ALBANY – Few bands from the early aughts, if any, are as integral to modern pop punk as Chicago’s Fall Out Boy. When the initial-wave Drive Thru Records acts peaked in the mid-2000s (New Found Glory, The Movielife, Midtown), and OGs like Green Day and Blink-182 also somewhat retreated, it was FOB that provided that much-needed shot in the arm, to keep the genre fresh and inspired, until they, too, seemed ready to pass the baton to the next generation.
The group’s impact is now evident everywhere today, from the myriad bands who owe their careers to bassist Pete Wentz’s alter ego as record industry mogul, to the very sound of the present-day genre itself. Just try and create the sonic palette of a band like our own beloved 518 heroes State Champs—one of the hottest acts in pop punk at the moment—but without Fall Out Boy in the mix. It can’t be done.
So, it seems only proper and fitting to have Fall Out Boy—a band that anchored the millennial pop-punk charts—make a triumphant return right now, at a time when emo and pop punk are undergoing a massive revival. Back in 2023 with So Much (for) Stardust, their first LP since 2018’s lackluster Mania, the album marks both a creative revival and reunion with famed producer Neal Avron (Yellowcard, New Found Glory, Everclear), last seen on 2008’s Folie à Deux. The group’s current massive stadium tour, which stopped in Albany at MVP Arena on March 24, was the crucial second component of FOB’s reintroduction to fans.
But first came a series of openers, all excellent in their own ways, all assumedly hand-picked. Each helped the early evening zip by, amid the endless shuffle of concertgoers finding their way to their seats.
Kicking things off was one of Wentz’s latest signings, Games We Play, a pop-punk trio fronted by Miami-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Emmyn Calleiro. From the start, everything about GWP’s set was fun, upbeat and briskly moving, with Calleiro almost evoking a kind of emo Jack Black, bouncing around the stage with goofy charm, peppered with plenty of humorous dialogue between songs.
At one point, Calleiro even jokingly introduced his brother Ethan on stage, partially disrobing him in an attempt to find him a romantic partner, before said sibling joined the band on bass. Games We Play’s quick, four-song set gave just a taste of what’s to come from the band, who only dropped their debut full-length, Life’s Going Great, in March.
Up next was Detroit emo outfit Hot Mulligan, inarguably the hyped “buzz band” on the bill, and deservedly so. One of the most consistently excellent artists in the genre in recent years, HM’s upward trajectory continues, from opening for the Wonder Years last year at Empire Live, now to rocking MVP Arena with Fall Out Boy, almost exactly 12 months later.
That said, Hot Mulligan still seemed more suited for a packed club than a huge stage. The band sounded great—singer Nathan “Tades” Sanville even screamed adeptly through the set without losing his voice entirely—but the intensity seen last time they were here (when the crowd went insane and were climbing the walls of Empire Live) was lost on this occasion to the cavernous arena. Otherwise, it was a quality nine-song set, that definitely offered the uninitiated a good encapsulation of the band, anchored by favorites like “OG Brule Sky,” “Bckyrd,” “*Equip Sunglasses*” and “John ‘The Rock’ Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker.”
Last of the support bands was Jimmy Eat World, no stranger to the grand stage, in contrast. Perhaps the most iconic and essential group to emerge from the ’90s emo basement era and achieve massive success, the Arizona five-piece appeared energized and in their element, commanding the vast audience with the band’s soaring, grandiose anthems.
Led by singer-guitarist Jim Adkins (who doesn’t seem to ever have a bad show), Jimmy Eat World treated the crowd to a meaty, 15-song set packed with hits (“Sweetness,” “The Middle,” “Work,” “Bleed American”), but also deeper fan favorites like “Lucky Denver Mint,” “For Me This Is Heaven,” and “Hear You Me.” Another underrated gem, “Big Casino,” was the second song they played, and that said a lot about what was to come. From the lighting to the set list, to the band’s ultra-professional performance, Jimmy Eat World delivered, as we’ve come to love and expect.
On the other hand, if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t know which Fall Out Boy was going to take the stage, as pre-recorded tracks “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and FOB’s kitschy cover of “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” built the anticipation. If you’ll permit me this “elder emo” moment: I was lucky enough in the past to catch the band multiple times in their heyday, and never found them to be a particularly great sounding live band; it was their incredible onstage energy and the way the crowd reacted, that made those shows amazing. So, I wondered: How much of that FOB would still show up?
Or else, how much of the later, mega-success-era Fall Out Boy would remain, when the band seemed to become something different entirely: Something too smooth and commercial, and increasingly convoluted in scope, almost unrecognizable from their more simplistic roots? Years later and hindsight 20/20, the band’s output has been a mixed bag, to be sure.
The answer, it turned out, was the ideal combination of both.
From bombastic opener “Love From the Other Side,” punctuated by pyro and explosions, it was clear this was going to be a big-budget, mega rock show. If you were judging from just the surreal, Tim Burton-esque staging and eye-popping effects, you might’ve thought you were attending an Iron Maiden or Judas Priest concert. (A giant inflatable Doberman head, from the new album cover, dominated the stage for much of the show, while at other times, Wentz wielded a flame-throwing bass.)
For the most part, it worked, and the occasional misfires (cough, cough, Wentz disappearing onstage and then rising through the air very slowly on a hydraulic lift at the back of the venue) were all in good fun. Would it have been a good deal more punk rock to slash ticket prices and trim back the fancy extras? Definitely. You did, however, get your money’s worth.
Musically and sonically is where the group really shined on this night—a Fall Out Boy I’m honestly not as used to, and that’s a Fall Out Boy that’s pretty hard to deny. Their 90-minute, 25-track setlist touched upon all eras, save for 2018’s Mania, but focused heavily on the band’s more straightforward, punk-leaning moments, led by the vocal mastery of singer-guitarist Patrick Stump and world-class drumming by Andy Hurley, who’s inarguably counted among that rare, Travis Barker-level upper echelon of pop-punk beatkeepers. Guitarist Joe Trohman, meanwhile, only returned to the band back in May from an indefinite mental health break, and seemed somewhat removed, perhaps almost a bit too focused on his playing.
The lengthy set’s overall effect, interestingly, was to both honor and delight with the hits (“Sugar, We’re Goin Down,” “Dance, Dance,” “Thnks fr th Mmrs”), but also to amplify somewhat underappreciated gems from later efforts. It’s so easy to dwell on material from classic FOB releases like Take This To Your Grave and From Under The Cork Tree, that you can forget how great some mid- to later-era FOB tracks really are, like “G.I.N.A.S.F.S.,” “Bang The Doldrums,” “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes,” and “The Phoenix.” When placed side by side in the context of a live set, these moments took on a new life.
There was also an homage to their scene-shattering 2003 debut Take This To Your Grave—the band’s first proper LP (not counting 2003’s extremely rough mini-LP Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out with Your Girlfriend). As a small rectangular lighting rig was lowered to just above Hurley’s drum riser, simulating the club vibe, the group played a three-song block from Grave, from the rare treat of “Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over,” (their first live performance of the track since 11/19/07) into the impossibly catchy, “Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy,” into one of their oldest and best, “Calm Before The Storm.” And I can tell you, it all sounded a heck of a lot better now, compared to back when they were actually touring for that record from 2003-2005, that’s for damned sure.
From there, the majority of what remained of the set focused on material off the new album, which like the setlist, showcases FOB adeptly merging all that’s come before into a bold, confident, reinvigorated Fall Out Boy. “Heaven, Iowa,” “Fake Out,” “Hold Me Like a Grudge,” and “What a Time to Be Alive,” find the band playfully flaunting their pop idol status, and doing it well, while epic numbers “I Am My Own Muse” and the title track take the more traditional, harder-edged Fall Out Boy sound to dizzying new heights, with singer and key songwriter Patrick Stump’s ambitious compositions once again locking into perfect harmony with Wentz’s bittersweet, manic-depressive lyrics.
Wentz, the narrative voice behind the band, handled most of the between-song banter, while Stump—the undisputed “talent” in the group, as humble as he may be about it—let his incredible voice speak for itself, particularly when a piano appeared on stage, from which he weaved a medley of “The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years),” into “What a Time to Be Alive,” into a rousing cover of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” The sequence drove home just how far Stump has come as an artist, from a shy kid who only grudgingly sang in the band at first, to a fully grown superstar, who can seemingly sing the ingredients off the back of a vitamin bottle, and even make that sound amazing.
Still, it was also nice to see that some things don’t change in the Fall Out Boy camp: Like many longtime fans have come to expect, the group closed the night with another classic from Take This To Your Grave: “Saturday.”
It may not have been entirely like 2003—when Pete would’ve grabbed the mic and dove into the crowd during that song’s interlude, as Stump sang, “And I read about the afterlife, but I never really lived,” along with a throng of screaming, swoop-haired emo kids—but here in 2024, he’s still making an honest effort. As Wentz—now age 44—jumped down into the barrier and climbed up on the barricade to sing with fans during that beloved part, I felt the grin creep across my face, as 20+ years melted away for us all.
Fall Out Boy’s initial rise to stardom in the early aughts happened during a pretty great time for music, it turns out, and as we see the big names from that era all returning to prominence (My Chemical Romance, Blink-182), FOB are back to reclaim their throne, too.
And if anyone stands in their way, did I mention Pete has a bass that shoots fire!?
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Fall Out Boy – 3/24/24 at MVP Arena, Albany, NY (Photos by Kylie Spinelli)
Jimmy Eat World – 3/24/24 at MVP Arena, Albany, NY (Photos by Kylie Spinelli)
Hot Mulligan – 3/24/24 at MVP Arena, Albany, NY (Photos by Kylie Spinelli)
Games We Play – 3/24/24 at MVP Arena, Albany, NY (Photos by Kylie Spinelli)
