After coming off their long hiatus in February 2013, barring a couple of scattered appearances, Fall Out Boy hadn’t done a UK tour in close to 5 years, so needless to say the excitement for this gig had been building for a while. First on tonight were New Politics [6/10], a pop rock band from Copenhagen. While they were a relatively unknown act to the vast majority of the crowd, the unique energy (and incredible dance moves) of frontman Louis Vecchino really won people over. Previous experience of opening for the likes of Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco really helped them tonight as they worked a big crowd very well.
Next up was Taylor Momsen, of Gossip Girl fame, and her band The Pretty Reckless [6/10]. It was a fairly flat performance from a band that spend the majority of their time playing rooms not a million miles away from this size in America. Their particular brand of hard rock felt slightly out of place on the bill tonight. Playing 5 songs off their new album, ‘Going To Hell’, which hadn’t even been released at this point, was a slight mistake, especially when crowd-pleaser ‘Goin’ Down’ was left out of the set.
The last time Fall Out Boy [10/10] came to town, they were on their last legs, with internal problems suffocating both their creative and live output. Four years later, this is a different beast entirely. Opening on ‘The Phoenix’, one of the stand out tracks from 2013’s Save Rock and Roll, it was easy to see why Fall Out Boy are one of the most important rock bands around for so many people. The incredible one-two punch of fan favourites ‘I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me’ and ‘A Little Less Than Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me”’ which went down an absolute storm.
With a set featuring nearly every single hit they have, plus with 6 songs off of the latest release, it was a near perfect mix. A truly incredible acoustic rendition of ‘Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner’ and ‘Grand Theft Autumn’ was one of the best moments of any gig that I had ever been to. With a stage show without any gimmicks, such as pyrotechnics or any real onstage banter, the band let the songs make an impact, and what an impact they made. The newer songs, in particular, were designed to be played in rooms precisely this size.
With an encore consisting “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs” and “Saturday”, it is easy to see why Fall Out Boy are considered to be one of the best pop punk bands of all time. Tonight’s show emphasises the undeniable fact that Fall Out Boy have made a triumphant return to music. While they haven’t quite saved Rock and Roll, they have certainly mastered their niche blend of pop and rock.
Words by Sam Taylor
