After much anticipation, Fall Out Boy brought their So Much For (Tour) Dust to the iconic Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY last Tuesday (August 1) for a night full of nostalgia, community, a ton of pyro, and of course incredible music.
You wouldn’t have been able to tell that it’s been nearly five years since Fall Out Boy released their last studio album M A N I A and two years since performing at massive stadiums with Green Day and Weezer on the HELLA MEGA Tour, as the at-capacity crowd with merch in hand anxiously waited to hear the GRAMMY-nominated quartet play iconic hits from their discography as well as soon-to-be chart-toppers from their latest release So Much (For) Stardust.
The cool, summer night kicked off with epic performances from Bring Me the Horizon, Royal & The Serpent and Games We Play before Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley stepped out of a giant red curtain to rock out to their first No. 1 Alternative Radio single “Love From The Other Side,” followed by the fast-paced “The Phoenix” and then everybody’s favorite, “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down.”
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Making sure to include something for every type of Fall Out Boy fan, the band performed legendary songs from almost all of their previously released albums, including “Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy,” “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago,” and “Calm Before the Storm” from 2003’s Take This to Your Grave; “Dance, Dance,” “7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen),” and “A Little Less Sixteen Candles (A Little More ‘Touch Me’),” from 2005’s From Under The Cork Tree; “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arm’s Race” from 2007’s Infinity On A High; “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes” and “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet” from 2008’s Folie à Deux; and “Hold Me Like A Grudge,” Fake Out,” “Heaven, Iowa,” and “Baby Annihilation” off the new record So Much (For) Stardust.
The best moments from the Chicago superstars’ nearly two-hour set came from Patrick’s piano medley, where he belted out lyrics from “What a Catch, Donnie” and “Just One Yesterday” before transitioning into a cover of “Stereo Hearts” that brought the house down when Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy walked onstage to sing his verse. The surprise appearance was even more epic as time went by, as the duo sang their their iconic hit “Cupid’s Chokehold / Breakfast In America” from Gym Class Heroes’ 2006 album As Cruel As School Children to which everyone in the crowd (including us) were going absolutely crazy for.
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Always making sure they deliver for their fans, Fall Out Boy then introduced a “Magic 8 Ball” on the big screen that helped them choose which string of songs to play that sometimes don’t make the cut. In Forest Hills, the band gave “I Am My Own Muse” its live debut, followed by the head-banging “27.”
After being told by officials to “cool it with the pyro,” Patrick, Pete, Joe and Andy ran straight into their encore with some of their biggest songs, including “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up),” “Thanks fr th Mmrs,” and “Centuries,” before wrapping up the night with an oldie but goodie, “Saturday,” to a confetti-filled stadium.
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Bringing the heat with banger after banger — along with a lot of fireworks and smoke — Fall Out Boy’s main goal for both this tour and record was to merge something new with key sounds, tools, and experience the band has acquired over the course of their twenty-year lifespan. To no surprise, Patrick, Pete, Joe and Andy quite literally hit this one out of the park, as So Much for (Tour) Dust is one of their best live shows to date.
To catch Fall Out Boy in your city this summer, visit their website at falloutboy.com/tour.
