Only a fraction of Fall Out Boy’s 1,418,094 MySpace friends were in attendance last night at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom for the latest stop on the Friends or Enemies Tour. But what the crowd lacked in numbers, it more than made up for in ear-busting decibels: a cacophony of voracious prepubescent screams that followed every move bassist/mouthpiece/heartthrob Pete Wentz made onstage.
Long Island pop-punkers Permanent ME kicked off the evening on a disappointingly dull note, and Jersey hardcore outfit (and emo godfathers) Lifetime didn’t fare much better, steering their set into a musical nosedive with loose and lethargic renderings of their angst-ridden punk numbers. Next, SoCal pop rockers New Found Glory invaded the stage, amping up the energy (and the musicianship) with fierce candy-punk staples like “Catalyst” and “My Friends Over You,” which inspired the under-age crowd to engage in some enthusiastic (but tame) slam-dancing.
And finally, the main attraction: Pete Wentz, and, er, Fall Out Boy.
A colorful glow lit up the darkened theater as the barely legal kids in the crowd raised their cell phones and snapped picture after picture of the band walking onstage. No Ativan overdoses or security-guard fisticuffs could slow down the darling foursome as they powered through album-worthy cuts like the hits “Dance Dance,” “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and “Grand Theft Autumn.”
The foursome also unveiled new tunes from their forthcoming album Infinity On High (set to drop February 6th). Introducing the tune “Thrilla,” (which comments on the Internet’s utility for “finding directions and looking at porn”), Wentz said that the album’s version of the track would feature Island Def Jam President Jay-Z. Sadly, there was no surprise Hova cameo onstage, but that didn’t detract from the song — a hard-rocking metal homage with drudging rhythms and screeching melodies.
Later, Wentz — clad in skin-tight black jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt — jumped atop the speakers and made his anarchic plea to the crowd to forget “whoever is watching you, your teacher, priest, whoever.” The band wrapped up the evening with the ballistic new single “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” inciting full-on pandemonium and further cementing Fall Out Boy’s hypnotic tween stranglehold.
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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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