Fall Out Boy fires up OKC's Paycom Center: 4 highlights from 'So Much For (2our) Dust' show

Fall Out Boy turned a weekday into "Saturday" with a combustible concert at Paycom Center.

The pop-punk stars literally brought the heat to downtown Oklahoma City March 11, with an incendiary show that included crackling fireworks, towering plumes of fire and Pete Wentz wielding a flame-throwing bass guitar.

The pyrotechnics weren't limited to just a few moments of the Chicago quartet's nearly two-hour set: Bursts of sparks and flame were deployed continually throughout the show, from the propulsive opener "Love from the Other Side" to their signature closer "Saturday," which was also accompanied by blasts from confetti cannons.

For their third visit to Paycom Center — they previously played the downtown arena in 2018 and 2007 — the two-time Grammy nominated rockers brought along a massive dog head puppet, a cavorting man-size bunny rabbit and a surreal alien landscape for the OKC stop on their "So Much For (2our) Dust" 2024 run.

Fall Out Boy's career-spanning set exhilarates intergenerational OKC crowd

To the jubilation of the intergenerational crowd of about 11,000 spirited fans, Fall Out Boy — Wentz, singer and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley — also packed for OKC a set list crammed with songs spanning their two-decade catalog, from vintage favorites and requisite radio hits to deep-cut rarities and surprising covers, plus new songs from their 2023 album "So Much (For) Stardust."

And if a 25-song set from the headliners wasn't enough music for a weeknight in March, Fall Out Boy also brought to OKC Brooklyn, New York-based "power punk bubble grunge" duo Daisy Grenade, Arizona emo-rockers The Maine and fellow Arizonans Jimmy Eat World for a nearly 4 1/2-hour live music extravaganza.

"We would surely not be the band we are were it not for Jimmy Eat World," Wentz said from the stage, paying homage of the emo stalwarts who used their hourlong showcase to remind the enthusiastic OKC audience that there's a lot more to their catalog than their trademark hit "The Middle," although the sing-along for that alt-rock radio staple was an excellent warmup for the main event.

Here are four highlights from Fall Out Boy's 2024 OKC show:

Fall Out Boy shows off new songs and a magic trick in concert

The globe-trotting "So Much For (2our) Dust" trek is supporting Fall Out Boy's eighth studio album, "So Much (For) Stardust," which bowed as the top rock album upon its release last May on Fueled By Ramen/Elektra/DCD2 Records.

Along with the chart-topping opening number, “Love From The Other Side," the alt-rockers rolled through the unabashedly romantic and cinematic "Heaven, Iowa," the irresistible dance-ready earworm "Hold Me Like a Grudge" and the melodic and melancholic ode "Fake Out." For the latter, the band shared the stage with a giant, gnarled owl-tree, and the crowd illuminated the arena with their cellphones, with many of their lights tinted with pink seashell cutouts, a reference to another track on the new album.

"That looked fantastic," Wentz praised.

The charismatic bassist climbed atop the grand piano at center stage to deliver a spoken word mashup of "20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” from 2008’s “Folie à Deux,” and “Baby Annihilation,” from the new album. As the last distorted word echoed through the venue, Wentz concealed himself behind a large black cloak. When it dropped, he had vanished.

Fall Out Boys' hits heighten the thrills for their OKC crowd

As his bandmates launched into their driving hit "Dance, Dance," Wentz reappeared on a hydraulic platform near the soundboard. The crowd screamed its approval as the lift rose high above the arena floor and then lowered again while the band played on, including the bassist.

The emo-rockers sprinkled their radio hits throughout their relentless set, rolling out their hyped-up mainstream breakthrough "Sugar, We’re Goin Down" by the third song. They quickly followed up with their surf-rock anthem "Uma Thurman," which they performed in front of an alien topography of gargantuan cacti, a head-banging animatronic snail and a wandering human-size rabbit.

Although they skipped the convention of briefly leaving the stage for the encore, Fall Out Boy did adhere to the time-honored tradition of saving some of the hits for the finale. They sent the fans into a frenzy by blasting through the smashing smashes "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” “Thnks fr th Mmrs" and “Centuries" in rapid succession, before bidding OKC farewell with the longtime fan-favorite "Saturday," from their 2003 debut album “Take This to Your Grave."

Pop-punk hitmakers dig deep into their 20-year-old catalog

Fall Out Boy launched their "So Much For (2our) Dust" tour last year during their 20th anniversary celebration of "Take This to Your Grave," and the hitmakers continue to dig into their debut album on the trek.

After an enormous light rigging slowly lowered to just above their heads, mimicking the intimacy of a much smaller stage, the quartet delved with breakneck energy into the speedy pop-punk anthems "Calm Before the Storm," “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy” and "Dead on Arrival." This breakneck section showcased just how essential Hurley's ferocious beats are to the band's ever-shifting sound.

But the band didn't limit its set to just its earliest and latest collections. Instead, they galvanized the fans with selections from throughout their more than 20-year run, from the explosive arena rocker "The Phoenix," from 2013’s “God Save Rock and Roll," to the "Bang the Doldrums," a catchy crowd-pleaser with a wail-along chorus from 2007’s “Infinity on High."

Another fan-favorite from "Infinity on High," “This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" became a sing-along from the start, and the emergence at the back of the stage of a huge doberman head puppet like the one on the new album cover thrilled the fans.

The fans couldn't help but bang their heads through the infectious “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me,’” a turbo-charged track from 2005’s “From Under the Cork Tree" that spotlights Trohman's significant skills. Plus, bubbles and clear beach balls bounced through the ecstatic crowd as the band bounded through “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes,” a favored deep cut from 2008’s “Folie à Deux” that had the group's fervent followers shouting the repeated line "detox just to retox."

After Wentz consulted the oversized Magic 8 Ball in the orb-shaped video screen at the top of the stage, he and his cohorts dug even deeper into their underrated 2008 album, dusting off the New Wavy power ballad "Tiffany Blews" to the delight of their diehard devotees. I couldn't find any signs online that the band has played that particular song in concert since 2009, making it a particularly rare treat for the OKC audience.

Patrick Stump's piano medley and intriguing covers prove the OKC show's highlight

The multiplatinum-selling band's lead singer literally took center stage for a piano medley that sandwiched two prime tracks from Fall Out Boy's 2007 collection “Infinity on High" — “I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)” and “Golden" — between two tantalizing covers — Squeeze's "Tempted" and Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" — that made a meal of his soulful, rangy voice.

"I've had two days off here, and I spent the whole time at comic-book shops. ... You've some decent ones; it was a fun time. I don't get to do that that much," Stump told the crowd. "Since we started writing songs, there's really not a lot of free time. ... Most of it is practing and playing these songs, which I like."

Apparently, he also carved out enough time to work out a strangely compelling cover of AC/DC's "Back in Black," his ringing falsetto providing a striking contrast to the gravelly growl of Brian Johnson, the Australian rock band's lead vocalist. It was another live rarity that Fall Out Boy sent soaring into the Oklahoma night on the "So Much For (2our) Dust" tour.

Fall Out Boy's 2024 OKC set list

“Love From the Other Side,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

“The Phoenix,” from 2013’s “God Save Rock and Roll”

“Sugar, We're Goin Down,” from 2005’s “From Under the Cork Tree”

“Uma Thurman,” from 2015’s “American Beauty/American Psycho”

“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me,’” from 2005’s “From Under the Cork Tree”

“Dead on Arrival,” from 2003’s “Take This to Your Grave”

“Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy,” from 2003’s “Take This to Your Grave”

“Calm Before the Storm,” from 2003’s “Take This to Your Grave”

“This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race,” from 2007’s “Infinity on High”

“Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes,” from 2008’s “Folie à Deux”

“Heaven, Iowa,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

“Bang the Doldrums,” from 2007’s “Infinity on High”

“Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet,” from 2008’s “Folie à Deux”

“Fake Out,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

Piano medley: “Tempted,” Squeeze cover; “I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)” and “Golden,” from 2007’s “Infinity on High;” and “Don't Stop Me Now,” Queen cover

“So Much (For) Stardust,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

Spoken word medley: “20 Dollar Nose Bleed,” from 2008’s “Folie à Deux,” and “Baby Annihilation,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

“Back in Black,” AC/DC cover

“Dance, Dance,” from 2005’s “From Under the Cork Tree”

“Hold Me Like a Grudge,” from 2023’s “So Much (For) Stardust”

“Tiffany Blews,” from 2008’s “Folie à Deux”

“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” from 2013’s “God Save Rock and Roll”

“Thnks fr th Mmrs,” from 2007’s “Infinity on High”

“Centuries,” from 2015’s “American Beauty/American Psycho”

“Saturday,” from 2003’s “Take This to Your Grave”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Fall Out Boy lights up OKC arena on 'So Much For (2our) Dust' tour