Mothers and fathers escorted young fans, decked out in their Chuck Taylor kicks and emo ensembles through the doors of the HSBC Arena Friday night. Some of the hottest emo-rock bands were in town, and the early-teen concertgoers made up the bulk of the attendance.
Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, and From First to Last hosted the evening with some of the most popular music today. The enormous venue was choking with long lines of people eagerly pushing their way inside, and the young concert enthusiasts quickly filled the belly of the arena.
Pressed tightly against the stage barrier, the fans roared while the silhouettes of Fall Out Boy appeared behind the giant white curtain. Immediately kicking into "Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued," the stage hand tore down the huge curtain to reveal every young teenage girl's dream.
The oversized stage was comprised of three levels. The first level was home for guitarists Patrick Stumph and Joseph Trohman and bassist Peter Wentz, while the third level was reserved for drummer Andrew Hurley.
Fall Out Boy is certainly carving a deep groove in the history of rock music alongside all the other legendary heavy hitters. Love them or hate them, the parabolic rate of their popularity increase is undeniable.
"While all the other bands are making plans, we're making history," said bass player Pete Wentz, who did all of the onstage speaking for the band.
"It was surprising to see Peter take command of the audience while Patrick stood in the shadows tuning his guitar," said audience member Sarah Roth, an environmental studies major at UB.
In front on the second level, written in large print was "Fall Out Boy," which spanned the entire stage. The large backdrops featured different drawings of impending death for unsuspecting people. The drawings were portrayed as comical and changed throughout the set as pyrotechnics exploded near Hurley. This added to the cleverness of Fall Out Boy's wit and lovable charm.
While urging the crowd closer to insanity, Wentz and Trohman jumped through the air and loomed over the crowd on the stage monitors and spun guitars around themselves. The energy of the group was amazing and the crowd basked in Fall Out Boy bliss. The lucky early-teen girls had their first grabs at Fall Out Boy's heartthrob, Wentz, when he leaped into the audience a few times.
Wentz then expounded on kicking old stereotypes aside.
"Emo doesn't mean the same thing as fag, and gay isn't synonymous with shitty," he said. "So if you want to say that something is shitty, than just say that it's shitty."
Fall Out Boy went on to include some crowd participation and brought a few fans onstage, which provided humorous fun. The group is definitely appreciative of their fans and threw a slew of t-shirts into the crowd. Fall Out Boy ended their blistering hot set with "Saturday," a song from their first album.
"I didn't care for Hawthorne Heights and From First to Last," said Mary Stodolka, an education studies major at Niagara University, "but I thought The All-American Rejects and Fall Out Boy sounded great."
From First to Last opened the event and were ultra tight. Singer Sonny Moore lurked around stage while belting out his dark vocals. Drummer Derek Bloom stayed in time and proved his studio and stage efforts are identical.
Hawthorne Heights was impressive and played an amazing set that included most of their hits and The All-American Rejects were certainly right on the coattails of Fall Out Boy. Opening with "Night Drive," singer Tyson Ritter drove the girls wild as he flashed his nipple and sang exceptionally well.
Aside from the brief nudity, The All-American Rejects put on an unbelievable performance, which really put their musicianship in the limelight. They were tight, had great sound, and embodied everything a great rock group should have.
"The lineup for the show was perfect and the overall concert was awesome. The lead singer for AAR blew me away with his vocals," said Roth.
Hopefully, the next time any of these bands are in town, it won't be on the same day as Spring Fest.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
