Fall Out Boy Bring the Fireworks to the Shoreline

Fall Out Boy
Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View
July 5, 2023

Photos by Raymond Ahner

As one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, Fall Out Boy brought some serious firepower to the stage at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, including plenty of appropriate fireworks and pyrotechnics to a show on the 5th of July. The band kicked off the festivities with a rousing rendition of the lead single from their most recent album, the rocking “Love From the Other Side,” with a never-ending stream of fireworks going off on all sides of the band.

Seeing as this is the first large-scale tour for Fall Out Boy since the pandemic, it was no surprise that fans flocked to the Shoreline in droves, with the near sellout crowd singing along to many of the band’s classic songs. After a grooving rendition of “The Phoenix,” Fall Out Boy cranked it up for a rendition of “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” Typically, bands hold back their big hits for later in the night, but Fall Out Boy changed things up by moving the hit song to the beginning of the show, and it really raised the crowd’s energy for the rest of the night.

A few songs later the first set change of the night took place, with a red curtain appearing behind the band and Andy Hurley’s drum kit moving closer to the front of the stage, while a lighting rig moved right above the band, squishing the stage down. As this was happening, lead singer Patrick Stump took to the mic to talk about how the band’s debut album was turning twenty years old this year before the band kicked up the tempo to burn through three songs from that record.

Hearing the band rip through the speedy pop-punk of “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago,” one was reminded of how hard Fall Out Boy can rock when they want to. “Calm Before the Storm” closed out this portion of the set, with Andy Hurley’s drumming taking center stage, weaving in super tight drum fills in between Stump’s soaring vocal melody.

With another set change, the band moved into the middle of their set with more songs from their mid-period albums, blasting through anthems like “This Aint a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” and “Take Over, the Break’s Over,” both of which featured plenty of melodic guitar leads from Joe Trohman.

A few songs later, the band rolled out the ballad “Fake Out” from their newest album as the majority of the crowd put on pink light filters, bathing the Shoreline in a rose-tinted glow.

Next, Stump brought out a grand piano to play a few songs, starting with a snippet of the Elvis Costello song “Alison” as well as an impromptu version of the Journey classic “Don’t Stop Believin’” before playing two big hits in the form of “The Last of the Real Ones” and “Save Rock and Roll.” One of the most surprising events of the night was when Fall Out Boy began to jam through the Ozzy Osbourne classic “Crazy Train,” making it almost halfway through the song, and while the choice may have seemed puzzling to some, it sounded amazing.

This little diversion gave bassist Pete Wentz enough time to walk into the crowd, setting up his bass and a mic right in the middle of the lower bowl as he started to play the iconic opening baseline to “Dance, Dance.” The staging and the song got the near-sold out crowd to go into a frenzy, with Wentz snaking his way through the crowd to get back to the stage before finishing the song.

Due to the strict curfew at the Shoreline, Fall Out Boy wasted no time ripping through the last songs in their set, closing out the night with a powerful rendition of “Saturday,” which saw Pete Wentz crowd surf while screaming the song’s final chorus to an enthusiastic group of fans, even giving a few of them the chance to scream the refrain into the mic.

It was a fitting conclusion for a band who really pulled out all the stops to make the evening a memorable one, proving that Fall Out Boy are still one of the top rock acts in the world.

Bring Me the Horizon got the night off to the strong start with a ferocious set of bludgeoning metal mixed with melodic/electronic music. Starting with the blistering de-tuned groove of “AmEN!,” the band blended some heavy riffs along with the soaring melodic singing of Oli Skyes, who effortlessly blended clean/harsh vocals.

The main highlight of the band’s set was undoubtedly when Skyes walked into the crowd during the ballad “Drown,” snaking his way all the way through the lower bowl and onto the general admission lawn.

Royal and the Serpent put on an intense set that showcased the emotional music with a remarkable stage presence. Ryan Santiago explores the dark side in her personal music, never letting up, with hard rock/pop guitar-driven sounds filling Shoreline.

Opener Daisy Grenade – Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker warmed up the incoming crowd with their “bubblegrunge” take on rock filled with hooks and guitars.

Here’s a slideshow with all the bands by Raymond Ahner: