GIG REVIEW: FALL OUT BOY + TWIN ATLANTIC + EMILY’S ARMY | SYDNEY, UNSW ROUNDHOUSE | 24.2.15
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
(Photograph by - Teresa Pham)
It was February 2009, and Fall Out Boy were
in Australia to promote their latest album ‘Folie A Deux’. Slow, tired, and
completely out of steam, they put on one of the most underwhelming,
embarrassing sets Acer Arena had ever seen. It was disappointing to see from
one of my favourite bands, and hints were given that they were unlikely to
return… And thus, just a weeks later, Fall Out Boy announced their hiatus. Four
years later, they’re back and better than ever, and their return to Australia
is stamped with shining seals of approval, making their 2015 appearance an
especially exciting one. Having missed out on their 2013 Save Rock And Roll
tour, I’m beyond excited for these shows. I’ve travelled to Melbourne just to
see them at Soundwave, and having witnessed perfection there, I’m bursting at
the seams with eagerness for their Sydney sidewave.
But before Fall Out Boy take to the stage
at the UNSW Roundhouse, we’re being “treated” to an intimate thirty minutes
with Emily’s Army. I say “treated” with quotation marks because - with no
disrespect to the band or their fans, of course - they’re fucking terrible. Joey
Armstrong is fantastic on drums, as expected, but everything else about their
set just *screams* mediocrity. If I wasn’t reviewing this show, believe me, I
would not be inside the venue right now.
Thankfully, the Scottish lads in Twin
Atlantic are able to bring the night on steady ground with a fun, poppy set
that rings in a hefty chunk of their latest album ‘Great Divide’. Impossible
not to dance to, and interspersed with formidable crowd interaction, their set
is thirty minutes of pure, unadulterated fun.
Opening with ‘The Phoenix’, the men of the
hour rush out onstage to an explosion of joyful cheers and piercing screams. As
always, their stage presence is unforgivingly brash. Patrick soulfully swaggers
his way about the stage as he loses himself in verse, while Pete is a volcanic
ball of bouncy vigour. They’re bouncy, they’re fun, and while Patrick isn’t too
keen on saying much, Pete’s banter never fails to make us smile. In terms of
setlist, Fall Out Boy deliver a rearranged carbon copy of their Soundwave
array, albeit with one surprise. In substitution of their Big Hero 6 theme
‘Immortals’, the quartet decide to bust out one of their all-time classics, and
a rarity amongst their recent setlists - ‘Thriller’. Things are just about as
memorable as you could expect, the tune garnering an endless stream of praise
and dedicated singing along.
Whereas their new album American Beauty/American
Psycho is a pop-centric affair, Fall Out Boy play cuts from the record with a
heavier, more punk influenced vibe. The title track sounds less like an 80’s
power pop anthem and more like a fist pumping pop-punk song; ‘The Kids Are
Alright’ is a lot sweeter and more impactful when there’s a higher focus on
guitars, and ‘Centuries’ becomes bearable, as opposed to its piss-poor studio
counterpart. Perhaps most admirable is the fact that Fall Out Boy can play one
song from Infinity On High, one from American Beauty/American Psycho and then
one from Folie A Deux, and there isn’t any clash in style. They can
effortlessly jump from era to era, and not one thing about it sounds jarring.
Without doubt, the highlight of the set is
their encore. Opening with ‘Centuries’, Fall Out Boy showcase their new style;
where they currently sit on the staircase. They move quickly into ‘Thnks Fr Th
Mmrs’, giving a nod to what is arguably their biggest hit. Finally, they round
things out with ‘Saturday’, taking us all the way back to 2003 and giving us a
goofy-smile-inducing reminder of where all this crazy, pseudo-maniacal pop-rock
madness began. Overall, they played an incredible show - one I’m glad I waited
for… One I’m going to be proud to remember.
