Advertisement

Fall Out Boy, Paramore offer refreshing change at State Fair

Review: The ultra-peppy pop/rock bands blended old and new hits at fair.

August 29, 2014 at 5:15AM
First half of the Monumentour, Paramore opens for Fall Out Boy Thursday, August 28 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. ] (SPECIAL TO THE STAR TRIBUNE/BRE McGEE) **Paramore
Lead singer Hayley Williams put on a lively show as Paramore set the stage for Fall Out Boy at the State Fair on Thursday. For more photos from the concert, go to www.startribune.com/photos. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Amid a 2014 State Fair grandstand lineup heavy with rock acts on their way down (Linkin Park, Kid Rock) or long since faded from the charts (Journey, the Turtles), Thursday's double scoop of Fall Out Boy and Paramore offered a refreshing changeup of bands actually bounding their way back up.

Both of Thursday's grandstand groups admirably overcame troubled periods to launch comebacks over the past year. Chicago's slick emo-punk quartet Fall Out Boy returned from a semi-acrimonious four-year hiatus to land another top 20 single. Tennessee-bred new wavy rockers Paramore, led by hair-dye-loving starlet Hayley Williams, survived a major lineup change to wind up in Billboard's top 10.

Playing to 9,539 ticket-holders, both bands blended their new hits with old favorites — "old" as in the twenty-somethings singing along in the crowd were mere teenagers when they first came out. There were a lot of teens and preteens, too, who seemed especially smitten with Paramore.

Akin to Tuesday night's grandstand doubleheader with Linkin Park and 30 Seconds to Mars, the middle-slot band on Thursday had far and away the more charismatic and dynamic star of the night vs. the headliner.

A decadelong concert veteran at only age 25, Paramore's Williams rushed the stage to the opening riff of "Still Into You" wearing turquoise hair and sporty gym wear as brightly colored as the neon on the nearby Midway rides. Her attire included Everlast-style boxing trunks with her group's name written across the band, and lo and behold, her delivery was nearly a knockout.

Williams roared out spunky, punky rockers such as "Ignorance" with nary a hint of fatigue. She just as capably sat at her piano and swooned in the heartachey ballad "The Only Exception," and her fist-pumping pop melodies in hits like "Brick by Boring Brick" were rock solid.

Some of her strongest moments were in tunes off last year's self-titled album, including the finale "Ain't It Fun," in which she had the crowd sing the gospel-like outro vocals. A new spark was also lit in the group by drummer Aaron Gillespie, perhaps the only one of Williams' five male bandmates who could really keep up with her in a ring.

Unlike the way Paramore varied its set stylistically, Fall Out Boy was pretty much all crash, boom and heavy pop throughout the first half of its 80-minute set. The quartet started off picking heavily from its rawer-sounding, pompously titled new album, "Save Rock and Roll."

Advertisement
Advertisement

With a Nickelback-ian array of pyro lighting the way, show opener "The Phoenix" dutifully sparked the crowd's excitement, but the energetic output on stage was nowhere near matched by the audience's interest in the drab new "Death Valley" or "Alone Together."

If Fall Out Boy needed reassurance it still has a fanatical audience, though, it got it big-time in the end. The band's standards from before its hiatus were greeted with ear-piercing cheers and loud, giddy singalongs, including "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" in the first half and "Thnks fr th Mmrs" during the encore. Singer/guitarist Patrick Stump was in sturdy, ultra-emo voice all night, and he, too, pulled off a nice mellower turn with "Miss Missing You."

As usual, Fall Out Boy's chief lyricist, bassist and pinup boy, Pete Wentz, did most of the talking between songs, from once again referencing summers he spent in Minnesota as a kid at Camp Chippewa — anyone starting to suspect he's making that up? — to his speech about being "in direct control of your happiness."

"You don't wake up one morning and it automatically gets better," he said, sounding suspiciously like someone who overate at the fair's food stands and didn't have a Tums handy.

Twitter: @ChrisRstrib • 612-673-4658


Advertisement
Fall Out Boy bassist, Pete Wentz, closes out the Monumentour Tour after Paramore and opening band, Bad Suns, Thursday, August 28 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. ] (SPECIAL TO THE STAR TRIBUNE/BRE McGEE) **Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Bad Suns, Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy bassist)
Between songs, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz reminisced about time spent in Minnesota at Camp Chippewa as a child. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Advertisement
about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

See Moreicon

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.

card image
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement