Fall Out Boy @ O2 Arena - 6th March 2009

After my previous gig at the O2 Arena, going to this was somewhat half-hearted, still not recovered from that Monday night (this one being Friday) and knowing full-well that nothing was likely to top or even match the Metallica gig.

Also knowing the stage would be the normal, at-one-end-of-the-arena, I didn't have much hope of getting a good view, despite vowing with my friend that we would barge to the front. We seemed to queue for AGES for this one, but I don't think this one even sold out. Maybe it did, it seemed to fill up in there. There were a couple rows filled at the front, but nevertheless, we got close enough!

A long wait amidst young girls, as predicted, about 75% of which may well have been under 18. There were a few teenage lads in the middle throwing water at screaming girls, which was amusing at my safe distance. Possibly the most annoying crowd i've been amongst. Fangirls. Grr.

First support, Hey Monday. *sigh* Let down or what. Far too poppy, with a female vocalist, which is so often a recipe for disaster, more so when she has a voice like THIS. MY GOD. It's worse when she speaks. Average and full of themselves, they expected the audience to know their lyrics. Err.. no. I DID get some good pictures but as a band I don't feel they deserve the bandwidth.

Second support, Kids In Glass Houses, were a nice surprise. Coming on stage in a big ball of energy (well, not quite a big ball of energy, anime style, though THAT would have been awesome...), their music proved better than the 30 second clip I had seen on TV. They managed to engage the crowd a lot more, provoking more moment in the first few rows and more arms in the air. I was actually sad to see them leave the stage. I could stand a whole gig of theirs, I have to admit it.

Feeling refreshed to have a better build up to the headlining band, it wasn't a long wait for Fall Out Boy. This gig really was more, personally, to experience the band MEMBERS. Their recorded material is excellently put together, but their live shows have not had the greatest things said for them. To be fair, from what I saw of Live In Phoenix, I wasn't expecting a spectacle. They did, however, seem to gain confidence as the show progressed, and they performed new songs possibly BETTER than the classics.

Some fire, and average lighting, and an onpour of sparkles at the end, but that was more or less the extent of it. Oh and light up guitars. Like, literally, the entire faces of them. Patrick Stump and/or Pete Wentz seemed to edge side-stage to swap guitars between more or less every song, and Stump stayed his side of the stage practially the whole time. He seems very stage-shy, his hat pulled WAY down over his eyes. Andrew Hurley had no problem running across the stage, as did bassist Pete Wentz, who speaks to the crowd (granted, Stump did get his chance, with a Family Guy impression that I failed to hear because the microphones seemed to distort their speech).

Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes proved a hit with the audience as two crew members joined Joe Trohman for a mightly drum intro, and another new song, Headfirst Slide Into Coopertown on a Bad Bet, one my personal favourites, was a nice surprise, and well performed. I Don't Care and This Ain't A Scene went down well, as did, relevantly in recent news, their cover of Michael Jackson's Beat It.

A short set, but then, they don't seem the most confident of live bands, and their songs do ony average at 3 or 4 minutes, it was all over with plenty of time for trains.

I think it was the more enjoyable because we got a close spot, and once again, standing tickets were only purchase because I couldn't get decent seating. What a good decision. Look forward to seeing them again, only, ideally in a SMALLER venue. They don't seem made for HUGE things to be honest. But...

... Gotta love 'em!