THE GALLERY: Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

 

 

 

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

I’ve always wanted to see Fall Out Boy. Ever since I smuggled my brother’s album collection from his room and listened to them on my paint splattered stereo, I’d been determined to catch the band live and in action. 

Due to Arena Birmingham’s new security procedures, getting into the venue took longer than usual. So, I unfortunately missed the first support slot – MAX. However, I arrived in time to catch Against the Current – and what a set it was.

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor SutcliffeBursting on stage to their single ‘Wasteland’, singer Chrissy Constanza weaved her way across the platform belting out track after track of pure, unaltered pop rock. Songs from their debut album In Our Bones, such as ‘Blood Like Gasoline’, went down a storm with the Arena crowd, as did their closing track ‘Gravity’. Hopefully, it won’t be long before Against the Current head out on their own UK headline tour – they’ll have gained enough fans from this run with Fall Out Boy to do so, that’s for certain.

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor SutcliffeFall Out Boy are no strangers to theatrics and this show was no exception to that rule. As the house lights went down, and the stage lit up with a video of crashing waves and a timer, the room erupted into a cacophony of participation as fans counted down with the clock. Opening with their track ‘Phoenix’, I was expecting drama – however, as countless pyro flares went off (and I felt my skin burn from the heat) I realised I may have underestimated just how much effort the band would have put into production.

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor SutcliffeYou name it, they had it. Pyrotechnics, smoke grenades, strobes, even two levitating stages by the sound desks clad in LED screens – if you haven’t heard of Fall Out Boy before, I urge you to see them play not just for the music, but for the experience. It’s rare these days for a band to put together such a strenuous, precise set, and to pull it off with seemingly effortless ease that I cannot even begin to comprehend how.

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor SutcliffeBounding up and down the central walkway, singer Patrick Stump and bass guitarist Pete Wentz seemed to possess endless energy throughout the set – sprinting up and down continuously, only stopping to haul themselves onto the two levitating stages at the end. For all of those who had queued to hug the barriers down at the front, this must have been incredibly frustrating – however for the fans cooped up in the balconies, it was a real treat. If you can’t get to Fall Out Boy, rest assured they’ll bring their show to you.

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor SutcliffeStill riding high on their own phoenix from the flames, and a cemented return to form with MANIA – their third album since the ‘decompression’ – their set list was as varied as ever too. Newer material such as ‘Young and a Menace’, played by Stump on a grand piano, nestled in next to fan favourites such as ‘Dance Dance’ across a 23-song set that was sure to please everyone in the Arena crowd.

There was even an array of challenging and (no doubt intentionally) incendiary video screen clips – from babies swearing during ‘I Don’t Care’ to footage of Princess Diana’s life and untimely death during ‘Champion’. You could almost feel the Daily Mail journalists sharpen their Parker pens at the latter.

But as for the four lads from Illinois, on stage and at the centre of it all, Fall Out Boy pulled together a set that was both provocative and thoroughly enjoyable. And for me, bucket list – tick.

 

 

 

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Fall Out Boy, visit www.falloutboy.com

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Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe Against the Current – supporting Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18 / Eleanor Sutcliffe

For more on Against the Current, visit www.atcofficial.com 

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.gigsandtours.com

For more on Arena Birmingham, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

BPREVIEW: Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18

Fall Out Boy @ Arena Birmingham 27.03.18

Words by Ed King

On Tuesday 27th March, Fall Out Boy perform at Arena Birmingham, with support from MAX and Against the Current.

Doors open to Arena Birmingham at 6pm, with Max on stage at 6pm and Against the Current at 7:45pm. Fall Out Boy will be performing from 9pm, with the show scheduled to finish by 10:30pm.

Tickets are priced at £32.50 / £42.50 depending on positioning within the arena, plus booking and fulfillment fees – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours.

For direct gig information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here. 

Fall Out Boy are back on the road with their MAN I A Tour, kicking off a series of 11 European dates at Arena Birmingham. After finishing their UK dates at London’s O2 Arena on 31st March, with stops in Cardiff (28th Mar) and Manchester (29th Mar) in between, Fall Out Boy will go on to play a series of gigs in France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, China, Singapore and Japan, before returning to the US for a series of dates on home soil.

Fall Out Boy will be back in Blighty for two gigs the Reading and Leeds Festivals this summer, should you miss the European leg of their world wide tour and not be able to afford an Uber to Asia or North America. Mind you, knowing Festival Republic the hole in your pocket might end up just as uncomfortable. For full details of all Fall Out Boy shows, click here.

Stalwarts of the new wave pop/punk scene, Fall Out Boy smashed a small hole into the scene with their 2003 album, Take This to Your Grave. Signed by the then relatively small Fueled by Ramen (and subsequently swallowed up by the then relatively monolithic Island RecordsFall Out Boy put some strong feet forward with their twelve track debut. And whilst it may not have been an immediate commercial success, Take This to Your Grave would cement itself into the mindset of the burgeoning pop/punk culture – receiving plaudits and high chart placements in the mainstream media listicles that would try and surmise the genre many years later. But love it, loathe it, own it, or lost it, fifteen years since its release Take This to Your Grave is widely respected as a defining moment in the pop/punk scene.

Fall Out Boy would go on to release a further three albums, before juggling band members, negative press attention, blotter acid, and the ill fated 2008 release of Folie à Deux would push them into a break up. Or hiatus. Or decompression. But whatever the word, the bursting bubble kept Fall Out Boy collectively off a stage and out of a studio for the next few years – finally stepping back into the limelight with their fifth studio album, Save Rock and Roll, in 2012.

Described by Rolling Stone magazine as a ‘rather stunning renaissance’, Fall Out Boy managed to pull themselves back from the cultural abyss with Save Rock and Roll – paving the way for a renewed touring schedule and their second ‘comeback’ album, American Beauty/American Psycho, released on 16th January 2015.

Nearly three years to the day later, and Fall Out Boy released MAN I A – the band’s seventh studio album, with a extensive worldwide tour to promote it kicking off in September 2017. Hitting the No1 spots in both the US and Japan, reflecting two of Fall Out Boy’s strongest fan bases, MAN I A would also reach top ten chart positions in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Finland and the UK – with the album’s latest (and somewhat cathartic) single, ‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’, released in January 2018.

Fall Out Boy start the UK leg of their MAN I A Tour at Arena Birmingham on Tuesday 27th March, with support from Max and Against the Current.

‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’ – Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy perform at Arena Birmingham on Tuesday 27th March, with support from Max and Against the Current – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours. For direct gig information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.arenabham.co.uk/whats-on/fall-out-boy

For more on Fall Out Boy, visit www.falloutboy.com 

For more on Max, visit www.maxhellskitchen.com

For more on Against the Current, visit www.atcofficial.com

For more from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.gigsandtours.com

For more on Arena Birmingham, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

ED’S PICK: March ‘18

Rews + You Dirty Blue, P.E.T @ Hare & Hounds 22.03.18Words by Ed King

**Due to the severe weather conditions, some March editorial may be delayed. It has nothing to do with 1) hangovers, 2) gigs on a Sunday that cause hangovers, 3) each episode of The Deuce being 1hr long. It’s the snow… it’s all about the snow**

The BIG NEWS this month is that Rews are coming back to Birmingham, finishing of their England tour with a special gig at the Hare & Hounds on Thursday 22nd March – joined by an awesome local line up, Tamworth’s garage rock two piece You Dirty Blue and Birmingham’s rising balloon punksters P.E.T.

Still out smashing holes in radio playlists and the right kind of ear drums across the country,  Rews are back on the road (do they ever stop!?!?) with their debut album Pyro – a rock pop stonker which we thoroughly suggest you check out. Read my Birmingham Review of the ten track beast here, or cut out the middle person and just get yourself a copy. You can bill me if you’re unhappy.

But Rews are a step up live. And don’t just take my word for it, ask any of the following: Hew Edwards, Mark Radcliffe, John Kennedy, Scott Mills, Alice Levine, Dev, Greg James, Scott Mills, Clara Amfo, Adele Roberts… (and that’s just the beeb). Or anyone who’s seen them play. Or Google. It’s not a difficult cross reference.

Of course, the best way to know for absolute certainty is to come and see Rews at the Hare & Hounds on 22nd March – for direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, click here. Or to can hop over to the Facebook event page for updates, info and links aplenty – click here.

Paloma Faith @ Genting Arena 21.03.18WARNING – CONTAINS CIVIC PRIDE: Rews have bolted Birmingham onto their England tour dates because their last gig in the city was such a stormer – Birmingham loves Rews, and it seems there’s a little mutual flutter there too. So, come down to the Hare on 22nd March, enjoy an awesome gig from Rews, You Dirty Blue and P.E.T, and stand on for your local live music scene. BRUMMIES UNITE.

And breathe…. There are other gigs this month, some pretty high profile shows too. In the land of five figure crowds, the Genting Arena hosts All Time Low (15th Mar) and the resplendent resurfacing of Paloma Faith (21st Mar). Whilst at Arena Birmingham we see some of America’s A-Lists rock with Fall Out Boy (27th Mar) and 30 Seconds to Mars (29th Mar). So, that’ll keep you busy. And a little broke.

Feeder @ O2 Academy 14.03.18N.B. Paul Weller was scheduled to play at the Genting Arena on 2nd March, but due to the school run slaying beast from the east (erm, the snow) this gig has been postponed. When we know more…

Editors play an ‘intimate’ gig at the Town Hall (4th Mar) to showcase their new album, Violence. Whilst across town Hookworms headline at the Hare & Hounds (4th Mar), and across the road Amit Dittani introduces his debut solo album, Santiago, at the Kitchen Garden Café (4th Mar).

Elsewhere in the city, Ezio return to Birmingham but this time at the Kitchen Garden Cafe (7th Mar), Astroid Boys tour their debut album, Broke, at The Asylum (1th Mar), Feeder take us on a retrospective love in at the O2 Academy (14th Mar), Joan Baez celebrates the end of a near 60 year live career as her Fare Thee Well Tour comes to the Symphony Hall (14th Mar), The Stranglers come to the O2 Academy (17th Mar),Rae Morris @ O2 Institute 21.03.18 ‘First Lady of Celtic Music’ and Clannad family member Moya Brennan plays at the Glee Club (20th Mar), whilst Rae Morris brings a sneak peak of her sophomore album, Someone Out There, to the O2 Institute (21st Mar). Phew… can anyone lend me a tenner?

And so exciting it gets it’s own paragraph, electronic music pioneers, Plaid, bring their AV tour to the Hare & Hounds on 10th March. A pivotal piece in the EDM jigsaw, Plaid come back to Birmingham after their sell out gig in the city last year – if this show doesn’t pack out then there’s something inherently wrong with the world, so we would suggest getting your Warp loving wriggle on and buying a ticket or two quick smart. For direct gig info and online ticket sales, click here or on the relevant hyper link.

Plaid @ Hare & Hounds 10.03.18A little later in the month the same promoters, Scratch Club, are putting on a breaks, beats and hip hop free bash at One Trick Pony with Dr Syntax (The Mouse Outfit, Foreign Beggars) & Pete Cannon, joined by Birmingham’s own DMC champion Mr Switch (30th Mar). For free..!?!? Now that’s a good bloomin’ Friday.

Film is stomping is size 10s across the city too, a cheeky month before Flatpack #12, with a healthy collage of celluloid (well, probably digital now) coming to screens in a variety of Birmingham venues. Ruben Östlund’s takes a well-penned stab at the pretensions of class and art with The Square – on general UK release from 16th March, before coming to The Electric (23rd Mar) and mac (30th Mar). Whilst mac programme a centennial celebration of Ingmar Burgman with The Seventh Seal (16th Mar), The Touch (17th Mar) and Persona (18th Mar).Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits @ The Mockingbird Kitchen & Cinema 26.03.18

The Mockingbird hosts a Wes Anderson Marathon (18th Mar) featuring The Royal Tenenbaums at 12noon, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at 2:30pm, Fantastic Mr Fox at 5:00pm and The Grand Budapest Hotel at 6:45pm. Bit of a welcome refresher course before Anderson’s latest (and animated) feature, Isle of Dogs, is out on general release from 30th March – with two preview screenings at The Electric (25th Mar) if you wanted to jump the gun a little.

The Mockingbird are also showing the eponymous biopic about the notorious fashion designer, Westwood, throughout the month. But we recommend you wait until 26th March, so you can jump straight into Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits – another biopic, but this time about an altogether more altogether slice of formative female punk.Comedy Short - fundraiser fro SIFA Fireside @ Artefact (Stirchley High Street) 21.03.18

On the city’s smaller silver screens this March, Neighbourhood present a series of comedy shorts at Artefact in Stirchley (21st Mar) – with a pay as you feel fundraiser for SIFA Fireside, a Birmingham based organisation who support ‘those experiencing homelessness or who are vulnerably-housed.’ A great charity that deserves our cash and consideration; look outside, now pay what you feel.

Elsewhere, The Victoria welcomes the rescheduled Birmingham Horror Group: Mini-Movie Marathon (25th Mar) which is also fundraising – this time ‘with proceeds from ticket sales going to the medical charity Diabetes UK’. Whilst the Kitchen Garden Café screen the Arnie body count craziness and all round awesome… Predator  (20th Mar) – which we are more than a little happy about. I’m off to buy a dog eared cigar, dog eared dog tags, and practice the film’s profound script such as, “if it bleeds we can kill it”. Powerful stuff Arn, Kierkegaard?

The Gilded Merkin @ Glee Club 18.03.18Treading the boards this month, Joe Black starts the UK run of his new show, Touch of Evil: A Celebration of Villainy in Song, with two nights at The Old Joint Stock (09-10th Mar). The Birmingham REP stages fingersmiths’ rewrite of John Godber’s Up’n’Under (12-14th Mar) – a play about pride and adversity (and rugby, to be fair) which has been adapted for all audiences ‘with a cast of Deaf and hearing actors using British Sign Language and spoken English’.

Overlapping a little bit, REP also present The Kite Runner (13-24th Mar) performed in venue’s main theatre, coming to Birmingham after ‘an outstanding’ run in the West End. Then back in the ‘burbs, The Wardrobe Ensemble present their tale 90’s nostalgia and the Blair honeymoon – Education, Education, Education – at mac (20th Mar).

On the more glamourous side of town, Alyssa Edwards’ The Secret Is Out Tour saunters over to the Glee Club (7th Mar), before BCU’s Burlesque society present Dare to Desire at the Bierkeller (15th Mar) and Scarlett Daggers brings The Gilded Merkin burlesque show back to the Glee Club (18th Mar).The Twisted Circus @ O2 Academy 30.03.18 Not far behind is Ben DeLaCreme, with her ‘terminally delightful’ show coming to the Glee Club (29th Mar) – a day before Klub Kids present The Twisted Circus in all its glitz and glory at the O2 Academy (30th Mar).

Comedy has a pretty decent crack of the whip in March too, kicking off with Russell Brand’s Re:Birth at Symphony Hall (8th Mar) before the Glee Club takes the reigns until April, with Phil Wang (11th Mar), John Robbins (21st Mar) and Tiff Stevenson (23rd Mar).

Outside of all that, if you’ve got any dry socks or shekles left, there’s A Notorious Odyssey at The Electric (24th Mar) – as Birmingham’s 35 piece a cappella choir, notorious, take us on ‘a musical voyage where no audience has gone before’ performing ‘tunes from sc-fi films and TV, to music inspired by space and the future.’

Across town and the space-time continuum, Rupi Kaur presents an evening of performance poetry the Town Hall (24th Mar) including work from her recently released second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers.Phil Wang @ Glee Club 11.03.18 Then just shy of a week later, Richard P Rogers rounds off the month with his Frank Cook and the Birmingham Scene exhibition at mac’s Community Gallery (30th Mar) – a study of the titular Ladywood artist, as he worked his way from the north Birmingham back to backs to art school in London in the late 1960’s.

Right then, a fair amount happening in March – I’m off to do some diary/bank statement cross referencing. And maybe drink a glass of wine, or two. What day is it again…?

For more on any of the events listed here, click on the highlighted hyperlinks. Ed King is Editor-in-Chief of Review Publishing, which issues both the Birmingham Review and Birmingham Preview.