KEY POINTS:
Fall Out Boy's roadies have got great taste in music. They sound-check their instruments by blasting riffs from bands like Soundgarden and Mastodon. Then, the warm-up music selected by the punk pop emo band from Chicago is a song called New Noise by the Refused.
Fall Out Boy have a good pedigree so it's no wonder they can write a great song like This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race. This floor-pounding anthem, which made the 4000-strong, sell-out crowd, a metre taller than they normally are, is a pop song with grunt and passion. Those traits are what make FOB so good and it's something the band get from their roots in punk and hardcore. Yes, they might be the biggest pop band in the world at the moment (aside from the Chili Peppers, of course) but they know where they come from.
Many of the band's young fans may never have heard of the Refused but when the FOB banner is raised at the back of the stage it hardly matters. The scream is piercing and it's only about to get louder.
If there is one thing wrong tonight it's that it's too loud and the mix is distorted and mashed together. It only comes right properly during the blistering encore which includes the soulful punk rock of The Take Over, the Breaks Over and "lighter song" Golden, a soppy ballad that singer Patrick Stump gets away with because he's got a freakishly good voice.
Earlier, highlights include Sugar We're Goin' Down, from 2005's excellent From Under the Cork Tree, and the pounding metal riffs of Thriller, the opening song off their current No 1 album, Infinity On High, are stunning.
However, FOB have a little way to go before they're bona fide rock stars. Get this. Songwriter and co-frontman Pete Wentz takes off his bass, hands it to his assistant, climbs the speaker stack, then gets handed his instrument back before jumping off. It's a great leap, with his white sneakers flailing in mid-air, but come on. Shall we wheel out some stairs next time?
Special mention has to go to the venue, the TelstraClear Pacific Arena in Manukau. It's a long way out of town but if Auckland City's Vector Arena, which opens in a couple of weeks - a year after it was meant to - is anywhere near as functional, good-looking and atmospheric as Manukau's version, then bring it on.
