Venue: Zepp@BigBox, Singapore
Date: 30th April 2018
Promoter: LAMC Productions
Review by: Anna F.
Special thanks: The LAMC Productions team
With promise and precision, and a mess of youthful innocence, Fall Out Boy returned after five long years to put on a massive show too good to be true. The boys next door took us on a whirlwind of a journey, meandering dangerously off the beaten path in Death Valley, and bamboozled their way through our mmrs of nostalgic adolescent drama, all amped up and plugged in to save rock and roll.
Their return revived the kick drum beating in our chests again, seeing our favourite boys in all their splendour. Evident from the crowd turnout alone, I think it’s safe to say the show will go down in history for being completely insane, with the spacious venue accommodating their burgeoning fanbase with ease, having room for more troubled souls than ever.
Made up of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley, the legendary quartet curated a setlist which catered to diehard fans and newbies alike. It included their older staples like “I Don’t Care” “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, and “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”, as well as newer tunes like “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea”, “The Last of the Real Ones”, “HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T”, and “Young and Menace'”(which was stripped off its extravagant effects and driven solely by Patrick and a piano). On tour in promotion of their seventh studio album, Mania (stylised as M A N I A), there ain’t no slowing down for the Chicago natives, who will continue this leg of the tour with three dates in China.
As our silver screen dreams played out right before our eyes, we only reciprocated by singing – until our lungs gave out. From start to finish, the guys remained tight and tenacious, working as an entity to cement their status as champions of the arena rock circuit – each of them dialed in to their respective roles and ready to blow the roof off the place. And they managed to do just that, what with the charismatic frontman’s vocals spanning everything from clean and angelic to downright grungy and raw, at times matching Pete’s guttural growls.
Halfway through the set, as the rest of the guys took a breather offstage, Andy settled comfortably in his righteous place under the spotlight for an epic drum solo, which saw him blistering through remixes of Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble”, Post Malone’s “Congratulations”, and Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO Tour Llif3”, before he launched smoothly into the opening beats of “Dance, Dance”. It was truly a sight to behold, witnessing the utter concentration on the heavily tattooed drummer’s face as he nailed every crash, fill, and roll.
And we danced, we danced, especially during “American Beauty/American Psycho”, along with Pete, as he worked the stage, and made small talk in smatterings throughout the night, keeping it short and sweet, as they focused on ensuring that their performance would be one to remember. At one point, the amiable bassist and genius songwriter appeared on the B-stage, wearing what looked like a neon yellow Corrective Work Order vest. He also donned a Singapore jersey towards the latter part of the night, getting up close and personal with the fans, who were really just enamoured to even be in the same room as the scene heroes.
Even the llamas from the music videos off the Mania era made an appearance, giving us more than we bargained for, as they delighted in some light-hearted fun with the audience, armed with merch to give away. But not before throwing shade at the guys, calling the performance a “medium show” saying, “Well, it isn’t rare, and it certainly isn’t well done,” to the amusement of everyone in the room.
They closed out the show with “Saturday”, the old school classic off their debut studio album, Take This To Your Grave, as Pete threw himself into the crowd, and a backdrop with the words ‘THE END’ appeared.
From Joe studiously churning out solos and meticulously laying down airtight harmonies, to Andy standing on his kick drum and passionately joining in on the gang vocals during the outro-bridge of “Save Rock And Roll”, to the preposterous energy level of the fans, which never once wavered during the 90-minute-long set – the five-year wait was warranted, to say the least.
And it’s never –
Getting any better than this.