Fall Out Boy + The Pretty Reckless
Manchester Arena 17/03/14
The first thing I should probably say about this gig is that I wouldn’t have bothered going because tickets were absolutely extortionate. My friend ended up with some tickets for £20 each so I thought “why not”. Even though I still think £20 is a bit much but that’s what you get at an arena I suppose; more money for less intimacy. The tickets came with access to the “premier lounge” which I was really curious about. It turned out we had access to a small bar area which was really quiet and had a lot more to choose from (more than your usual crap lager that you have to shove your way through a million people to get to). So that was a nice and stress-free start to the evening.
As we made our way to our seats, The Pretty Reckless had already started playing and the walk down the steep arena steps almost had us crying with fear of falling and dying (that sounds dramatic but it was actually terrifying).
As we caught our breath and took a big gulp of alcohol (calm’s the nerves), we could finally take notice of Taylor Momsen’s wailing. I’ve only heard one song by The Pretty Reckless (Make Me Wanna Die) which I did quite like so I enjoyed them. I really liked her voice. It reminds me of Courtney Love and I love a bit of grunge. She seemed to be enjoying pole dancing with the mic stand. I was nervous it might fall down. They obviously played Make Me Wanna Die last as it’s their most popular (and probably their best) song. Enjoyable set and something a bit different.
By the time Fall Out Boy came on, I was actually pretty excited. Having been a fan since the Take This To Your Grave days, I was hoping they would play mainly old stuff (bit optimistic, right?) but they opened with a new song, which was a slight anticlimax for me because I don’t really like anything after 2007’s Infinity on High.
It’s not exactly a professional thing to admit whilst reviewing, but I don’t even remember which song it was that they opened with! After that, I was hoping they would play an older one to get me in the spirit… then the power went out. No guitars, no drums, no mics. It was pretty awkward standing there as they just looked around wondering what the hell they were going to do when Patrick picked up his acoustic guitar and waved his arms in order to tell everyone to be quiet. That didn’t work and everyone started screaming (why?!). He tried to play an acoustic version of Chicago Is So Two Years ago from 2003’s Take This to Your Grave to keep things going. This could have been an epic goose bump-inducing moment where the entire arena joined together to sing but as it turned out, it was completely lost on most of the audience as they didn’t even know the song. Damn arena shows.
Anyway after a few awkward minutes, things were back on track, they played a good mix of new and old, and I actually liked one new song by the name of Alone Together. The slide show of photos depicted lots of “punk” couples. It was nice but it slightly niggled me that they were all heterosexual couples. Another thing that annoyed me slightly was their video/ slideshow during Save Rock and Roll. It showed lots of iconic rock bands (Rolling Stones, Beatles, Ramones etc) and the only two women on there were Madonna and Courtney Love. The cynic in me can’t help but think they only put Courtney on there out of obligation as they did a single with her. I just think it would have been nice for the many young girls in the audience to see that there are just as many awesome female artists out there and that they can go out there and do it too but maybe that’s just me?
One thing I liked however was the theme of rock heroes and roll models and how important they are for shaping who you become as a person. I thought that was a nice thing because I generally find people can be pretty jaded about music these days and don’t want to talk about their love for it, lest they come off “uncool”. The whole show was a tribute to their musical heroes and Manchester is an important place for music.
So on the whole, I could have done without the uninteresting newer songs and the cover of Beat It that they always insist on playing (toilet break times) but I had a great time hearing the stuff from Take This to Your Grave, From Under the Cork Tree and Infinity On High.
9/10.
Review by Claire. Photos by Claire & Tonia
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