Beloved alt-rock legends, Fall Out Boy, played a triumphant headline set for their second sold-out show at the O2 in London on Friday.

Since the band’s inception in the small suburban town of Wilmette near Chicago back in 2001, Fall Out Boy has gone onto become one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world. Throughout the last 22 years, the group composed of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, drummer Andy Hurley, and lead guitarist Joe Trohman, has captured the hearts and minds of millions of fans across the world. It’s all thanks to the band’s emotive and often poetic lyricism, killer guitar hooks, lush vocals, and inimitable stage presence.

It’s no wonder that the band sold-out two London shows last week in support of their eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust. 1883 Magazine attended the second London date of the UK tour and it was an action packed performance from start to finish. After great support slots from Nothing Nowhere and Pvris, the band took to the stage at 8:50pm on Friday to an eruptive reaction from the crowd. After launching into Love From The otherside the band showed they meant business as pyrotechnics lit up the stage and also interestingly from Pete’s bass guitar. The whole night in general was a celebration of new and classic Fall Out Boy songs alike, there were various tracks played from So Much (For) Stardust, Infinity On High, Folie A Deux, From Under the Cork Tree, Save Rock and Roll, and more.

Soon after performing Sugar, We’re Goin Down, Pete introduced the band to the audience. “What the fuck is up London, We are Fall Out Boy, thank you for spending the evening with us tonight” he said to the cheering audience. During the set, it was so interesting to see the theatrical stage design which changed over the course of the evening, there was a underwater cove, a Twin Peaks-esque red curtain background, an enormous version of Blitz the Doberman, there were also bubble machines, a magic 8 ball and much more. In terms of surprises on the night, it was fantastic to see the group take on a cover of Song 2 by Blur, Patrick also held the audience on his own during a beautiful piano-led cover of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now.

Hearing the live versions of iconic tracks like This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race, Dance Dance, and Thnks fr th Mmrs during the fast-paced 29-track set was incredible. Admirably, before launching into a song, the band made sure a member of the crowd was okay and asked for security to help them and thankfully the gig-goer was escorted to the side. During the action packed set, Pete also praised young people, saying: “We don’t tell young people enough that the stuff you make is fucking awesome, whether it’s a TikTok or art, that shit is very important.”

Concluding the nearly two hour explosive set, the band ended on the 2003 hit, Saturday. Whether you are a new fan or if you’ve been with them since the start, their O2 show was quite the spectacle.

Words Cameron Poole

Photography Elliott Ingham