By Liv Slomka
Fans of various ages stood outside of the Birmingham Utilita arena in the pouring rain from as early as six in the morning to see what some feared could be Fall Out Boy’s last tour.
The band has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years, but one thing is for sure, they haven’t lost it and they’re the same four Chicago kids they were when the band started more than 20 years ago.
Speculation about the end of the band had been fuelled by guitarist Joe Trohman taking a brief break from the group at the beginning of the tour. Luckily, he was back for Birmingham on Halloween.
They walked out to fireworks and launched into Love From The Other Side from the latest album So Much (for) Stardust. They were in costume for Halloween: bassist Pete Wentz was the Big Bad Wolf; lead singer Patrick Stump was Beetlejuice; drummer Andy Hurley was dressed up as Thor and Trohman was a Ghostbuster.
Surprisingly it wasn’t Stump carrying the crowd throughout the concert but Wentz connecting with the fans, constantly making jokes, throwing candy, and acting like the rock n roll star that he is, showing off and spinning around with his guitar before shocking the crowd with his iconic flame throwing base during many iconic songs like The Phoenix.
It also wouldn’t have been a 20th anniversary tour without bangers like Sugar, We’re Goin Down, This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race- where a giant blown up dogs’ head started singing with the crowd, Hold Me Like a Grudge and Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy from their 2003 debut.
The sets didn’t really have a theme, it went from fairy tale to under the sea, to a dogs’ head singing or just flames but the band has always been random in music videos and I’m glad they kept those characteristics through the years.
Halloween felt special with all the costumes and jokes, something that no other fans got to see in the rest of the tour.
