TORONTO - Fall Out Boy left the teen-dominated crowd on a high Saturday night at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre.
Whether it's a long lasting one remains to be seen.
The Chicago-area quartet, touring behind their latest album Infinity On High, headlined the Honda Civic Tour with a fast-paced 80-minute set. And they certainly didn't have to do much to win over the frenzied female demographic.
The group, led by singer and guitarist Patrick Stump and bassist Pete Wentz, dished out enough eye and ear candy beginning with streamers, fireballs and explosions during Thriller and Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy. However it was during the sweet Sugar, We're Goin' Down that things seemed to rev up a notch.
Although Fall Out Boy is often lumped in with other bands like Panic! At The Disco and have the wordy titles to prove it (I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me being just one), songs like Hum Hallelujah and A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me" have a bit more bite to them.
The association isn't lost on the band either, as Fall Out Boy sang a few lines from Panic! At The Disco's I Write Sins Not Tragedies before diving into This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race. The gear-changing song was perhaps the highlight of the set, a groove-oriented tune that changes on a dime into a full-bore punk rock ditty.
As the lighting rig spelled out FOB above them, Stump let Wentz do most of the between song banter in order to plow through the nearly 20-song set. The lone time where it seemed to catch up with Stump a bit was during The Carpal Tunnel Of Love which he fought through despite running out of steam.
With a large video screen behind them and a drum kit that drummer Andrew Hurley probably hired a Sherpa to help him reach, Fall Out Boy had the fans drowning them out during the high-energy Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, the show closing number Saturday and especially during Dance, Dance. Dance, Dance also had Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman performing on a small mini-stage near the rear of the venue which was roughly three-quarters full.
Perhaps the low point, aside from the Joe Jackson-like Golden which Stump performed alone on keyboard and a cover of Michael Jackson's Beat It, was a time-filler featuring the evening's emcee Dirty doing a lame Jackass-like stunt. Attempting to stop baseballs from a pitching machine with his stomach, Dirty was far more adept stopping them with his facemask and throat. A simple lull before the encore would have been an improvement.
While Fall Out Boy seemed to be the main drawing card, there were plenty of opening acts, including a strong set by +44. The band, consisting of former Blink-182 members Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus, played a powerful and tight 30-minute set featuring songs from When Your Heart Stops Beating as well as a cover of Blink-182's The Rock Show.
Earlier in the evening, Chicago outfit The Academy Is, rapper Paul Wall and dance-rock band Cobra Starship also entertained the slowly growing teenage-heavy horde with 30-minute sets each.
