FALL OUT BOY | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wed 28 Mar
One of the more successful acts to have come through a lot of dreadful pop-punk dirge in the 00s, Fall Out Boy prevailed where others fell by the way side and are now a bonafide rock behemoth as they hit Cardiff for their Mania tour. The Motorpoint Arena is jammed full of twentysomethings, for whom Fall Out Boy no doubt provided the soundtrack to in their formative years, as well as a whole fresh batch of fans, such is the broad appeal of this annoyingly likeable band.
The band were obviously afforded a healthy production budget as a screen the size of the entire set counts down the seconds until the boys hit the stage. Noise levels spike as they slam straight into Phoenix – the opener on 2013’s Save Rock n Roll – complete with glorious pyro and it’s not long before the first sing along of the night is instigated with Sugar, We’re Going Down. The kiddies dotted around the crowd raise the noise levels once more as Immortals is played out to a backdrop of Disney’s Big Hero 6.
Patrick Stump’s vocals always seem to lie on that fine line of being in and out of tune, but he does it to great effect and is without doubt the jewel in the band’s crown. A very impressive riser is utilised in the middle of the arena for Andy Hurley’s drum solo, or drum karaoke if you like, as he belts the skins along to Blur and Cannibal Corpse. Now there’s something I didn’t think I’d be writing in this review.
The band join Hurley on a second even more impressive riser for the infectious Dance, Dance and a new track from new album Mania, displaying some arms of their own during This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race before a single spotlight embraces Stump as he opens up Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy. For the finale, Pete Wentz dons a Cardiff Blues shirt and joins his adoring crowd for closer Saturday and an epic ticker tape explosion ending. Not bad for a bunch of hardcore kids from Chicago.
words CHRIS ANDREWS photos AMY FERRER