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Fall Out Boy at oracle arena
Fall Out Boy is an American punk/pop band out of a Chicago, Illinois suburb
Patrick Stump
Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano and composer
Patrick Stump was really into the show. You could tell it was his music and he was enjoying sharing it. Clean vocals interwoven with the music, never at odds with it, were his trademark. I liked his voice especially on Centuries where he hit some great notes. I loved how he wasn’t one to upstage the other band members. He was fine as the lead singer; without doing all the talking.
Pete Wentz
Bass, vocals, lyrics
A solid base line with no frills and some serious playing mark the style I saw in Peter Wentz. His finger work was amazing as he casually strolled around the stage. He served as the face man for the band, doing most of the talking to the audience. You could tell from his stage presence that he was a seasoned performer who was there to give you a serious show. I liked him immediately and totally tuned into his lyrics.
Joe Trohman
Lead guitar, backing vocals
Joe Trohman played some amazing lead guitar, often while doing his full 360 or more spin, guitar in hand never once showing any sign of it interfering with his play. The only time he wasn’t dancing around or otherwise twirling about was when he was raised off the floor on the floating platform… there, perhaps for safety sake, he stood stoically playing like mad while occasionally sharing a laugh with Andy Hurley.
Andy Hurley
Drums, percussion
Drummers rarely get the review love they deserve. They hold the band together and create the beat that serves as foundation for the performance. Well, not this time, and not in this review; Hurley was AMAZING!
He played apparently barefoot in board shorts with rippling muscles under some serious tats; totally on the beat, and totally intense. Being raised into the air on a platform didn’t seem to phase him at all. He even took the time to wave to the crowd as he finished up.
One intense drummer!
The best moment of the show for me was when the entire band was raised on a pair of secondary floating platforms, right next to me!
Andy Hurley, dressed in little more than board shorts and tats displayed nothing less than absolute focus. For the time they were above the crowd he stole the show! Some truly amazing drumming from one amazing drummer.
This was outstanding!
A Look at the show
Right, I’ll say it, I’m a neuvo Fall Out Boy fan. I tuned into these guys after their short hiatus. To me they are a big venue, massive effects, stadium rock band with fist pumping solos and REAL pyrotechnics! I wasn’t a fan back in their punk days (I just never really heard them!). These days I say it was my loss, I bet it was fantastic. Still, on to a review of this show.
I can’t think of one word to sum up this show. Let’s start with amazing, quickly working towards awesome, with a short stop at awe inspiring. This is one of the few shows I’ve been to with a great band AND real fire! None of this, projectors and bubbles, or snow… these guys used 20 foot flames fired from both on stage and above in the lighting DOWN TOWARDS THEM! Some random tech gets kudos for not cooking all of them and the crowd.
They started with a real favorite, The Phoenix (and yes, fire was present), hit most of my favorites including really superb renditions of Immortals and Centuries, progressed through multiple more songs before taking us into a multi-song encore that held much more fire and both Uma Thurman and Light Em Up (aka My songs Know What You Did in the Dark). Of course, they finished off with the always expected Saturday rounding out what I’d call a perfect performance.
This show worked for me. The VIP Experience was just that, totally VIP. The Oracle Arena worked for me. Heck, this was just a really superb evening that left me exhausted, emotionally spent, and grinning so wide it hurt the entire BART ride home. This was a WIN!
Oh, did I mention… llamas with T-shirt guns… nuff said.
Visuals from the show
Yes, the llamas did make an appearance!
The Opening Bands
jaden smith
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith
Ok, if nothing else doing the research for this review gave me a hint where the name Syre came from for his album. Somehow it makes sense that it’s all about him. So, I don’t want to be harsh, but I didn’t really think much of his performance. His singing was ok, but his rapping was really not a performance for us. He was just talking to a microphone. He said the words, but didn’t seem at all to have any feelings behind them.
This was an opener that needed a bottle to give it purpose. I could have skipped it and better enjoyed the VIP lounge.
Blackbear
matthew tyler musto
First off, a stark contrast to Jaden Smith. This guy knows how to perform for a crowd. His opening song Deadroses totally woke up a sleeping crowd! His voice was great and his showmanship excellent. I really want to see more of Blackbear. If not for him Fall Out Boy would have played to a very cold crowd so Kudos are in order. A fine performance with a great selection of his work that showed off his various talents.
Best Moment, Blackbear on the catwalk, up close and personal right next to me!
what did not work?
Nothing about the Fall Out Boy show didn’t work! It was entirely a great experience and well worth every penny I paid to see them. I’d go again tomorrow given half a chance and get the same tickets to see the same show! The VIP experience at Oracle is hugely different than the MUSEum one at Shoreline. The food was amazing with good selections for both vegetarians and us meat eaters. The drinks, though fairly expensive were strong and tasty, made with good ingredients. Every display was labeled so you knew what it was, why it was there, and how it aligned with the band. I really liked the display case of previous VIP badges and the display of photos from days gone by.
Ok, I take it back, there is one thing I’d do differently! I’d stay in the VIP lounge until Jaden Smith was done with his stage time. Notice I didn’t say performance, I don’t think it rated that terminology. The background video of him in Watch Me, his average singing, and unfeeling rap music all summed up to a better off missing it stage performance. I’d say his one talent was moon-walking (he did it quite a bit, and really very well).
Think of a performance done by a random elementary school kid who was told to be sure to spend time on either side of the stage so both halves of the audience gets to see you. That’s what I thought when I saw him high stepping to the right, moon walking back left, jumping right, then repeating; over and over. He didn’t spend really any time actually engaged with the audience. He was just following directions, making the movements, and trying. I’ll give him that, he was trying. But without him; I’d have had nothing to write in the What Did Not Work section of this review. Thanks Jaden, you made this easy.
So, if you are a die hard Jaden Smith fan and want to disagree, please speak up. Or more likely, if you agree with my small rant (and were there to see his performance), chime in. Either way I’d like to hear other opinions…