It’s been five long years without new music from pop-punk icons Fall Out Boy – and rather than launching back into our lives with a huge arena show, the American rockers chose one of Manchester’s most intimate venues for their return.
The Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum group announced a very special intimate performance at Band on the Wall just last week, with tickets selling out in minutes.
The chance to see them performing in the 500-capacity venue is the stuff of a former emo kid’s wildest dreams.
Fall Out Boy are here to celebrate the release of So Much (For) Stardust, their first album since Mania in 2018.
They open the show with the first release from the new album, ‘Love from the Other Side’, the room immediately erupting in unified, punk-rock glee. The lads seemingly revel in the crowd belting back the lyrics of the two-week old track.
Then it’s a jump back 10 years with The Phoenix, a track taken from the album Save Rock n Roll, the record that brought them back together from their hiatus.
Despite Patrick Stump being the lead singer, and all individual members having their own long-standing fan bases, Pete Wentz takes the lead with crowd interactions, talking to us between songs and keeping us hyped during.
But of course, the 90-minute set gives each member their own time to shine. The band’s 19-song set plays out the band’s last two decades and shows just how far the emo veterans have come.
Three songs in, the four-piece explain they are ‘pretty f**king jetlagged’ and in true Manchester style, a member of the crowd shouts in response: “Do you want a tequila!?” Because if nothing else, us Manc lot know the cure for everything – booze.
Fall Out Boy
The floor bounces underneath your feet as 500 fans jump, dance, and mosh in unison, as Wentz extends a salute accompanied by a grin from ear to ear – after years of selling out huge venues, you can only imagine how greatan intimate one of this size must feel.
The band perform with a backdrop of two sides of a smiley face, which they go on to explain represents the two halves of the new album, how it was built, and what it means. The second half of the record is based on the movie Field Of Dreams and the quote ‘If you build it, they will come’, acknowledging their five years of no music. Yet still, their fans are loyal as ever, as demonstrated by the enraptured congregation before them.
“It’s been a minute,” Pete says, “But we wanted to get it right so thank you for being patient, it’s almost here.
“Our band would not be a band at all, we probably wouldn’t be playing together if it weren’t for this city and what happened here for the music scene.” He makes nods to Manchester legends Oasis, The Smiths and Stone Roses and then jokingly says ‘anyway, here’s Wonderwall’. The crowd erupts, because who wouldn’t want to hear a live Fall Out Boy x Oasis mashup?
The end of the show is near but the band aren’t letting us Manchester lot go without us having something to remember as our own. After a quick intro from Pete, ‘Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet’ is played to their fans for the first time since 2009. The atmosphere in the room is unmatched and seriously nostalgic – I can almost feel my arm reaching for the heavy black emo eyeliner buried in my drawer somewhere.
The band end the show with ‘Centuries’ and ‘Saturday’, where Pete Wentz ends his night of crowd interaction by climbing into the arms of fans as we channel our teenage angsty selves, because even though So Much (For) Stardust isn’t a throwback record, this was undeniably a throwback show.
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
No-phones nightclub Amber’s has announced it is relaunching its second room
Danny Jones
Manchester’s famous no-phones nightclub, Amber’s, is preparing for a relaunch of its second room, just over half a year on from the venue’s opening week.
The smash hit, semi-censored space, which enforces a strictly no-device policy to ensure those in attendance maximise their amount of in-the-moment enjoyment without any risk of distraction, has just announced that they will be reworking ‘Room 2’.
Confirmed just in time for the rest of summer ‘season three’, where plenty of people will be opting to rave instead of splash their cash on Oasis and/or festival tickets, the soon-to-be-refreshed space will partner with audio specialists to provide an experience set to rival the main room.
Sharing a post featuring blueprints for the fixtures and some of the top-end equipment, new-look second room opens its doors early next month.
Writing on social media, the venue wrote: “Amber’s is proud to announce the relaunch of Room Two, featuring a brand new custom soundsystem designed by Norwegian pro-audio specialist NNNN and OJAS, and installed by Neuron Audio Visual.
“The collaboration between Amber’s and NNNN is the first time that the Oslo-based company, which specialises in innovating the future of audio, has created a speaker system for use in the UK. Amber’s will be the first venue in the country to house the state-of-the-art system.”
“The partnership furthers our commitment to world-class sound and creating a truly unique club space in the heart of Manchester. Room Two also now boasts a brand new lighting system and has received bespoke acoustic treatment.”
Reacting to the news, plenty of punters and artists alike are already stoked to see what they have in store; promoters ABB Events simply said, “We can’t wait to test this out 26 September.”
Speaking to The Manc, a regular visitor of Amber’s Manchester told us: “Room Two at Amber’s always felt a little forgotten – a space with potential, but lacking the same pull as the main room. With this new Soundsystem they’re putting in, it finally feels like it’s getting the love it deserves.”
While we understand the urge to document those ‘unforgettable’ gig moments – that does kind of go against what we build them up to be, hence why the Amber’s concept has gone down so well.
Teasing a lineup of “the best in house, techno and groove”, Amber’s Room Two 2.0 will debut on 2 August, and regulars are buzzing for it.
As always, the headliner remains unannounced to keep that allure, as well as that further added feeling of anticipation and excitement.
‘No ticket, no entry’ – Council urges ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park
Emily Sergeant
Ticketless Oasis fans are being urged not to make the journey to Heaton Park this week.
With three concerts still to be played by as part of Oasis Live ’25 here in Manchester this week, following the iconic band’s two hugely successful concerts at the weekend, Manchester City Council has now reissued its repeated request – and warning – for fans without tickets to the shows to not travel to the park.
The warning comes after it was discovered that the so-called ‘Gallagher Hill’ viewing area inside the park, that went viral on social media, has now had large steel fencing erected around its perimeter.
After taking stock of how the first two shows went, the Council says additional measures have now been deemed ‘necessary’ to protect the environment of the park, ensure areas of parkland and nearby livestock are protected, and maintain public safety.
These additional measures will be in place for the next three concerts, taking place tonight (16 July), and Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July.
The Council says its decision to erect steel fencing around a large area of the hill within the cattle field in the main park is because the area is currently being developed as a new woodland for the park and has been recently planted with around 300 young trees, as well as being a measure to protect the livestock in the field, which include both expectant and nursing cows, and a bull.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there,” the Council said in a statement released ahead of tonight’s show.
There are also no facilities for ticketless fans at the park, the Council confirmed, and they will not be able to see the concerts or get into the event arena – which is double-walled with solid high-security fencing all the way around.
The Council has urged ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park this week / Credit: The Manc Group
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will be on duty around the site across the next three dates to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticketholders, and to make sure that only those who have official tickets can access the concerts.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure at Manchester City Council, commented: “As you would expect, given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimised.”
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead,” Cllr Hacking continued.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Sophey Donohue -
16th March 2023 
