CHICAGO- Fall Out Boy’s North American Tour launched in grand fashion at the historic home of the Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field on June 21 in Chicago. The show’s grandiose setting was a perfect match to Fall Out Boy’s longstanding aspirations of global pop dominance, and served as a bucket list moment for Chicago’s favorite dark, pop-punk sons Alkaline Trio.The gritty city that became a staple of the punk rock scene by birthing Naked Raygun, Screeching Weasel, Rise Against, the Lawrence Arms, and others, truly helped define the late 1990s/ early 2000s pop-punk emo eave with Chicago-born acts like Fall Out Boy and Alkaline Trio leading the way with a refined sense of songwriting and poetic approach.
Fall Out Boy’s “So Much For (Tour) Dust” tour proved that as far as professional rock musicians go, Fall Out Boy’s live show from production to performance, blows most out of the water. The first 3 songs of their set turned Wrigley Field into a dance party with “ Love From The Other Side,” “The Phoenix,” and hit single “Sugar, We’re Going Down” all being a perfect start. Deeper cuts like “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago” and the piano ballad “Save Rock and Roll” were also highlights.
Photo by Mike Damante
For Alkaline Trio fans, seeing them in Chicago is almost a religious experience, and at Wrigley, certainly a career achievement for Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano and drummer Atom Willard, who was making his debut as an official member of the band (he’s filled in a few shows in the past). Skiba and Andriano played their hearts out, but Willard’s debut was the highlight, as his performance was tight and energetic. It was an interesting choice to open with “Mercy Me” rather “Private Eye” or “We’ve Had Enough” that were also played that night.
Opening the show were local emo heroes The Academy Is, and songwriter/ singer Royal & The Serpent.
By MIKE DAMANTE
If you are a fan of pop-punk, Mike Damante’s latest book “Hey Suburbia: A guide to the emo/pop-punk rise” is out now, and features interviews with , Alkaline Trio, blink-182. Descendents, New Found Glory and others.