DANCE, DANCE
Fall Out Boy plays explosive PPG Paints Arena show
In an alternate universe, the members of Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World are still playing the punk rock of their roots in small venues to middle-aged dudes re-enacting some semblance of the old mosh pit.
In reality, the bands are packing arenas with much younger crowds playing the high-energy, emo-charged pop that made them stars in the early to mid-’00s.
On Wednesday, they brought the So Much For (Tour) Dust tour to PPG Paints Arena, moving indoors after both playing Pittsburgh stadiums on their last visits: Jimmy Eat World at the Four Music Chord Fest in Washington and Fall Out Boy at PNC Park with Green Day.
Jimmy Eat World, following openers Carr and Hot Mulligan, launched its hourlong set with “A Praise Chorus,” their poppunk anthem with shout-outs to Madness, Mötley Crüe and Tommy James among others, prompting lead vocalist Jim Adkins to sing part of “Crimson and Clover.”
The veteran Phoenix band proceeded with a formulaic, no-frills set of power-pop with a lot of “woah-oh-oh” choruses somewhat overwhelmed by the throbbing rhythm section.
For half the set, one song blended into another without much tonal or rhythmic variation, demonstrating that the artists mentioned in the first song are all more interesting.
“I’m not kidding, I love playing music in a band for people,” said Adkins, who seemed to be enjoying it a little more than they were.
Granted, for the most part, these were not people who grew up in this World.
The set did pick up some momentum, starting with the Blink-ish “Let It Happen” and climaxing with “The Middle,” the hit made famous again in part by the unbeatable combo of Apple and Taylor Swift.
Fall Out Boy came with new music since last playing PNC and got to it quickly, stepping out with fireworks and “Love From the Other Side,” the pulsing opening track from last year’s “So Much (for) Stardust.”
The main obstacle to falling for this band is the shrill vocal style of Patrick Stump, which can be incredibly grating — especially over the course of two hours.
The fans at PPG have hurdled that high obstacle and hung with the band, whether patiently or ecstatically, through the hits, “Stardust” songs, covers and deep cuts.
After one of the latter, bassist Pete
Wentz, the rock star of the band, now in a long hair phase, told the crowd: “It’s pretty wild to be playing these songs in an arena here in 2024.”
He also welcomed fans, whether they were on board from the first album or first heard them in a Disney film.
Fall Out Boy kept us entertained, on guard and partially deafened with sonic booms and pyro accenting their high-flying anthems. Some of that fire shot from Wentz’s bass on “The Phoenix” in a Kiss-like gimmick they couldn’t have imagined 20 years ago.
Fans were so excited for “Sugar, We’re Goin Down,” “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” and other hits, that Stump had to take it up a notch or two to sing over them. He had no shortage of volume and vocal command for that task, despite admitting to the crowd that he was fighting something and struggling through the show.
The biggest challenge there was when his voice was laid bare in a piano section, during which he covered Pittsburgh’s own Punchline with “Heart Transplant” and Queen with “Don’t Stop Me Now.” A cover of Blur’s “Song 2” was handled with full-on distorted guitars
Credit to the band for remembering their roots, nodding to friends and legends and also breaking out of the box with the occasional oddly creative song like “Uma Thurman,” with its surf-rock “Munsters” sample.
After taking some quirky tangents in the set, the band spent the last 20 minutes going full blast through the bangers — “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark ( Light Em Up),” “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” “Centuries” and “Saturday”— with crazy explosiveness.
Wentz noted at one point, “When I was a kid, when I wasn’t dreaming about being Jose Canseco, I dreamed about being Mario Lemieux. I guess this is as close I can come.”
The common talent is having the goods to make arenas shake.
Fall Out Boy Set List
• Love From the Other Side (new)
• The Phoenix
• Sugar, We’re Goin Down • Uma Thurman
• Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)
• Chicago is So
Two Years Ago
• Grand Theft Autumn/ Where Is Your Boy
• Calm Before the Storm • This Ain’t a Scene,
It’s an Arms Race
• Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes • G.I.N.A.S.F.S.
• Bang the Doldrums • Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet • Fake Out
• Heart Transplant (Punchline cover)
• What a Catch, Donnie • Golden
• Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen cover)
• Song 2 (Blur cover) • Dance, Dance
• Hold Me Like a Grudge • The Music or the Misery • My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
• Thnks fr th Mmrs • Centuries
• Saturday