Fall Out Boy at the MEN Arena, Manchester

The MEN Arena in Manchester is a huge venue for any band to play, and Fall Out Boy have arrived at those heights yet it seems like only yesterday they were playing small cramped venues that only the loyal fans knew about. After the release of their latest album Folie A Deux the arena is packed, quite literally, to the rafters.

Hey Monday start the night off, a band compared to Paramore and it is easy to see why however, do not think that this means they are the same. Hey Monday lack the excitement and style that Paramore have but this may come later in their career. The audience react well, possibly due to Fall Out Boy’s support of them, lead singer Cassadee Pope appears in the ‘America’s Suitehearts’ video. Yet most of their songs are average but some, such as ‘Homecoming’ and ‘Arizona’, are quite catchy.

The main support comes from Kids in Glass Houses. It is plain to see that most of the audience like them and they put in a good performance, with good catchy rock pop songs. The only criticism could be lead singer Aled Phillips’ cringe-worthy Welsh/American accent.

After a couple of hours of support bands and waiting the crowd demand Fall Out Boy and that’s exactly what they get. They kick their set off with flames and a lights show that could impress anyone. They play through the hits like ‘Thnks fr th mmrs’ and ‘Sugar, we’re goin down’ with style. To keep the more hardcore fans happy lead singer Patrick Stump does a brief exert of secret track ‘Lullabye’.

FOB play five songs from their latest album (not including lullabye) and all go down very well from the flashing guitars of ‘I don’t care’ to the extra pounding drums in ‘Disloyal order of water buffaloes’. Bassist Pete Wentz shows he is becoming an old pro at talking to the audience as girls screams come from all around with every word he says. It becomes obvious why Pete does the talking as he encourages Patrick to tell a story while some technical issues are sorted out. To say Patrick’s story is not funny would be an understatement but it is endearing and he acknowledged this after the next song saying ‘that last story is a good example of why I don’t talk on stage.’

The night is rounded off with an encore of ‘Dance, dance’ and fan favourite ‘Saturday’. Fall Out Boy knows their audience and performs to and above expectations. The have definitely grown into a more mainstream popular band but still keep their charm.



Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound