Fall Out BoyFans flock to the merchandise stands and head into the arena wearing bright purple T-shirts emblazoned with Fall Out Boy song title The Last Of The Real Ones across the back.
WAAX get the crowd fired up with their gritty punk rock full of angst and attitude, which packs a punch. Frontwoman Maz DeVita's powerful, raspy screams, head-banging and high-energy performance fuels the crowd. They get a Mexican wave going and let loose on a hard-hitting cover of Courtney Barnett's Pedestrian At Best that's got an aggressive screamo tone. The band also share a few new songs including one we're told they only wrote a couple of weeks ago and the audience thrashes about to signify their enjoyment.
A 30-second countdown begins and text on the large screen on stage instructs, "Silence put away cell phones," which no one pays any attention to. Time runs out and fire shoots out above Fall Out Boy as The Phoenix ignites. The band pull out all the stops from the get-go with some of the most epic pyrotechnics exploding before our eyes and we can feel the scorching heat from the flames radiating from the stage. The video display is equally impressive and matches up perfectly with the soundtrack. We watch scenes from Big Hero 6 as they play Immortals and there's a montage of Uma Thurman scenes from Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction.
Bassist Pete Wentz provides some insightful, quirky banter to inspire non-conformity. "I think it's important for us to stay in our head to feel dangerous and divergent. One day your ideas will become the culture, so stay dangerous," he says before they unleash Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea featuring an empowering chorus. Lead singer Patrick Stump jumps onto the grand piano for an epic performance of their anthemic track Save Rock And Roll. He continues with an acoustic piano rendition of Young And Menace that redeems them from the awful experimental dub-step sounds present on the recorded version.
Drummer Andy Hurley performs a kickass solo medley to Kendrick Lamar's Humble and Blur's Song 2. Meanwhile, Wentz reappears on a small stage towards the back of the arena to rock out on his bass in a hi-vis vest, singing along to Dance Dance. The bizarre-looking llama creatures that feature in Fall Out Boy's most recent video clips make an appearance on stage and some plush toys are thrown out into the crowd during a quick break. The band returns for I Don't Care accompanied by a montage of movie clips featuring pop-culture personalities sticking their middle fingers up. Wentz notices an kid in the audience and says, "'I'd like to think that we're not a bad influence and that tonight is your superhero origin story." He offers to sign a fan with a broken arm's cast and takes out a pen to write "HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T" - the perfect segue to this song, which follows.
Saturday is a fitting track to bring the show to a close and everyone shouts the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Just like they have with every song tonight, Fall Out Boy give 100%. Purple and white confetti falls from the ceiling while fireworks signal a big finish. The screen fades to black before some text appears accompanied by All I Have To Do Is Dream by The Everly Brothers.
For any long-time Fall Out Boy fans, tonight's 23-song setlist is sure to fulfil all our wants, needs and teenage dreams.
