Artists live in a vacuum of a society drunk on pop culture where the celebrity is more important than their art. In today's day and age of here today-gone tomorrow stardom, it's easy to be blinded by the lights and lose sense of who you are. Those who empower themselves to see through the glitz and glamour are the truly fearless performers of our time. Being at the zenith of one's popularity is one thing but it's another to grow, evolve and be at your creative peak simultaneously. Certain acts will sell more records with each impending release, but is that album a step forward? As one catches the comet to superstardom it's followed with careful plotting and second guessing usually leading to a stifled creative output. To date, this downfall has eluded Fall Out Boy. The band recently did a hometown show in Chicago (which was filmed and will be shown on the Fuse network on Tuesday December 16th) and delivered a knock-out of immense proportions with a concert that was illuminating as it was intoxicating. With every full-length album, the Chicago foursome has pushed the envelope and managed to create some of the most infectious melodies on the pop landscape which Fall Out Boy demonstrated this to 3,500 inside the Chicago Theatre, proving there is more to them than meets the eye.

Opening amidst high pitched screams and pandemonium with a potent one-two punch of "Thnks fr th Mmrs" and "Thriller" (both from 2007's elaborate Infinity On High) the band held no prisoners as the dazzling array of lights, clouds of smoke, manic crowd and pyrotechnics lit up the sky. The band attacked the stage and crowd with a set list front-loaded with a bevy of hits and sing-a-long anthems. The last time I saw Fall Out Boy, they were headlining a show at an arena where they delivered a devastating blow of first-rate showmanship. The Allstate Arena (just outside of Chicago) concert stands as one of the greatest arena shows I have ever witnessed. As the band tore through their 85-minute set at the Chicago Theatre they proved that arena gig was no fluke and that they were just as enthralled to be playing to a smaller and intimate crowd. This is a band that makes an immediate impression in concert as their energy just pours off the stage and allows their true colors to bloom. Most bands who hit the arena circuit lose a little bit of edge on later tours, but Fall Out Boy didn't appear to be tired, ragged or ready to lie down and rest on their laurels. I witnessed a band in complete power and control of their destinies. It was refreshing to see a band that still has a drive full of hunger and determination.

Early classics "Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy" and "Chicago is So Two Years Ago" infused a wicked jolt of nostalgia to the hometown crowd while ""I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)", "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" found the band at the peak of their powers as the crowd grooved to the bump and grind rhythm amidst the buzzing guitars and supersonic fury erupting from the stage. Even on their more pop-induced numbers, the band doesn't hesitate to pump up the volume and energy level as they did on "A Little Less Sixteen Candles…" and "I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy…". Three songs from their upcoming release, Folie à Deux, were performed including the sugar-rush lead single "I Don't Care", "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet" (featuring a bright and soulful chorus) and the ebullient "America's Suitehearts" which pulled the crowd into their power-pop-punk orbit.

There is a reason for Fall Out Boy's platinum success and arena headline jaunts and it has very little to do with luck and timing and everything to do with talent, hard work and respect for their core fan base. They are one of the few post Y2K bands who understands and rewards fanaticism. What differentiates Fall Out Boy from other platinum and arena acts of today is they have never sold-out their core fan base. The hardest thing in today's day and age to find is loyal fans; they know this and they reward and embrace them. In a day and age where arena bands charge far north of $100 for intimate and special gigs, it was refreshing to see Fall Out Boy perform for a hometown crowd in the Chicago Theater for a mere $10. People often misjudge success with a lack of talent, which is dead wrong. Many feel it's easy to live off a formula of success, but Fall Out Boy has done anything but. They create spine tingling melodies with deeply poignant lyrics that entrench themselves in your soul. This is a band that deserves every bit of success they have earned.

Fall Out Boy hit the stage at the Chicago Theatre like they were the biggest band on the planet. They left nothing but pints of blood, sweat and tears providing a decadent delicacy that their fans ravaged. No one member of the group overshadowed anyone else. Each member is integral to the overall group and I couldn't imagine Fall Out Boy without any one of them. Guitarist Joe Trohman sprinted all over that stage like a live wire without ever missing a single incandescent riff. Drummer Andy Hurly assaulted his drums with speed and a sly snarl like Lars Ulrich while executing steely precision that proved to be as meticulous as Neil Peart's. Patrick Stump sung with soulful full-throated passion that makes you feel despair one song and makes you want to dream on the next. Pete Wentz's charismatic stag presence is pure gothic drama as he was born to be on stage. As impressive as each of these individual talents, it's the congealing of their personalities, history and the mission of the band that makes the songs soar in concert.

As they steered towards the finale they upped their game with a dash of cinematic inferno. A lashing cover of "Beat It" featured some mean-riffs from Patrick Stump who showcased some impressive six-strong flair. Stump even dug out a Christmas rarity for a solo spotlight at the end of the show on the rarity "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out" from the compilation A Santa Case: It's A Punk Rock Christmas. "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" and "Dance, Dance" were so vividly exhilarating that Stump barely had to sing as the crowds voices swelled throughout the theatre. During "Saturday", the evening's final song, the band entered a rarified kill-zone where they evoked an intense concentrated consciousness. Amidst an astounding array of lights and pyrotechnics, Fall Out Boy entered the combat zone where hurt, anger and paranoia came face to face with love and optimism and did battle. This was a rare spiritual moment, where fan and band became one. Finding middle ground between heartbreak anthems, despair, disintegration and internal pleas for solace Fall Out Boy proved to be a rare band whose songs reveal layers with each listen and in concert they reach a summit where pop art becomes art. Don't judge a book by its cover, let their music be a penicillin to the agonizing uncertainty of your life, you will be better off for it. If you attend a show, open your eyes, heart and mind to their music and you will find yourself being drawn into Fall Out Boy's trajectory where you will find one of the most compelling, enthralling and momentous bands of this generation.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.

Chicago Theatre Set List:
"Thnks fr th Mmrs"
"Thriller"
"A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'"
"Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner"
"I Don't Care"
"Chicago is So Two Years Ago"
""I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)"
"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"
"Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy"
"I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"
"Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet"
"America's Suitehearts"
"Beat It"
"Sugar, We're Going Down"
"Dance, Dance"
"Yule Shoot Your Eye Out"
"Saturday"