Fall Out Boy Concert Review: It Was Manic, Indeed

Francis Tan

I’ve never been much of a concert-goer. The crowds, the screaming, the long queues, all that put me off from the moshing experience. But when my friend asked if I wanted to attend the Fall Out Boy Mania Tour concert, how could I refuse?

This year’s venue was Zepp@BIGBOX, a modest indoor event hall in the heart of Jurong East, and although it’s not as picturesque as Fort Canning for their previous Save Rock & Roll Tour here almost 5 years ago, the energy presented by Fall Out Boy themselves erupted from the stage and dominated the evening.

A 30-second countdown preceded the band’s arrival onto the stage, and they emerged with The Phoenix as their opener, already getting the crowd sending tremors throughout the hall. Lead vocalist Patrick Stump dominated the stage with his unmistakable, striking voice, harmonising with bassist Pete Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman. Drummer Andy Hurley played in his iconic shirtless look, and synergised with the rest of the band flawlessly.

They rode the massive wave of energy into Irresistible, and despite Demi Lovato’s absence, the pop-punk band covered her vocals with ease, with Patrick flexing all his vocal muscles.

Pete Wentz then took some time to greet the crowd, and was met with screams and cheers. No surprises there, as they last played here in 2013. To add, Fall Out Boy have always enjoyed a very strong following among the teenage crowd here.

They went on to belt out song after song, with some of their most recognisable hits like Sugar, We’re Goin Down and Immortals. Pete continued interacting with the crowd while the rest of the members prepared themselves for every other song, and kept teasing the next song their audience could expect with several musical references, such as reminding us to “Stay Frosty”.

Patrick then went on to grace the piano, and we were treated to Save Rock and Roll and The Last of the Real Ones. A solo piano instrumental of Young and Menace followed with Patrick’s haunting vocals, a mellower reimagination of the original song.

About halfway through the show, Andy Hurley took to the stage by himself to drum out a solo medley of several songs, with Kendrick Lamar’s Humble making a notable appearance. It was truly a spectacle to witness the masterful rhythm and pace that only Andy can muster.

After the brief break, the boys opened the second half of the show with Dance, Dance – an old-school favourite from the iconic From Under the Cork Tree album. Bassist Pete Wentz also donned a hi-vis jacket and mounted a platform behind the crowd, providing the fans at the back of the hall with a closer view.

Fall Out Boy’s Llamas also got around to give away merchandise mid-show, throwing shirts into the ecstatic crowd, though I do wish they had stronger throwing arms to share the love with every single fan.

Some of the more prominent and stronger songs in the second-half of the set comprised of FOB classics such as Thks fr th Mmrs, This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race, and two from their latest Mania album – HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T, and Church. The unrelenting flow of songs kept people wanting for more, and when the main setlist concluded with Champion, the screams for an encore morphed into the crowd harmonising into the backing vocal track for My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark. Goosebumps everywhere.

The group came out for their highly-requested encore, starting with Uma Thurman, followed by the title track of its 2015 record, American Beauty/American Psycho, before literally lighting up the stage with My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light ‘Em Up). The band ended the show with Saturday, which saw Pete Wentz sporting a Singapore football jersey, and jumping into the abyss of the crowd to close an absolutely electric show.

Fall Out Boy has constantly performed in our tiny little island, and each time, they continue to bring the energy and power to transform any casual concert-goer into a full-on mosher. Their songs are timeless, iconic, relatable, and most importantly, a passage for us to connect with our emotions. They might look to evolve their brand into something different from their pop-punk days of yore, but to all of us, they’ll never be anything other than that emo-rock group that sailed us through our turbulent teenage days.