In the principal show of Fall Out Boy’s latest tour run, “So Much for (2our) Dust”, the boys brought the heat — literally.
A mix of hits from across their discography, featuring songs for the veteran "Folie à Deux" fan and late-album listeners, a quick magic act and a 20-foot puppet left little to be desired. The long-running group performed the first run of their second “So Much (for) Stardust" album tour on Feb. 28 at the Moda Center in Portland.
Before the main act, top-billed opener Jimmy Eat World got the floor-level audience on their feet in a show featuring on-point lighting cues and a walk down memory lane.
Fans were dancing, singing and snapping along as band frontman Jim Adkins proudly proclaimed that Portland set the bar high for the rest of the tour — watch out, Seattle.
Even the intermission before Fall Out Boy took the stage had concert-goers reliving the glory years of rock and pop punk, singing along with “Dear Maria, Count Me In” by All Time Low and “Check Yes, Juliet” by We The Kings.
Priming the pump but hinting that the audience likely wouldn’t see it live, Fall Out Boy’s version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — the first mainstream update to Billy Joel’s classic tune since it was released in 1989 — had the crowd raring for the rockers they came to see.
Fall Out Boy started their show with a bang (of indoor fireworks) and kept the volume high, both literally and figuratively, with an impressive display of pyrotechnics throughout the show.
As drummer Andy Hurley dodged sparks behind him and Pete Wentz showed off his flame-throwing bass, the audience could feel the heat all the way into the stands as they belted along to “The Phoenix” and “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.”
The concert was a vivacious jaunt through the decades and the band's eight studio albums — with a few covers in the mix (see: “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen and “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne) — that kept the crowd on their feet and screaming along.
While the lights, smoke and top-tier Patrick Stump vocals — who still sounds stellar after all these years — reverberated through the stadium, a note on the sets is certainly needed.
The band took up every inch of stage during the performance, with larger-than-life cacti, a dancing snail and an anthropomorphic tree with a door to what could only contain a secret world.
The Doberman snapping at bubbles featured on the “So Much (For) Stardust” album cover even made an appearance as a giant puppet who appeared to know the words to the likes of “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.”
In a rightful reprieve, after keeping the crowd jumping for nearly an hour, Stump took to the piano for a soulful interlude of “What a Catch, Donnie” before revving the crowd back up with the Queen hit into the title track from the “So Much (for) Stardust” EP.
The evening wouldn’t have been complete without fan favorites “Thnks fr th Mmrs” and “Centuries” before the performers closed the night, telling the crowd “I’m good to go” through “Saturday” off the band’s first album, “Take This to Your Grave.”
The bands head off to Seattle for a March 1 sold-out concert, then on to Sacramento and Anaheim, California (the latter being sold out as of Feb. 29 too) before pushing east on the tour.
At the risk of cliché: Thanks for the memories, Fall Out Boy. You're welcome in Portland any time.
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