R18 show at the iconic Powerstation) but for many it’s an inevitable sign of the times.
To stay relevant you have to welcome all fans that listen to your music and considering FOB had their song featured on one of the biggest animated features to grace the silver screen in recent years – the brilliant Big Hero 6 – and it is no surprise that they have gained a legion of younger followers. At first glance the stage doesn’t scream high tech show. A simple big screen hangs behind and above two rows of spotlights form an arrow head pointing outwards towards the centre of the crowd. But then this is Fall Out Boy, they don’t need an elaborate set up as their music speaks for itself.
As the lights drop bang on the advertised commencement time of 8:45pm the air is filled with thousands of screams of pure ecstasy, the audience mainly female based. The younger fans cling to each other, the exhilaration coursing through their veins almost too much to take. As the intro concludes there before the crowd stand Fall Out Boy, guitarist Joe Throhman, vocalist Patrick Stump and bassist Pete Wentz lined up across the front of the stage, with of course the tattooed automaton that is Andy Hurley seated behind his highly polished silver drum kit. Dropping the massive hit ‘The Phoenix’ as their opener and we are off to a flying start; the song having reached great heights on the worldwide charts and getting plenty of air play here in NZ, so unsurprisingly the audience is fully invested in the moment as they holler the words.
Behind the band, visuals of a car race are played out, the big screen throughout the night moving between mind-blowing graphics and displaying nothing more than Fall Out Boy’s latest emblem in black and white. ‘Irresistible’ is quickly followed up by ‘Hum Hallelujah’ from their third and undoubtedly one of their most popular albums, 2007’s Infinity On High.
“What’s Up Auckland, we’re Fall Out Boy!!”
The very basic introduction results in mass cheering and an extra outpouring of energetic dancing from those up the front; small pockets of younger fans quickly becoming a little overwhelmed with the situation and making a speedy exit to the side barriers for a breather. Hitting the fans squarely with ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ and the soul fortifying ‘Immortals’ which sees scenes from Big Hero 6 played out on the screen behind them and it seems that the band can do no wrong.
And yet there is something missing.
It’s difficult to pin point just what that ‘it’ is, and too many of the younger fans who are completely immersed in this once in a lifetime experience they won’t be so susceptible to it, but something on stage just isn’t quite gelling. The musicianship is solid, and besides a couple of oh so very minor cracks, Patrick Stump – as always – is on point with his vocals, often soaring the heights before taking it down as low as it can be. But it just all feels a bit blasé, the tracks often cut and dry with no lingering on a particular break down; it’s as if it’s a little paint by numbers. Which is not to say it isn’t good; Throughout the next twenty-three (yes twenty-three) tracks they deliver each and every song dutifully, but just without that extra wow factor that Fall Out Boy have brought to the table on many a previous occasion.
We are six songs into the show before the first of their new material from their latest album Mania makes an appearance, the song ‘Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea’ involving a rather strange prelude speech by Wentz as he talks of seeing animals such as Woolly Mammoths being reduced to almost comical creatures in museums. Wentz asks the audience if they have those sorts of displays here in NZ and upon receiving an emphatic “yes” looks slightly embarrassed, Stump chiming in with a well-placed and slightly berating “Yay, American ignorance”.
A piano makes its way onto stage showcasing just how talented Stump is both musically as well as vocally, while a drum solo later on in the set gives Hurley the chance to flex those muscles of his as he drums to a mixed track medley of everything from Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Humble’ through to Post Malone’s ‘Congratulations’ and even (bit of old school magic here) Blur’s ‘Song 2’. At one point Wentz, who throughout the show has donned a denim jacket buttoned up to the neck even disappears off into the audience to play for a while; unfortunately due to the design of the arena only those closest to him had the benefit of seeing anything, the rest of the crowd just having to hazard a guess as to what he might be doing.
As the band vanished from the stage following ‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’ the big screen once again came to life and there were the infamous Llamas making jokes about how the show is “medium – because it isn’t rare and it sure ain’t well done!” Or maybe they should be referred to as the non-Llamas; Wentz stating in a recent interview that they are not really supposed to be Llamas, one of them just kinda looks like one. They are however representatives of themes of ‘self-identification’ and the ‘human condition’ quite serious subjects, even for a Llama to handle. Appearing on stage – much to the audiences delight – these furry creatures threw some items out into the crowd and were then gone again in the blink of an eye, many a fan hoping that they would have spent a bit more time hanging around.
Coming into the final slide and here were the big hitters, the tracks that appealed to the older fans as much as they did the new; ‘Thanks For The Memories’ in particular featuring a nice touch as the screen lit up with a sign in the same style as the music video, ‘FOB’ in lights with today’s date and ‘Auckland, New Zealand’ printed underneath. The encore game was of course played out, the band giving the audience the chance to really get a few chants going before returning to stage. With a mix of four songs it was great to see ‘Uma Thurman’ made the cut, the fantastic film scenes from Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill 1 & 2 maybe being lost on some of the younger members of the audience, but being fully embraced by those who are fans of Tarantino’s work.
Ripping off his denim jacket to reveal an All Blacks shirt, Wentz was off into the crowd high fiving those that he could while the band rounded out the show with ‘Saturday’ from their very first album, bringing both the audience and the show back to their roots. Let’s hope that next time around those roots come with a bit of that familiar spark as well.
Fall Out Boy:
Openside:
Were you there at Trusts Arena for this magnificent pop-punk gig? Or have you seen Fall Out Boy perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- The Phoenix
- Irresistible
- Hum Hallelujah
- Sugar, We’re Going Down
- Immortals
- Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea
- Centuries
- Save Rock and Roll
- The Last Of The Real Ones
- Young And Menace
- Dance, Dance
- Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)
- I Don’t Care
- This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
- Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
- Grand Theft Autumn/Where’s Your Boy
- Thanks For The Memories
- Champion
- Thriller [encore]
- Uma Thurman [encore]
- My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) [encore]
- Saturday [encore]
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Great band….Cheers