Fall Out Boy fans in Perth have been starved of their favourite pop-punk quartet for quite some time, with the band only performing east coast tours in previous years. The chance to see Fall Out Boy in the flesh coupled with the impressive support acts in the form of Jack’s Mannequin and Gyroscope, it is no surprise that Challenge Stadium was sold out for the event.

Jack’s Mannequin began proceedings lightly with a consistent set that pleased the punters and induced sing-alongs. Playing all the pop anthems that everybody came to see from their album Everything in Transit, the set list never failed to deliver with every song being devoured by the crowd. During some songs, however, lead singer Andrew McMahon appeared to be becoming quite limited with his vocal range as he wasn’t going for the notes which he probably should have been. It also became evident throughout the set that Challenge Stadium was not the best venue for the band’s paper-thin pop music as echoes regularly bounced around the stadium. Sound issues aside, Jack’s Mannequin had a warm reception from the crowd and set the mood for the rest of the night. McMahon did not hold back in the slightest when he closed the set with the hit song Made For Each Other which brought an end to what was overall, quite an impressive set.

Next to the stage were local heroes Gyroscope, who opened strongly with Don’t Look Now But I Think I’m Sweating Blood. Little did the crowd know that this song would be one of the few highlights of the set with the Perth boys producing a performance that they should be ashamed of. It appears that of late Gyroscope have become complacent, lazy and somewhat arrogant with their live performances. It was disappointing to see a band who were once at the top of the local Perth music scene produce a sluggish effort where the songs were hardly recognisable as theirs. On a positive note, new single Snakeskin was well received by the audience and showed everyone that they haven’t completely lost their touch.

Tension mounted and so did the ear piercing screams in the lead up to Fall Out Boy’s set as the female members of the audience came to terms with seeing Pete Wentz in the flesh for the first time. Fall Out Boy got straight into their set, opening with Thriller with help in backing vocals coming from thousands of prepubescent girls. The first song really set up what was to become an impressive performance by the Chicago pop-punkers. The quartet played a tight gig from start to finish, treating the audience to a world class performance.

Lead singer Patrick Stump hit all the notes with his impressive vocal range and Wentz inevitably dominated the microphone in between songs with his song explanations and crowd seduction. Fall Out Boy caught everybody off guard when they threw some cover songs into their set for good measure. The two most impressive of the covers would have been their interpretations of Basket Case by Green Day and Beat it by Michael Jackson. Aside from the covers, all of the hit songs you would expect to hear at a Fall Out Boy concert made the setlist, with This Ain’t a Scene It’s an Arms Race and Thnks Fr Th Mmrs scoring the best with the audience.

Wentz certainly didn’t disappoint with the interesting anecdotes that he is notorious for. The pint sized bassist dedicated a song to the political struggle in Burma, showing the audience that he has a political side as well as an arrogant one. Wentz also went to the effort of researching Australia enough to have local knowledge such as Thnks Fr Th Mmrs being the theme song for the Australian Football League. It would be fair to say that the hype surrounding Wentz is somewhat justified since the bassist had the ability to exert charisma around Challenge Stadium and turn normal teenage girls into victims of epilepsy.

Fall Out Boy played a well balanced set which acknowledged the songs from all three of their albums. The concert was brought to an end with the song Saturday which saw Wentz have a screaming session in the crowd for the second half of the song. The song probably wasn’t the best to close with as it separated old and new fans but it did result in Went removing his shirt which alone, no doubt, would have made it worth the price of admission. Fall Out Boy dominated the stage and captivated their fan base with what turned out to be a really enjoyable gig for critics and punters alike. Fall Out Boy demonstrated to the comparatively inferior support acts what it takes and means to be a successful international act.