I had the opportunity to see Fall Out Boy at Skate and Surf this past Saturday. I had seen them four times before, pre-hiatus. This was the first time I would see Patrick thin, Pete a real father and drug-free, Joe with a newer and better fro, and Andy as positive as ever. They were playing the main stage, and were scheduled to grace the crowd with their presence at 9:15, so at 9 I headed over to the growing crowd and pushed my way in. I was so excited, and was counting down the minutes. At around 9:20, two men came on- I thought they were going to announce the band. Instead, they started playing songs. It was Timeflies, the band supposed to be on before FOB- the stage was running that late. After a torturous 45 minutes full of “FALL OUT BOY. FALL OUT BOY” chants and collective groans, it was time for what we were all waiting for.
The lights went down, the drizzle started, and four of my heroes were standing there before my eyes. I gasped as they started playing “Thriller”, the opening anthem on Infinity On High and I could barely hear Patrick sing the beginning line because of the screams and yells from the crowd. I was too shocked to cry. Everything about their performance was perfect- they were energetic and laughing, dancing around and still playing flawlessly.
I can’t even express properly how excited I was. They were on the stage and performing both old and new songs, with jokes inbetween and comments about how rainy it was. During “The Phoenix”, the crowd went mad. Everyone was pushing and singing and the 12,000 of us were all so into it. Patrick hit every note spot-on; the man has a voice of an angel. Live, it’s even better. The drums weren’t too overpowering, the guitars were just right, and Pete was killing it on the bass.
During “Disloyal Order of Water Buffalos”, there was really intense pushing and had it not been so tightly packed, I would have fallen over. My knee was bothering me terribly, so I had to leave the pit. Weaving in and out wasn’t as simple as I had anticipated, but once it was no longer insanely claustrophobic, I realized I had a much better sightline- I could see every member, even if I was further away. I could also hear much more, and so it was a much better place to be standing.
When they played “Young Volcanoes”, I almost burst right into tears. It was so fun and Patrick even played the acoustic guitar. His voice was beautiful, even better than on the recording. There was no shame in dancing like an idiot, because everyone was. I forgot how I used to feel at Fall Out Boy shows- free. I didn’t care, I had my hands up and I was dancing and laughing. It was perfect.
Patrick also played a different kind of instrument for “Save Rock and Roll”- the piano. He sat down and we all heard “until your breathing stop stop stops..” and the energy grew and grew. This is when it hit me that FOB is truly the greatest band of our generation. They have such stage presence, and I can’t reiterate enough how insanely phenomenal Patrick’s voice was. The band was so tight, not a single beat off- it’s like they were never on hiatus in the first place, it was like they rehearsed together every day all those years.
It was rainy and yucky, and the band was planning on doing an encore. Instead, Patrick said, “You guys have been waiting in the rain, so we’re just going to pretend we left the stage and came back……WOAH YOU GUYS WERE CHANTING SO LOUD FOR US TO COME BACK ON WOW” it was adorable, and really cool of them. I would’ve waited for an encore, but I understood their logic and admired their respect for their loyal and faithful fans.
They played “Saturday”, appropriately enough, along with “Thnks fr th mmrs”. Nearing the end of their set, as people were leaving the pit, they were still yelling the lyrics along with Patrick. I’d say about a third of the crowd knew every word to every song- these were people like me, who grew up with the band and never gave up on them, never stopped listening, knowing, as the band has said, Believers Never Die.
Fall Out Boy will go down in history as the greatest band of this generation. Their lyrics, musicianship, and stunning performance has lead them to have the ability to come back ten times stronger with more drive and a bigger fan base than ever. Fall Out Boy saved rock and roll, they made everyone’s evening, they saved Skate and Surf, and they’re back, baby.