Fall Out Boy goes full out

Fall Out Boy recently played a handful of hush-hush shows at smaller venues it outgrew years ago, including a beyond-sold-out stop at Harpers Ferry in Allston last month. It was a nice gesture for the fans who have made Fall Out Boy a household name.

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Fall Out Boy
Folie À Deux (4 stars)
Release Date: 11/4/2008

Boys Will Be Boys: Emo champs mock life in the fast lane, totally admit they love it there.
Reviewed by Rob Sheffield

There comes a time in every Fall Out Boy’s life when he realizes it is time to become a Fall Out Man. For Pete Wentz, this is not the time.

Wentz—ambitious son of a lawyer and the Chicago suburbs, not necessarily in that order, a showman and exhibitionist who has taken to the limelight like algae takes to the sunlight—is l­iving the dream and in no hurry to make big changes. No matter how tormented or conflicted his lyrics, he always covers his tracks by treating rock stardom as some kind of class prank. Therein lies his greatness. With his Joan Collins slabs of eyeliner and his what, me worry? grin, looking uncannily like an emo version of Guy Smiley from Sesame Street, Wentz always seems to be having a blast, even when he’s stuck on MTV interviewing Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. He loves the show-biz hustle, whether covering Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” with John Mayer or walking red carpets with wife Ashlee Simpson.

Nobody should expect Wentz to start getting mature on Folie à Deux. And who would ever want him to? Now that he’s married and fatherhood looms, this is the brightest, breeziest, giddiest record Fall Out Boy have ever made. Wentz still comes up with ripe puns about teenage angst, set to sunny pop melodies and fleshed out by Patrick Stump’s gritty-as-Lubriderm vocals. The guitars still have rock momentum, yet every song seems to come with harmonies straight from a collegiate a cappella society. Even when they’re revisiting the self-involved adolescent malaise of “I Don’t Care,” they burst into a chorus of defiant Wentzfulness: “The best of us can find happiness in misery.”

Fall Out Boy have been talking up Folie à Deux as their big political statement (it was originally scheduled to come out on Election Day). Maybe your neighborhood Wentz­ologist can elucidate the political significance of “She’s My Winona” or explain how they critique the subprime-credit collapse in “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet.” It sounds more like they’re playing around in the studio, constructing tracks out of stream-of-Twitter-feed song ideas and stacking up vocal overdubs into Electric Light Orchestra or Queen territory. (Panic at the Disco’s Brendon Urie adds vocals and keyboards to the not-very-adultly-titled “20 Dollar Nose Bleed.”) FOB pile on celebrity cameos like there’s no tomorrow, passing the mic with the zeal of an old-school Hollywood talk-show host. Lil Wayne raps a few barely audible words in “Tiffany Blews,” and Pharrell hams it up on the luxuriantly squishy Neptunes production “w.a.m.s.” Blondie singer Debbie Harry supposedly appears on “West Coast Smoker,” though if you can find her in the mix, you are probably with Scotland Yard.

The unlikely highlight is the piano ballad, “What a Catch, Donnie,” where Stump shows off his R&B vocal chops on some of Wentz’s most over-the-top lyrics. (“What a catch” rhymes with “I’ve got troubled thoughts and the self-esteem to match.”) A backup choir features members of Panic at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes and The Academy Is … , and just when you think the song is over, Elvis Costello comes in to sing one line. Ridiculous? Very. Which makes it a very Fall Out Boy moment.

DOWNLOAD “I Don’t Care,” “What a Catch, Donnie,” “(Coffee’s for Closers)”

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Pop review: Fall Out Boy, Folie A Deux
4/5


The puppy dog eyes, under bite and pubescent-looking torso of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz have aided his band's ascent to the position of chief poster boys of the now lucrative emo scene. The twist being that he's neither his band's singer, nor its creative driving force. Fall Out Boy, rather, are led by Patrick Stump, a marshmallow-faced anti-frontman who has steered the Chicago four-piece from angst-fuelled post-Green Day punk rockers into a multi-platinum-selling pop machine.

The remaining traces of the punk sensibility that marked 2007's Infinity on High out as arguably the ultimate realisation of the oxymoronic 'commercial punk' canon are but a vague memory on the band's fifth full-length studio outing. Their recently released cover of Jacko's 'Beat It' appears to have been more than just idle between-album fun. Wentz's love of the limelight - he's in a much-publicised relationship with teeny-bop delinquent Ashlee Simpson while photos of himself, nude, turned on up the web - has allowed Stump to retreat further into his childhood Eighties fantasies and MOR aspirations.

These are most evident on their vogue-ing Duran Duran tribute, 'Tiffany Blews'. 'You're a classic, like a little black dress,' runs its startlingly suave refrain. Indeed, one wonders whether an entirely separate vocal studio was required for the harmonic textures that spill over from the dizzying rock opera of '27', or the Justin Timberlake-like falsetto that dominates 'The (Shipped) Gold Standard's FM radio rock. As for 'w.a.m.s.' and 'West Coast Smoker', they combine extravagant orchestral drama with a sleek, hooky momentum that's more Quincy Jones than Mick Jones.

The combination of hotshot producer Neil Avron (also known for his work with Linkin Park) and Stump's nostalgic leanings mean that each chug, roar and wail of the band's guitars come shrinkwrapped within squeaky-clean studio compression. And while this all may sound suspiciously over-indulgent, the fact is these self-styled 'soft-core' rockers are fulfilling their own prophesy. Having always eyed the glitz and gleam of the mainstream, it's hard to begrudge them these overblown gestures at this stage in their career. They are, it would seem, finally coming out of themselves.

Download 'Home is Where the Heart is'; 'You're a Classic'; 'Hurry Hurry'

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Fall Out Boy - Folie À Deux
Release Date: Nov 03
Label: Mercury Records
Rating: (8)

Love them or loath them FOB won’t be ignored! ‘Folie À Deux’ is the fifth album from a band that have shifted over six million records worldwide – so it’s safe to assume they’re doing something right. Success aside, FOB have not been without their critics, having been accused of dubious pop-punk authenticity and songs prizing ‘ooh la la’s’ over substance, which have prevented the band from being taken seriously. That ends here! ‘Foile À Deux’ is a non-stop exotic cabaret for the ears, delivering a far-reaching selection of songs that leap between a blend of catchy pop punk like ‘Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet’ to the grandiose ‘Disloyal Order Of Water.’ It’s a pick’n’mix approach that was either going to see them crash and burn - or raise the stakes on the future capabilities of the band. Having upped the ante, it’s impossible to dismiss these gentlemen as a one trick pony. The new album is a crazed cacophony of crashing drums, guitars, and experimental distortion. To top it off, guest artists include Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry and Lil’ Wayne. Occasionally repetitive, but never dull, there is enough familiarity to keep old fans loyal, but this is a mature move forward which will see new fans welcomed into the FOB fold.

FOR FANS OF: Panic At The Disco, The All American Rejects, Elvis Costello

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A rare club gig for Fall Out Boy
By Sam Adams
For The Inquirer


"We're gonna suck, OK?" Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump warned the crowd at the North Star on Friday night. The platinum-selling band, which normally plays venues with bathrooms larger than the small Fairmount club, was about to launch into "Grenade Jumper", from its 2003 album Take This to Your Grave, a song the members evidently don't play much or know well. But by that point, matters were out of their control.

Fans started lining up before sunrise to snag tickets to the rare club gig, and they were rewarded with dominion over the band's set list. Bassist Pete Wentz, the band's heartthrob and chief talker, solicited requests between songs, tapping lucky audience members on the head, preschool style. On occasion, he played the schoolmaster, quieting the largely young, female, and iron-lunged crowd long enough to hear the titles being shouted at him from every angle.

Although the members of Fall Out Boy are most vocal about their appreciation for punk and hard core, their music has as much in common with Maroon 5 as Minor Threat. Joe Trohman churned out staccato guitar riffs, and drummer Andy Hurley showed off a shirtless, tattoo-covered torso, but Stump is more of a crooner than a shouter. On "Thriller" (not the Michael Jackson song), he ended each line with a burst of tremulous vibrato as if he were channeling Morrissey.

Had all gone as scheduled, Fall Out Boy would have been celebrating the Election Day release of its fourth album, Folie à Deux. But with the record's release pushed back to mid-December, members felt little need to flog their new material. Wentz, who beefed about the "stooges" at their record label, Island Def Jam, explained that they had been told not to leak live versions of officially unreleased songs, even those easily available to anyone with a working knowledge of Google. But a persistent fan persuaded them to play a truncated snippet of "America's Suitehearts," a radio-ready combination of diving riffs and falsetto swoons.

"How do you guys know all the words?" asked a mock-innocent Wentz.

Notwithstanding the light-up instruments they brandished on the blues-glam "I Don't Care," a new song that actually has seen legitimate release, Fall Out Boy members played more like they were taking a break from the arena-rock grind than warming up for it. The spaces between songs were filled with aimless banter and digressive asides, which sometimes threatened to displace the music.

It's always intriguing to see a big-selling band relax, but there's such a thing as taking it too easy.

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No predicting Fall Out Boy
By Sarah Rodman
Globe Staff / November 7, 2008


When rock bands achieve arena-level fame members often lament the good old days in the clubs, where they were able to get within sweating, interactive distance of the fans. And yet, often when those same groups embark on back-to-our-roots tours they simply shrink the big, shiny show down to fit the small, dingy space.

Not Fall Out Boy. The only thing that was slick about the Chicago quartet's surprise 95-minute show last night at Harpers Ferry were the spots on the floor covered in beer.

Taking advantage of the proximity of the sold-out crowd, FOB gave the kind of early-stuff embracing, canned-banter-jettisoning performance that message board haunters obsess about.

The night began with a spirited "Thanks Fr Th Mmrs," setting the sing-along template. (Sometimes the room sounded more like a slumber party than a rock concert, even though the gender split was pretty equal).

Opening with a recent big hit was pretty much where predictability ended. Bassist Pete Wentz announced that the band would create its set list via raised hand requests, and that's what it did, careening around its catalog of sugar metal anthems with a manic anything-goes energy.

That meant the playing was sometimes sloppy - the band quit one tune in mid-chorus because the members were in different keys - and the momentum was inconsistent. But the giddy sense that the crowd was getting a custom, not-to-be-repeated performance held immense appeal.

In between the burly riffs and avalanches of verbiage on songs like "Grand Theft Autumn," Wentz told tales from his wedding to his "baby mama" Ashlee Simpson, and lead singer Patrick Stump explained his trademark stage reticence - an early bout of unfortunate monologue.

It was sometimes exhilarating - the hard shove into a soft landing that was "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me,' " and sometimes tedious - waiting on requests - and the sound mix was often, frankly, miserable. But it wasn't the same old thing, and Fall Out Boy deserves points for that.

Oddly one thing the group didn't do was offer much of a sneak peek of its forthcoming album, "Folie a Deux," out Dec. 16. But the one song they did play, current single "I Don't Care," featured a refreshingly unexpected John Lee Hooker groove that held a down and dirty promise.

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FALL OUT BOY thrilled fans at their smallest show in years at the London Dungeon last night.

One day after lifting the roof off Wembley Arena, the emo titans invited 80 fan club members to their very own secret Rocky Horror Show.

Bassist PETE WENTZ - husband of pregnant singer ASHLEE SIMPSON - was in typically jovial mood, delaying the start of the gig to go on the attraction’s spooky boat ride.

But with the witching hour drawing closer, the wait only added to the anticipation for the highly excitable crowd.

After kicking off with Thnx Fr Th Mmrs, the eerie Torture Chamber turned into a mosh pit as Pete, frontman PATRICK STUMP, JOE TROHMAN and ANDY HURLEY allowed the audience to largely dictate the 45-minute set.

Patrick admitted: "We're pulling these out of our a**es."

Surprisingly, the band only performed two songs off their forthcoming album Folie a Deux - new single I Don’t Care and hidden track Lullaby.

Pete caused hysteria after flinging himself into the audience for a spot of crowd surfing during final track Saturday.

However he almost went the way of the gruesome exhibits after getting a little close to some low slung chains hanging from the ceiling.

One fan said: “Pete is a legend. I’ll remember this forever. It was the best night of my life.”


Set List from the show:

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Homesick At Space Camp
Grand Theft Autumn
Dead On Arrival
This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race
Lullaby
I Don't Care
Chicago [sic]
Dance, Dance
Saturday

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SET LIST: FALL OUT BOY AT WEMBLEY
24th October 2008
By Emma Edmondson



THERE was no denying Fall Out Boy’s bone-rattling volume.

Hell, it even swamped most of the teenybopper squeals ricocheting round the venue, like pubescent ping-pong balls, every time a band member’s limb moved.

But where the hell were the speakers?

Playing a platform as bare as the Arizona desert, FOB didn’t fill their stage with the usual alphabet of props, pyrotechnics and high stacks most bands abuse when playing Wembley.

Instead the foursome impressed with a set packed full of more hits than we can remember, some DayGlo guitars and a mere sprinkling of sparklers.

Muse they ain’t in the retina-flirting stakes but that matters not when you find yourself singing along word for word with the thousands-strong crowd to Dance Dance and Saturday like it’s musical prayer.

In fact if Fall Out Boy were a religion we’d all be converted after this performance.

Essential viewing.

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Check out the links for two photo-heavy reviews from the Birmingham show:

Thnks fr th Pcs - Fall Out Boy in Birmingham - by Dave Musson

Fall Out Boy + Boys Like Girls + YouMeAtSix @ Birmingham LG Arena - 19th October 2008 - Brum Live

Pop review: Fall Out Boy, Folie A Deux

The puppy dog eyes, under bite and pubescent-looking torso of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz have aided his band's ascent to the position of chief poster boys of the now lucrative emo scene. The twist being that he's neither his band's singer, nor its creative driving force. Fall Out Boy, rather, are led by Patrick Stump, a marshmallow-faced anti-frontman who has steered the Chicago four-piece from angst-fuelled post-Green Day punk rockers into a multi-platinum-selling pop machine.

The remaining traces of the punk sensibility that marked 2007's Infinity on High out as arguably the ultimate realisation of the oxymoronic 'commercial punk' canon are but a vague memory on the band's fifth full-length studio outing. Their recently released cover of Jacko's 'Beat It' appears to have been more than just idle between-album fun. Wentz's love of the limelight - he's in a much-publicised relationship with teeny-bop delinquent Ashlee Simpson while photos of himself, nude, turned on up the web - has allowed Stump to retreat further into his childhood Eighties fantasies and MOR aspirations.

These are most evident on their vogue-ing Duran Duran tribute, 'Tiffany Blews'. 'You're a classic, like a little black dress,' runs its startlingly suave refrain. Indeed, one wonders whether an entirely separate vocal studio was required for the harmonic textures that spill over from the dizzying rock opera of '27', or the Justin Timberlake-like falsetto that dominates 'The (Shipped) Gold Standard's FM radio rock. As for 'w.a.m.s.' and 'West Coast Smoker', they combine extravagant orchestral drama with a sleek, hooky momentum that's more Quincy Jones than Mick Jones.

The combination of hotshot producer Neil Avron (also known for his work with Linkin Park) and Stump's nostalgic leanings mean that each chug, roar and wail of the band's guitars come shrinkwrapped within squeaky- clean studio compression. And while this all may sound suspiciously over-indulgent, the fact is these self-styled 'soft-core' rockers are fulfilling their own prophesy. Having always eyed the glitz and gleam of the mainstream, it's hard to begrudge them these overblown gestures at this stage in their career. They are, it would seem, finally coming out of themselves.

[source]