1000 Tiny Birds

Fall Out Boy (+PVRIS, Nothing Nowhere)

Utilita Arena Cardiff, 2023-11-04

In the last eighteen months, I have been on an inadvertent adventure of completing the “14 year old Sam’s emo phase” trifecta. Last summer I saw My Chemical Romance in Cardiff, and earlier this year saw a ramshackle last minute trip to London for Panic! At The Disco. And now I return to Cardiff, weirdly, for Fall Out Boy. It is a fascinating gig. The band are on excellent form, however embarrassing Pete Wentz can be.  The production is genuinely impressive at times (there’s even a magic trick!). I have some gripes with the set list, but I grant you those are my fault for not really caring about anything pre 2007. It’s the inverse of the National gig the other week, and I can’t eat my cake and have it. This is the approach I would like more bands to have, it’s not my fault I’m not as invested in the canon this time around. Still, though, a lot of songs I’d have been unlikely to hear on previous tours (Golden!), and their recent album is actually pretty good, so I was happy to hear stuff off that too, and just, y’know, being there. Nothing Nowhere were unfortunately not that, and PVRIS were fine.