There seems to be a belief these days that the youth of today have lost their way when it comes to music. While the youth of our day were discovering Nirvana, Sonic Youth and The Smashing Pumpkins the teens of today clamber over each other in order to get a look at One Direction or an idiot like Red Foo. Last night’s Fall Out Boy concert in Melbourne showed that this just a misconception though. Sure Fall Out Boy are not Arch Enemy but last night proved that there is a legion of the younger generation out there that are completely in love with alternative music.
A scan around the crowd last night and you could tell that many of the audience last night this was their first concert and it was like the band anticipated it delivering a show that was pretty much ‘old school’ despite the size of the venue. Everything was there that you would remember from your first gig. The deafening roar that filled the venue when the band that hit the stage, the heat of the pyrotechnics when they first went off and that euphoria that embraced you as you sang along to songs that you’d listened to all your life.
Fall Out Boy certainly didn’t disappoint their fans. The band exploded onto the stage with The Phoenix complete with Grand Prix footage on the big screen and pyrotechnics raining down on them. The crowd then joined in on Irresistible and Hum Hallelujah really bringing Margaret Court Arena alive. The big screen then come back to life during Immortals when clips from ‘Big Hero 6’ (the movie that made the song famous) something that impressed the film fanatics in the audience. The track was made even more memorable with some screaming guitars from Joe Trohman.
With the fans so in love with the band Fall Out Boy could have been forgiven for taking shortcuts but they certainly didn’t do that. With a set list that contained twenty-two tracks, this was the gig that kept giving and showed some of the naysayers that this is a band that has the musical ability to back up their popularity. Patrick Stump went from frontman to whizz on the piano for tracks like Young And Menace, then there was the amazing drum solo from Andy Hurley who also impressed with his amazing tattoo collection.
Fall Out Boy really hit their straps though when delivering their now mini-mountain of hits that didn’t fail to put the crowd into raptures. Tracks like ‘Centuries,’ ‘This Is Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arm Race,’ ‘Thnks fr the Mmrs,’ and ‘Centuries’ all had a strong following but the biggest roar seemed to be left for ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)’ which it seemed nobody would have been happy to leave off the set list.
Fall Out Boy’s legion of fans certainly didn’t leave the stadium disappointed last night. The band came and delivered an old-fashioned rock show that was sure to win over some new hearts and remind the older fans why this band one them over in the early days.
