Fallout Boy

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:00 pm

Excellent concert. Great tunes, excellent musicianship, and tremendous perfomance chops. For $45 you got 4.5 hours of entertainment including 4 opening acts.

My son knew all the words, to all the songs, from all the groups. His first concert experience, but not his last. He wants to see the Warped tour when it passes through town

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:56 am

So, didja see Ashlee? She's dating the bassist. hehehe.

I'm not to big on them. I've heard and liked a couple of their tunes, but I haven't given them a chance yet.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:00 am

I haven't seen them, but my band plays two of their tunes.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:11 am

I was very impressed with them, and like you Nate, before the show I just liked a couple of tunes.It's just becoming so rare these days that a rock act puts on an actual visual AND musically entertaining show.

Ashlee was not there but, Pete Wentz ain't just the bassist. He writes the songs and is basically the leader of the group.

Two things I noticed prevalent about the evening. Guys on stage are spitting like Robert Plant used to spit Jack Daniels, which is kinda gross, and bassists are using chords primarily creating a wall of noise in front of solid drumming, and articulate vocals.

Travis Barker, drummer of +44, formally of Blink 182 was an absolute animal. Excellent drummer.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:20 am

They're from my home town. I wanted to like them. But I approached them with suspicion, as I would any band that's getting spins in the wretched big label, Clearchannel controlled media environment we live in today.

Upon hearing them, unfortunately, I think they're just the kind of band that would get spins in such an environment. Also, is it too much to ask for a band that has style these days? At least outside of the college circuit?

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:57 am

Saw them last summer. They were too busy jumping around the stage and swinging guitars around their necks to play well. Very unimpressed. If I wanted to see posing, I'd go to a fashion show.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:14 am

Yeah, I know he writes the songs and is the leader. I just have no respect for him. I don't know why.
http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0301074506
That might be part of it.. a Squier?! And I agree with them being total posers. Just because you can fling a guitar around your neck doesn't mean you're a god.

Chords? Big deal, I use them all the time. I'm not famous yet. I once had people try to tell me that Mark Hoppus (Blink 182 for people that don't care) was better than Geddy Lee because Mark uses chords..

Edit: oh yeah, I know why I dislike them a little more.. way to steal yer name from the Simpsons!

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:39 am

I'm sad to say I'm from the same town they're from. Wilmette, IL, is not a bad place to grow up, a lot of astute and successful people there. But looking and listening to this band you'd never know it.

We had better bands there when I was still there for sure.

35012 · Post by **35012** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:33 am

I just don't like any band that names their tour the "Honda Civic Tour." (Well, it was one of these "Punk Pop" bands.) Apparently selling out is now a major part of the trade. I'd be ashamed to consider these bands "punk," even if that is what probably 75% of the nation's "Punk" kids listen to.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:37 am

These are the kinds of things that happen when bean counters take over radio, labels, etc. Good thing is, anyone with a clue gets their info, if not music, from the web.

Ten bucks these guys end up broke in a year.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:47 am

To each his own.

Saw Mark Hoppus last night.Impossible to compare him with Geddy Lee. They are two VERY different types of players. I wouldn't call Mark Hoppus a great player, but I like his bass, and the sound he gets. My point was, if the bassist is playing chords, along with two guitarists, your getting a much different sound than if the bass is playing counterpoint to the guitars and in rhythm with the drums.

Most good musicians like more obscure bands than popular ones, so I'm not surprised at the responses here but, my children are influenced by groups like this, so I need to pay attention.

Still feel that they put together an excellent performance, and that folks who spent $45 a ticket got their monies worth, where as groups like the Who and the Stones who are shadows of themselves are charging hundreds of dollars per ticket without the same entertainment value.

Just my opinion FWIW.

BTW - I think it's a credit to Pete Wentz that he endorses a bass that players can actually afford.

Funny, last night was his birthday, so Mark Hoppus says"Instead of getting Pete a present, I want to take something from him" so he takes one of those Squiers and throws it in the water. Not to be outdone, during their set, Pete Wentz took one of his basses, chucked it in the water, and had his friend dive in and get it. At the end he gave a bass to a fan. I thought it was a nice gesture.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:53 am

The bigger question to me is, are they musicians, or showmen?

There is also something to be said for nuance. Wall of noise gets old fast!

lennon211 · Post by **lennon211** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:12 am

As far as this stuff being "punk", it's punk for the kids who think it's trendy to be seen in Hot Topic and to have something with a real guitar playing on their iPod. I have one of their albums, wasn't tremendously impressed with it, as they just seem to be another band following in the wake of mid-90's Green Day. It's cool that they at least put on a good show that you don't feel like you've been gypped on. All of those bands start to run together after a while though and they all start to sound exactly alike. I think that it's still the image part of music that is most appealing to teens and sub-teens, in that they see something branded as "edgy" and suddenly it's what they want to be a part of. I've been to shows with lots of bands like Fallout Boy and they, for the most part are putting on a decent show, they make the lyrics intelligible, unlike scream-o junk, and they at least play instruments.

As far as a comment above about the Stones/Who situation with touring, I agree that these guys are putting too little into their shows for what is being paid, but then again, they're senior citizens. And if you pick the right venue, you may get a hell of a show. I know I did.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:40 pm

Charly - IMO, to record, you gotta be musicians, if your gonna tour, you should have a show.

In the late 70's, I loved Hall and Oates. Went to see them in concert, and they played the songs exactly as they recorded them. To me, I would have rather bought another album.

The other thing I wanted to add was, back in the day, I saw Zeppelin, the Stones etc...most of the time the bands were so stoned that they weren't performing all that well. Problem was, so was I so who noticed?

It should mean something, like the music or not, that the industry has turned their thumbs down at drugs etc, while in the old days, it was accepted.

btw - Matthew - Pete Wentz made a point of noting that they wouldn't be there without bands like Green Day and Blink 182.

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:20 pm

Pete should have said that they wouldn't be there without bands like the Minutemen, Descendents, and Buzzcocks.