Fall Out Boy plays at the Bridgestone Arena on March 31 in Nashville, TN. Photo by Jennifer Lindahl | THE ALL STATE.
On Sunday, March 31, Fall Out Boy came to Nashville to perform one of the best concerts I have ever seen. The Bridgestone Arena was packed with fans ready to hear old, new and everything in between from one of America’s classic alternative bands.
The concert, which totaled four hours from start to finish, had three openers. Carr, an alternative artist, performed first; Hot Mulligan, another alt-indie band, performed after; then Jimmy Eat World, famously known for their song “The Middle” did not disappoint with their performance. The three of these groups created a buzz and excitement in the arena, preparing us for one of the greatest live performances we could ever witness.
The show started with a poem called “The Pink Seashell,” which was featured on Fall Out Boy’s newest album called “So Much (for) Stardust,” followed by a song from the album titled “Love From the Other Side.” The use of fireworks, lights and flames on stage, some flames even coming from Pete Wentz’s bass guitar, created a visual and musical masterpiece unlike any other.
If you thought the insanity stopped at the visuals, you would be mistaken. During the beginning of the show, they brought out incredible props; a fake desert scene was displayed behind the band and two characters, a rabbit and a snail, were seen dancing around the stage. We switched scenes a couple times throughout the show, adding to the interest and liveliness of the show. We were later introduced to a giant floating dog head with bubbles, a reference to their newest album, and then to an eerie night-time scene later on in the show.
Fall Out Boy covered songs from all their albums over the ages. They played most of their popular songs that had the stadium screaming the lyrics— “Sugar We’re Going Down” (2005), “Uma Thurman” (2015), “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arm Race” (2008), “Dance, Dance” (2005), “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” (2013), “Thnks Fr th Mmrs” (2007) and “Centuries” (2015).
In the middle of the show, Patrick Stump entertained us with a few covers of a couple of older songs. He played acoustic guitar and sang a cover of “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” by Steve Goodman. He then played a piano medley tour debut of his song “Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia),” followed by a partial piano medley of “Golden.” To end his piano medleys, the rest of the band joined again on stage to perform “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen.
The concert ended with an encore of three of their popular songs which had the whole crowd singing along hysterically. It was riveting to hear an entire arena filled with Fall Out Boy fans belt out every word to these songs, and it healed something in me that I didn’t know needed to be healed.
Overall, the Fall Out Boy concert was impeccably odd in the best way possible, absolutely incredible and gave the emo eighth grader who lives in my heart everything she could have wanted.
