Falling in with Fall Out Boy

SINGAPORE — The teens of The Lion City came out in full force. Pretty girls waving makeshift banners across which are scrawled the words "free hugs," boys rushing back to the massive Max Pavilion when they hear the first strains of their favorite song.

Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin whose music is an instant clarion call that sends teenagers — some with parents in tow — trooping to the stands, Fall Out Boy mustered a crowd that could ensure a senatorial candidate a slot in the Top 10 list of winners at least.

At the first sight of the spotlight, American teens — sons and daughters of expats — pushed and shoved the barricade that separated them a few meters from the stage. No, it was not yet their idols’ turn, it was the two front acts ready to regale them with jangling music. It may have hurt this past-spring-chicken-age writer’s ears. But strangely, it sent the crowd to seventh heaven.

The OC in me took over and came up with all sorts of dire predictions. It taunted me with the words Ultra stampede in big, bold letters.

But I told myself, be not afraid. You can always stay near the exit and make a dash for it, just in case.

So I stayed on, and saw the action with my own two eyes.

The burly security men (15-strong, I was told) have started hoisting girls suffocating from the pushing and pulling even before the show began. One was breathing hard, another was limping after a fellow teenager trampled on her dainty foot. A security guy started massaging the limping American girl’s foot while her friend stood by.

Another roar, and the stars of the show came out. The crowd went wild. The shrieks were ear-piercing; the shouts thunderous. Each strumming from the prancing Joe Trohman’s guitar; each line from lead vocalist Patrick Stump’s song, every beat of Andy Hurley’s drums and each sound from Pete Wentz’s bass had the same effect: unabashed adulation.

But no, the metal barriers stayed put. The ground didn’t shake. The crowd toed the line.

The band threw away shirts, caps, guitar picks and drum sticks to the crowd. But the teenagers broke no rules. They scampered for the freebies like tots catching gleaming new toys. But they didn’t fight over a single item like ruffians would. They behaved.

My fears were groundless, after all.

This kind of reception, I suppose, is not new to this Chicago-based MCA Music band. The scene would repeat itself most everywhere the members of the band go.

And the big thing is, the band members are far from overwhelmed. Not that they don’t care. They know they’re successful. After all, their new album, Infinity On High, has gone big time. Its single, This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race, zoomed up to No. 1 (from No. 86) on the Billboard Top 100 chart. That’s not all. Arms Race’s first week of release saw it debuting at No. 2 on the Hot 100. This is the highest debut by a rock band since Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing in 1998.

Here’s more. The Arms Race video grabbed the top spot when it first hit MTV’s TRL, and remains at No. 1.

Lest you think this will make Fall Out Boy act like the Beatles and claim they’re the greatest band of all, think again. The boys remain nonplused.

Lyricist/bassist Pete Wentz says, "I don’t necessarily think we have an edge over other bands. We’re just doing our own thing."

Stump explains, "Our music is for other people to judge. We don’t keep any score board. We don’t think of competition."

Wentz adds, "Picasso wasn’t thinking, ‘I’m doing this thing for fame.’"

Ironically, not doing things for the fame has given the boys what else — fame. Before Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy’s album, From Under the Cork Tree won an MTV 2 award, three Teen Choice Awards, an MTV Video Music Award for Viewers’ Choice and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

The band’s latest tribute came from singer, producer and songwriter Babyface, who produced the track Thnks fr th Mmrs on Infinity on High.

Yet, none of the boys ever dreamed they’d be playing to a worldwide audience. They weren’t exactly the most popular guys on campus back in high school. They weren’t even considered for the "Most Likely to Succeed" title. They were nerds who mostly kept to themselves.

Figures why they could sing straight to a lonely teenager’s heart and make a dent there.

In Arms Race, they go, I wrote the gospel on giving up... the real bombshells have already sunk.

The angst goes on in Golden: I saw God cry in the reflection of my enemies.

The ache gnaws at your heart in Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am?: We walk the plank on a sinking ship... I could learn to pity fools as I’m the worst of all...

The songs are paeans to adolescent pain.

And, like a big brother’s words of wisdom, the songs come with a warning. Beware of the biggest adolescent obsession of all: conformity, they advise.

You hear the boys plead: "The bandwagon’s full please catch another" in Arms Race.

It’s a swipe at how people get so hooked on new arts, cultures and loves.

These lyrics can come only from an old soul, not from some flighty, lost-in-the-woods guy. And true enough, Wentz describes himself as an old soul.

Trohman adds, "I’ve been hanging out with people older than me my entire life."

Lyrics in the album’s 14 tracks are far from shallow as well. They reflect depth and are a wordsmith’s delight to boot. Lyricist Wentz has learned his lessons from Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller well. He concedes he used more metaphors in Infinity on High than in From Under the Cork Tree.

Samples:" I’m a preacher sweating in the pews for the salvation" (Fame < Infamy) or "We take a sip from life’s lush lips" (Carpal Tunnel of Love).

It’s poetry, pure and unabashed.

The album title itself is far from mundane and trite. Infinity On High takes off from Vincent Van Gogh’s letter to his brother in 1888. A portion goes, "Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all."

The stars must have aligned in the boys’ favor when vocalist/guitarist Patrick Stump, Wentz, Trohman and drummer Andrew Hurley from suburban Chicago got together in 2001 to form the band.

Trohman explains why Chicago is just the right place for artists like them: "Living in the midwest, you see a lot of people sitting around trying to play music. A couple of good bands here, a couple of good bands there. The pace is slower and more boring and it allows you to create something cool."

That something cool from the band has gone by the exotic label "emo-rock." And while the boys don’t want to put a label to their music, they have no quarrel about that.

"We’re not concerned about labels, we’re concerned about making the music," says Wentz.

That means the shrieking girls, the sold-out albums, the awards, are just icings on the cake for them.

Wentz is even philosophical about it: "Wherever you are, everything’s just a ladder. You’re always going up and when you’re at the top you’re going down."

He doesn’t even feel the girls are all over him. His favorite track in Infinity on High, I’ve Got All This Ringing in my Ears and None on my Fingers talks of yearning till it hurts: "Do you remember the way I held your hand under the lamp post and ran home this way so many times..."

The usually reticent Wentz lets his guard down this time.

"Sometimes, it (the song) makes me think about somebody, a girl," he reasons out.

Could it be Ashley Simpson or Lindsay Lohan, with whom he was once linked? Uh-oh, that’s treading on sacred ground this time. The question on my mind stays unasked.

Trohman is less coy and wears his heart on his sleeve: "I have a girlfriend. She’s very supportive."

Supportive enough to inspire him to "learn to play new things on guitar, to try to make myself a better musician."

Wentz echoes this creed of self-growth: "We’re trying to better ourselves. If we go around telling the world we’re the best in the world, that’s not right. No one’s gonna be good at what he does. You just have to keep getting better than what you are."

Their advice to bands that want to make it big time? "Keep looking average. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into any type of music. Enjoy all kinds of music."

Translation: everything is just the tip of the iceberg. Brace yourself for more surprises. To borrow a word from the title of Fall Out Boy’s just-released album, get set for more music, ad infinitum.

If that’s what you get for being a nerd, that’s okay. As Fall Out Boy’s story shows, being a nerd could actually lead you to people and places you haven’t seen before.

Long live the nerds!