I decided to go to the Young Wild Things Tour because of my fixation on the band Gym Class Heroes; I’ve been a fan since 2004. The other bands on the tour were Cute Is What We Aim For, Plain White T’s and the headliners Fall Out Boy. This tour definitely lived up to its name. The band members were YOUNG, the crowd went WILD and THINGS were great.
When I arrived, the Long Beach Arena was decorated in confetti and KROQ stickers, and music was blaring through the concrete walls. It was the first group Cute Is What We Aim For, singing the lyrics, “What you got now, gotta
give it up!” from their song “Newport Living.” When the band left the stage, it was time for intermission.
During each interlude between bands the DJs entertained the crowd by showing the bands’ music videos or backstage clips, causing all the girls to squeal and dance in their seats. “Are you ready to rock Long Beach?” screamed a DJ named Tiger. I screamed with the crowd (one person even crowd surfed). “Well, get ready for the Plain White T’s!”
The crowd stood for the popular rock band, which got famous after last summer’s acoustic hit “Hey There, Delilah” and its most recent “Our Time Now.” The boys were dressed in the same ensemble: skinny jeans, checkered vans, white shirts and gray vests, all but the frontman who sported a navy blue jacket. They stuck out their hands to get cheers from the audience, starting out with the line “All I wanted was your love,” from their hit “Hate,” which was a follow up to “Hey There, Delilah.” The crowd swayed and wailed along. A small blonde girl nearly passed out. When the band was singing a song I didn’t like, I went and got lemonade for me and my friend at the food court. While in line I heard a soft melody floating through the halls. “Hey There, Delilah/ What’s it like in New York City.” The whole hall sung in perfect harmony. After I got the lemonades, I sprinted to my seat and started screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs. The scene was amazing—lead singer Tom Higgenson was sitting on a stool as a soft violet spotlight scanned the crowd while people waved their cell phones and lighters. Surprisingly, people singing didn’t take away from the performance. When the song ended, girls screamed while I drank a lot of lemonade to stop the throbbing in my throat from screaming too loud.
Up next was my favorite band, Gym Class Heroes. I screamed “I love you Travis!” who is the band’s lead singer. As the band walked on stage tears of excitement ran down my face and I jumped. If you’ve never heard of Gym Class Heroes I highly suggest you go to your nearest record store and buy their album As Cruel as School Children. The band’s sound is a perfect blend of rap and rock. The lead singer Travis McCoy, whose signature style is his curly afro and hoodies, said as he walked out, “I want you to dance as if you have sexy bullets shooting under your feet.”
Gym Class Heroes had the best stage performance. They set up the stage as a high school hallway. Stage crew members waved what the band called their high school flag, and the band’s mascot ran through the crowd. The best song was “The Queen and I,” a poppy tune that is great to dance to. My voice was practically gone when they left the stage and cheers around me hurt my ears, but I didn’t care, I was hurting for a good cause (Thanks, Gym Class Heroes!). Now Fall Out Boy was next!
Fall Out Boy had the best overall performance of the evening. They started with the most unusual opening. Big flat screens showed a cartoon about Pete Wentz, the bass player, running away from his parents’ to play the bass guitar. I laughed along with the audience. After the 10-minute intro the band ran out on stage and screamed out their number one rock anthem “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down.” The show was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen, putting My Chemical Romance to shame, and MCR throws good shows. Fall Out Boy’s music videos for each song played in the background. The special effects, such as strobe lights, confetti and flames, had fans standing up for the whole show. Fall Out Boy sounded great. Patrick Stump’s voice was energetic and perfect. During the slow song “Golden,” Stump pulled out a classic Gibson acoustic guitar and played while the crew brought out a stool with white candles and smoke effects. It was my favorite part of the night.
For their last song “Dance, Dance,” Pete gave his bass to a crew member who played in place for him, and jumped into the mosh pit, which was a perfect ending, as green and yellow confetti burst through the ceiling on to squealing fans and fire shot from the stage. I danced and head banged through the remainder of the song; it almost felt as if I was in a movie. Sadly, I wasn’t in the mosh pit, so I didn’t get to touch Pete, but the show was still the best performance I’ve ever seen.