Decaydance Fest 2007 @ Hammersmith Apollo
Featuring: Fall Out Boy & Panic! At The Disco
Supports: Gym Class Heros, The Academy Is . . . & Cobra Starship
Surprise guest: Tom from Plain White T’s

If you arrive outside of a venue at 2 pm, even for doors opening at 5:30 pm you assume that there will be a few hardcore fans outside, not more than about 100.  But today there is already well over 500 people outside waiting to go in.  And on a day like this it’s surprising.  It’s bitterly cold and raining, but they’re still queuing for the bands they love.  So when the doors finally open, the crowd runs forward, not just so that they don’t miss a note (there is only 30 minutes before the first band is on stage) but also to finally reach the warmth.

Cobra Starship are the first act on stage.  Definitely the smallest act of the night and quite possibly the only one which no one is expecting much from.  Having not yet done a headline tour in the UK and only appearing as a support act this may be the reason for that.  But Cobra Starship out perform all expected.  A band formed by former Midtown front man, Gabe Saporta, they play a truly brilliant set.  But the song the crowd wants them to play is their last.  Their single Bring It (Snakes On A Plane). 

The song begins with Saporta singing with his band, as if a normal song.  But as the chorus approaches the thing which makes this night so special happens.  William Beckett, singer of The Academy Is . . ., joins Cobra Starship on stage to sing his cameo part in the song.  And after the second chorus another familiar face joins the stage, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heros also joins the stage for his rap in the song.  The only thing that would have made this performance perfect would have been for Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds to have joined them on stage as well, but it was obviously not meant to be.

The next band on stage is The Academy Is . . ..  Being second on the bill is almost an insult for this band that are so amazing live.  Their first song is the premier track, Same Blood, off their sophomore album, Santi.  Despite the album being diverse and powerful it had a poor sales count which is the reasoning for being below Gym Class Heros on the bill.  The Academy Is . . . aren’t a band for small talk with the crowd, they much rather let their music talk for them.  And with front man Beckett striding powerfully along the stage, in jeans which you can only wonder if they were sewn to his legs they’re so tight, they truly encapsulate the crowd.

Despite Gym Class Heros being the band of the moment, having commercial success with songs Cupid’s Chokehold and Clothes Off (both featuring Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy) tonight’s set would lead you to think they were nothing more than a sub standard hip hop band trying to make it big . . . and failing badly.  While the set is a variation of their 3 albums they still don’t seem to have many crowd pleasers thrown in there.  The highlight of their set is approximately half way through.  Travis McCoy picks out a girl at the front of the crowd and begins to serenade her with Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girl.  This then leads gradually into Cupid’s Chokehold.  While the song is the highlight of the set, the thing that everyone is waiting for doesn’t happen until the last chorus.  What I’m talking about is Stump and his guest vocals on the song.  His appearance is short lived and for this song alone.  This is despite the fact that the final song of their set, Clothes Off, also features Stump.
All that Gym Class Heros seem to have been good for tonight is a cool down between The Academy Is . . . and the first headliners, Panic! At The Disco.  It really makes you wonder how they managed to be the headlining support.

Panic! At The Disco are the next band on and it really is a contrast to if you were to see them at a headline show.  If you see Panic! at a headline date they have stage theatrics, performers, and ridiculous amounts of make up.  But tonight their set is all about the music.  Being the minor of the headline acts they have a 1 hour set but they pack it as full as they can.  Playing the songs off their only album, they receive a good response, even playing 2 unreleased songs.  Despite having not been recorded as of yet, many of the crowd already seem to know the lyrics for the two songs thanks to the wonders of filesharing and videos on Youtube.  They play a good set, but you can only wonder that maybe it’s the stage theatrics that is what makes their live shows the buzz that they are.

Fans grow anxious, waiting for the headline act, Fall Out Boy, to come on stage.  A roadie by the name of Dirrty comes on stage to warm up the crowd, making them scream, doing all the usual thanks you would expect the band to do.  But then an unexpected event happens as Dirrty calls on stage someone not billed – Tom, the singer from Plain White T’s, he holds only an acoustic guitar and it’s obvious what will happen next.  Tom’s voice cannot be heard as he begins to play the single Hey There Delilah, it seems surreal to anyone who has been a fan of the band for a long time as the song is older than most people expect, on it’s 5th re release.  But it stills goes down well as fans of the song sing it  proudly, while those who are too “hardcore” for it look on judgingly to all those who like it.

But time continues and soon it’s time for Fall Out Boy’s set and they deliver.  Opening their set with the song Thriller, it truly is a brilliant way to start off the final set.  Fans that have been waiting for hours and hours are finally getting to see their favourite band, almost 4 hours after the doors to the venue opened.  The Fall Out Boy set is dotted with surprises, the first coming in the song Grand Theft Autumn, from 2003’s Take This To Your Grave, when for the last chorus Gabe Saporta runs back onto the stage to sing with the band.  Crowd pleasers are played and mosh pits are formed.  Fall Out Boy aren’t the obvious band for a mosh pit but their older music is very much that which can be violently danced to.

The next surprise to come onto the stage is during the song The Take Over, The Break’s over.  Travis McCoy retraces his steps over the stage, rapping over an extended intro before quickly disappearing.  More of the usual songs are played, more crowd pleasers, more of the chanting sing alongs with songs with titles such as A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me”.  Fall Out Boy’s set is far from over as they slip a few covers in the mix, the most memorable being Michael Jackson’s Beat It which is done with a flamboyant style, yet still keeping in with their own foot stomping pop punk.  The last guest singer is one who guest features on the track originally.  William Beckett joins his fellow tight jean buddy Pete Wentz on the stage to sing Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year.
For a brief period of time Fall Out Boy leave the stage only to return for chants of their name to play a few more songs.  The first song of their encore is the epic Dance, Dance.  A song which instils a loss of the mosh pit in favour of a small dance off.  A mix of various covers is done quickly, and then followed by the final song.  The final song is not one which anyone expects them to play – Saturday, while a fan favourite, is not a song often played anymore so many long term fans of the band are overjoyed when it’s played.   When Fall Out Boy run off the stage you can feel the pleasure and exhaustion of the crowd.  It’s been an amazing show.

But with a show like this there is always a wanting for something more.  Whether it’s a better crowd, and with the majority of tonight’s crowd being 13 year old girls that’s one many pray for, or longer sets.  But the only thing tonight that would have made it perfect would have been an encore with all the bands on stage – maybe next year.