GIG: Fall Out Boy - Wembley Arena, 22nd October

(Apologies for the belated post. The continual attack of college and work are to blame.)

An arena tour was inevitable. Fall Out Boy are long overdue to tour this country carnival-style with all the pyro and confetti that goes with it, and tonight shows they can pull it off as good as the big guns.

Before they grace the stage, Surrey upstarts YouMeAtSix are first on the bill. Having not been impressed by their live outings in the past - and not even liking any of their songs - hopes weren’t particularly high. But a great sound and energy pours from the band, and I can’t deny them that at all; they’re bloody tight, and have a decent understanding of how to work a crowd. The only thing that stands between them and stardom now is, well, some decent songs.
Boys Like Girls. What a crap name. Guitar problems mar the first few minutes of an overall decent performance, including the obvious choice of last song, The Great Escape with a surprise guest appearance of Pete Wentz on bass. I’m not ashamed to say I was excited by it, of course.

The screams of the many teenage girls present tonight reach notes only dogs can hear, when Fall Out Boy satisfyingly make their entrance on a stage that is covered in a bizarre white veil. The first notes of Thnks Fr Th Mmrs dispatch the curtain, presenting the oddball band in all their glory. The great choice of opener gets things going, followed by a slew of Thriller, A Little Less Candles… and The Take Over, The Break’s Over, each greeted by increasingly piercing squeals from the female portion of the audience (bless their rushing hormones).
F.O.B. don’t seem daunted at all by the sheer amount of people before them; instead they revel in it. Wentz, love him or hate him, knows how to make chit-chat with who he’s playing to, with Stump adding in the brief – but humorous – remark. Despite his penchant of keeping to himself, this is made up for hugely in the quality of his singing. It’s just a sore shame to see mic stands where Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman are rocking out, and not have them used by either when a backing vocal is crying out to be sung. Instead the vast majority of them are left out, much to my dismay.
Wisely, the band choose to play only one song from the upcoming album – I Don’t Care, which is already being lavished with much airplay. This is also where the show ups it a notch: a veil behind them the whole time is dropped revealing the band’s name, while the stage is pitch black. Come the chorus, however, and Stump, Trohman and Wentz’s guitars light up like neon signs, pulsing to the beat of the music. Novelty stuff, and it works brilliantly. Energetic performances of Grand Theft Autumn and the massive Sugar, We’re Going Down resonate around the arena, closing proceedings before the fantastic encore.
‘Open up a massive circle in the middle… bigger… bigger!... Now, moonwalk!’ This is the first instance of a moonwalk pit I’ve ever encountered. Dozens of people start getting their groove on to the opening beat of Beat It, the recent MJ cover. There is a sudden segue way into Dance, Dance (the best pit of the evening), before Fall Out Boy end the set the usual way with Saturday.

A fantastic show, a great performance from Stump and co., but a few things niggled me. A lot. First and foremost: the sound in places was abhorrent, notably the guitar mix in I’m Like A Lawyer…, and other times the drums were as muddy as a toilet that hasn't been flushed for nine years. However, it’s one of the few pop-punk gigs I’ve been to where you can actually hear the bass guitar, so that’s a plus at least. Also, it was simply too short. Between an hour and a quarter, and an hour and a half, is nowhere near long enough to properly get into a concert.
Nonetheless, the vigorous bouncing to genius pop tunes is enough for me. Fingers crossed, then, for more in Novemeber when ‘Folie à Deux’ is unleashed.

Overall – 8.5 / 10