Fall Out Boy brought some new friends for a sold-out show at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, for the second round of their So Much For (2our) Dust Tour.
The line for the outdoor merchandise booth was wrapped around the corner of the vast complex before the doors even opened to let in the thousands of fans who were ready for this epic night.
The first band of the night was Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker, more famously known as Daisy Grenade. Despite such a short set of “Are You Scared Of Me Yet?,” “Cult Classic,” “Real Horror Show,” a remarkable cover of Pierce The Veil’s “King For A Day,” and “Sick In The City,” Daisy Grenade made their presence felt by all in the stadium. With each song, they seemed to convert many new fans who wanted more from the lively duo.
Second, the Arizona emo band, The Maine, John O’Callaghan (vocals, guitar), Jared Monaco (lead guitar), Garrett Nickelsen (bass), Kennedy Brock (guitar), and Patrick Kirch (drums), played to an enthusiastic crowd that seemed to have come to the show just for them with You Are Watching The Band The Maine projecting behind them.
They opened with “blame” and “Sticky.” They rounded out their set with “Slip The Noose,” “Dirty, Pretty, Beautiful,” “Black Butterflies & Deja Vu,” “thoughts i have while lying in bed,” “Girls Do What They Want,” and “Loved You a Little.” O’Callaghan’s timeless Mick Jagger-like stage presence makes this band a wonderful treat to watch.
The third band of the evening was 90’s alt-emo-punk “it” boys, Jimmy Eat World, Jim Adkins (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Linton (guitar), Rick Burch (bass), and Zach Lind (drums). They opened with “A Praise Chorus,” “Big Casino,” and “Sweetness.” The venue was now packed from floor to ceiling, with fans screaming the lyrics to every single song. The lights behind them flashed so bright that even the farthest fans could see every moment on stage.
They continued with “Something Loud,” “Lucky Denver Mint,” “All The Way (Stay),” “For Me This Is Heaven,” “Work,” “Let It Happen,” “Hear You Me,” “Futures,” “Pain,” “Just Thought,” “Bleed American,” and “The Middle.”
After a set change, the lights went down, and Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” started playing while the entire audience sang along. The house lights flashed in unison with the beats. The curtains closed, and the audience expected Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stump (lead vocals, guitar), Pete Wentz (bass), Joe Trohman (guitar), and Andy Hurley (drums) to come out on stage. Instead, their updated cover of Billy Joel’s hit “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” a bonus track on their newly released album, So Much (For) Stardust, started playing over the sound system, and every person knew every fast-paced lyric. Once again, instead of coming out to start the show, the sound system played another song from their newest album, this one featuring Ethan Hawke, “The Pink Seashell.”
After the hearts of the fans had been played with enough times, Fall Out Boy walked out on stage in a glorious, firework, and flame-engulfed fashion. They opened with the opening track from their newest album, “Love From The Other Side.” As they continued their impressive career-spanning set, the flames lit the stage from back to front and even from Wentz’s bass. The set continued with “The Phoenix,” “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” one of their greatest hits that can make anyone dance, “Uma Thurman,” “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me,’” “Chicago Is Two Years Ago,” “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy,” “Calm Before The Storm,” “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race,” “Disloyal Order Of Water Butterflies,” “Heaven, Iowa,” “Bang The Doldrums,” “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet,” and “Fake Out.”
It would have been a hell of a show if Fall Out Boy had stopped there, but they weren’t even close to done. This was just their version of an intermission. To change things up a bit, Stump jumped on the piano and gifted the world, or at least the 18,000 people at this sold-out show, with a beautiful and soul-altering medley of “I’ve Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers,” “What A Catch, Donnie,” and Queen’s ultimate zombie fighting anthem, “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
To continue on their righteous path, Fall Out Boy immediately went on to “So Much (for) Stardust” and “Baby Annihilation,” which was woven with a spoken-word interlude from “20 Dollar Nose Bleed.” To keep everyone on their toes for this show, they followed with a part of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” “Dance, Dance,” and “Hold Me Like A Grudge.”
Next came everyone’s favorite part of any Fall Out Boy show, The Magic 8 Ball. For this song, the Magic 8 ball that projects over the stage demanded the next song be “7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen).” Of course, the Magic 8 Ball was not satisfied with just one song; oh no, it demanded that Fall Out Boy not only play a cover of Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Go Bad” but then magically conjure Gabe Saporta and Victoria Asher onto the stage to sing it with them.
The crowd could feel the set ending at this point in the night. Fall Out Boy closed out the night with some of their biggest hits and fan favorites, “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light It Up),” “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs,” “Centuries,” and finally, from their 2003 album, Take This To Your Grave, “Saturday.” Just as they started the show with music on the sound system, they closed the show. An instrumental jazz version of “So Much (For) Stardust” played to help ease the fans as they realized they must return to the real world. It helped soften the blow.
View the full gallery here.