If Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa seemed like an odd pairing for a two-month trek, they certainly found a rhythm at Jones Beach's Nikon Theatre in Wantagh, New York. The Boys of Zummer co-headliners thrived on what makes them outliers in their own genres and the musical similarities they've grown into sharing.
Khalifa kicked off his set by bounding his tall, lanky body to "Ass Drop." Live, he's as playful and goofy as his songs make him seem, and his set list served as a strong reminder of just how many notable singles he's released before the ballad "See You Again" exploded as the top contender for Song of the Summer. Early in the set, he powered through "Black and Yellow," "We Dem Boyz" and "No Sleep" in succession, asserting that he had been around for a good chunk of time before the days of Furious 7. Highlights included "Promises," where Khalifa crooned like a pro, and the moment when he made his way to the center of the audience and performed "Taylor Gang" from the soundboard.
"Taylor Gang" — riddled with gun-shot sound effects — was a brief moment of toughness for Khalifa, whose performance was largely characterized by affability. He's the rapper-next-door and the dude you can chill with. He's rap's goofball little brother and one of the few artists in the genre who can not only have a great sense of humor about himself but also one of the few who can make effective and extremely popular slow tunes.
In concert, he pulled out a few surprises. During "Young, Wild & Free," two large inflatable joints were tossed into the audience to be tossed around like beach balls. Later, Pete Wentz joined him for an even more bass-heavy "Stayin' Out All Night." As expected, his encore was "See You Again," which easily turned the amphitheater into a karaoke room.
Between the headliners, opener MAX returned to the stage and surprise guest Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes performed his 2010 hit "Billionaire" — however the screams after any mention of Fall Out Boy in the interim were louder than the cheers for any of their songs.
When the Chicago band entered the stage, they made the unusual choice of opening with "Sugar, We're Going Down," the single that broke them into the mainstream. The choice is characteristic of Fall Out Boy's unique place. Following a hiatus that ended in 2013, they made a transformation that made it impossible to see them as merely pop-punk scene kids who became rock & roll champions. As seen by the audience in attendance, which appeared a median age of roughly 16-to-18-years-old, they are also one of the few modern rock bands whose fanbase can stay the same age for over a decade. It seemed that the majority of people in the bleachers did not discover FOB the minute "Sugar" hit the radio in 2005.
So began a diverse set, hitting on tracks from across their career rather than promoting their newest material. They jumped from 2005's "Sugar" to 2015's "Irresistible" to 2013's "Phoenix" and right back into 2005 with "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'" with ease. The songs from a decade ago, sound as fresh as they did when they came out, mainly because the band's earliest records are still the template for contemporary bands like All Time Low and 5 Seconds of Summer.
Halfway through the set, bassist Wentz, singer Patrick Stump and guitarist Joe Trohman made their way to the soundboard with just their guitars for acoustic performances of "Immortals" (from the film Big Hero 6) and 2013's "Young Volcanoes," featuring Stump's still cheeky delivery of the line "We will teach you how to make boys-next-door out of assholes." As they made their way back to the front, drummer Andy Hurley took over, playing a drum solo over tracks like G.O.O.D. Music's "Mercy" and Fetty Wap's "Trap Queen."
Khalifa returned to the stage briefly to tack a new verse onto this year's "Uma Thurman" before the band jumped into a high-energy rendition of 2007 "Thnks Fr th Mmrs." They capped off their main set with "Centuries" before returning for a quick encore, though it seemed like they had already powered through the hits off each album. However, they still had one final surprise: After "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark," Fall Out Boy went even further back, performing "Saturday" off their 2003 debut Take This to Your Grave. The track was an early glimpse at their abilities to combine catchy pop with scene cred, and Wentz even brought back his memorable screamo harmonies, a rare treat for those who have missed that element of their songs. For a brief but thrilling moment, it sounded like the boys of summer left the arena and returned to the sweaty clubs where they began.
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