Pre-Ramble
It was a hot day in July 2005. This concert reviewer was on the adventure of a lifetime, traveling the country on a tour bus, interviewing bands, covering the biggest music festivals, and reviewing shows in the most coveted clubs across the country. What a time to be alive!
Fall Out Boy was not on the list of requested interviews during my adventure at the Warped Tour stop in Orlando, but the band’s tour manager heard my once-prominent outlet was onsite and begged me to interview bassist Pete Wentz. Despite my packed schedule, I agreed! (I squeezed Wentz in between Hayley Williams of Paramore and Noodles from The Offspring.)
I kid you not; we were set up by Warped staff in front of drinking fountains that led to entrances on opposite sides to men’s and women’s restrooms. If I only knew that one day, this band would headline arenas and amphitheaters…
Almost 20 years later, Fall Out Boy still reigns supreme ahead of their peers and stopped in Columbus, OH’s Schottenstein Center last night (Friday, March 29, 2024) for a night to remember!
Fall Out Boy is still on their So Much for (2our) Dust trek in support of their 2023 release, ‘So Much (For) Stardust,’ which stopped at Northeast Ohio’s Blossom Music Center in the summer of 2023. The show and setlist from the two shows were not dissimilar, and that’s a good thing!
Following a recorded version of their updated take on Bily Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” played over the arena sound system, FOB kicked off their set with “Love From the Other Side,” the opening track from their recent album, immediately followed by “The Phoenix” from their 2013 record, ‘Save Rock and Roll.’
Next, the Patrick Stump-fronted group played two of their many mainstream radio hits, “Sugar, We’re Going Down” and “Uma Thurman,” which energized even the casual fans in attendance.
The band’s show included fireworks, excessive fire, a giant snail, and…a WTF? moment with a man in a rabbit suit. FOB spared no expense on their set, much to the delight of the Columbus audience.
The set continued, and the band weaved in songs from a variety of their albums from their 20+ year career. Highlights for this writer included “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” where Stump sings a metaphor that likens the challenge of writing hit songs to…you guessed it….an arms race.
The oddly titled “Disloyal Order of Water Buffalos” is second to “Head First Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet” on this reviewer’s list of favorite mid-set numbers.
On the latter, Stump sings, “Does your husband know the way the Sunshine Beams From Your Wedding Band….I will never end up like him.” It is an anthem for a couple having an affair. (I have no firsthand knowledge, but it seems pretty spot on and likely hits too close for the infidelity-practicing fans in attendance!)
A partial cover of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” was the first of two non-originals showcased on this Friday’s eve, with Blur’s“Song 2” coming later in the set.
One of Fall Out Boy’s tricks on this tour is using a Magic 8 Ball to randomly select a song from their catalog, dictating one random song not on their setlist. Tonight, hardcore fans got lucky! The 8 Ball revealed “Fourth of July,” which, according to the oft-accurate Setlist.FM had not been performed in more than seven years!!
The guys wrapped their set with not one…not two…not three…but four of their biggest hits to date, starting with “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” ending with set-closer “Saturday,” with “Thanks fr th Memories” and “Centuries” sandwiched in between.
Of note, there was no encore break; the guys just plowed through the end of the set before saying their goodnights and disappearing from the stage. (Encore breaks are too drawn out and overrated anyway. Amirigh or amiright?)
This writer loves calculating how long each band I see in concert must wait before they are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I thought of this jokingly about FOB, but after tonight’s show and a closer look at their discography….One day…Maybe?
Prior to Fall Out Boy’s set, a longtime favorite of this writer, Jimmy Eat World, played a solid 50 minutes of songs that spanned their 25+ year career! (Hall of Fame eligible!)
The setlist was heavy on songs from their 2001 sophomore effort, ‘Bleed America’ (this writer’s favorite Jimmy record to date). This proved to be great news for longtime fans as the guys performed fan favorites, including “Hear You Me” and “A Praise Chorus.”
They said goodnight after playing “The Middle,” their biggest hit and most overrated song in their catalog. (It doesn’t even crack the top five songs for this writer!) The frantic crowd obviously could not disagree with me more on this one!
Great tour. Great night. Great show. Bravo, Gentlemen!
Until next time!
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