In the first week of August 2023, I was able to make my first-ever sojourn to the great city of Boston, Massachusetts. What brought me to Beantown, you ask? Well, I\u2019ve been a Boston Red Sox fan for life, so that definitely helped. My dad grew up in the area and went to Red Sox games when he was younger. When I was a little kid getting into baseball for the first time, the 2004 Sox pulled off their iconic comeback against the Yankees and broke the Curse of the Bambino. I can\u2019t quite put my finger on it, but this is likely what made me latch onto the Red Sox despite being from Columbus, Ohio, and never having been to New England at all, let alone Boston. I wasn\u2019t quite watching baseball yet when the \u201804 run happened, but I became obsessed with that team after the fact, watching the ALCS and World Series DVDs into oblivion. Then in 2007, the Sox did it again, and I was able to see it unfold live this time \u2014 or at least the first few innings of each game before being forced to go to bed. I was hooked on the Sox. I knew I would make it to the iconic Fenway Park someday, but as a kid it seemed like a mere bucket-list item, something far off in the distant future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 15 years after I latched onto my favorite team, I discovered my favorite band of all time, Fall Out Boy. My emo phase started during my senior year of college and there was no specific catalyst for it, just me discovering myself and the type of music that spoke to me the most. Out of all the bands I got into \u2014 Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and many more \u2014 I clicked especially hard with FOB. Their incredibly catchy hooks, witty and thought-provoking lyrics, and zany music videos hooked me right in, and seeing who they are as people in interviews won me over even more. They have intelligent things to say and strong moral values, but at the same time have fun and don\u2019t take themselves too seriously. Their vibe and aesthetic feels just right to me when it comes to who I want to be and the energy I want to give off. They\u2019re just COOL, and despite the ups and downs of the band\u2019s history, their coolness has aged like fine wine. A YouTuber I enjoy (who may or may not have been standing a few rows in front of me at the show) once said that FOB feels like someone made a band just for him, and I couldn\u2019t agree more with that sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had seen both the Red Sox and FOB live before 2023. However, I had only seen the Sox play on the road, never at Fenway, and while seeing FOB at the Hella Mega Tour<\/em> was amazing, it wasn\u2019t a true FOB-centric experience. All of that was about to change. When FOB announced So Much (For) Tourdust <\/em>in early 2023, I knew I had to see a show and looked through the tour dates. There were a couple of shows in Ohio, but another date caught my eye: August 2 at Fenway Park in Boston. This was too perfect, and I had to go for it. My time to go to Fenway had come, and my favorite band would be waiting for me. It was destiny. I looked at the Sox schedule for 2023, and wouldn\u2019t you know it \u2014 they had a home game on August 4 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The first thing I did was make sure I got the time off work, then I bought two tickets each for the concert and the game. I didn\u2019t know yet who I\u2019d be going with, but I knew damn well I was going, even if it was alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After some uncertainty with tossing the idea out to different people who ultimately weren\u2019t able to make it, I finally found my partner in crime: my buddy Darryll, who insists that people refer to him by his nickname, A Juicy Piece of Pork Cutlet. That\u2019s too long to type over and over again here, so if you\u2019re reading this, it\u2019s going to be Darryll. Sorry, guy. Darryll isn\u2019t a baseball or emo music stan the way I am, but he\u2019s open-minded to both, coming to some of my men\u2019s league baseball games as a fan and getting more into FOB the more he sees me perform their songs. He\u2019s a very real and loyal friend and a terrific travel partner, and that was all I could ask for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My excitement only mounted as the months before the show counted down. FOB released their masterpiece of a comeback album, So Much (For) Stardust, <\/em>and anyone who reads this blog knows my feelings on that record. When they began the Tourdust <\/em>shows, something amazing happened. The setlists were very different from FOB\u2019s recent shows, including Hella Mega.<\/em> While the previous list was still enjoyable \u2014 all of their songs are bangers to me \u2014 it was largely watered down to include only their well-known singles and radio hits, obscuring most of their deeper cuts that die-hards like me love the most. Particularly obscured were the songs from Folie a Deux <\/em>\u2014 my favorite FOB album, whose cover art I have a tattoo of on my left leg. The guys didn\u2019t like playing those songs live because it reminded them of the album\u2019s poor reception \u2014 baffling considering what a masterpiece it was \u2014 and brought up bad memories. During Tourdust<\/em>, however, everything changed. Along with the new Stardust <\/em>songs, the guys started throwing in deeper cuts from their old records, including two of my absolute favorite Folie <\/em>tracks: \u201cHeadfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet\u201d and \u201cDisloyal Order of Water Buffaloes.\u201d They fully embraced this change to the point where they introduced a \u201cMagic 8 Ball,\u201d which would \u201crandomly\u201d pick old deep-cut songs for them to play for the first time in years. In the weeks leading up to Boston, I saw footage of these performances on the app formerly known as Twitter, with FOB fangirl accounts geeking out about the unusual songs being played. I was right there with them. It made me so happy to see the guys playing the songs they truly wanted to and being their most authentic selves again. They were truly thriving, and I was bursting with excitement to see them at Fenway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the time came to embark on the adventure. Darryll and I didn\u2019t get to do much on our first night in Boston, as we were both tired after the flight and crashed pretty early. The next day, however, was concert day. Before we knew it, the time had arrived for the show of a lifetime. Our Uber driver dropped us off at Fenway, and we had finally made it. I was hoping to get down on the field level instead of being up in the stands, and I got my wish. I was overjoyed to remember that we had gotten field-level tickets, and soon after walking into Fenway for the first time ever, there I was in the outfield. Our seats were in medium left-center, not too far away from the Green Monster. A wave of euphoria washed over me as we settled into our seats to enjoy the first opener on stage, Royal & the Serpent. This was possibly the coolest setting I had ever ventured into in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t too familiar with any of the openers, but I enjoyed their sets nonetheless, especially Bring Me The Horizon, whose frontman Oli Sykes stage-dove and surfed the crowd not too far away from us. The whole time, however, I could do nothing but double-geek out about the fact that I was a) at Fenway for the first time ON THE FUCKING FIELD and b) about to see my favorite band of all time in their most elite form. I went to the concession stand and grabbed a Fenway Frank to get the full Fenway experience. After what wasn\u2019t too bad of a wait, but of course felt like forever, the boys came on. Everything went dark, and they burst into \u201cLove From the Other Side\u201d to a raucous reception. I sang along to every word and felt completely at home, exactly where I was meant to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My expectations for the show were lofty, and FOB lived up to them. It was magical. My personal singing role model Patrick Stump\u2019s voice was as beautiful and soulful as ever, Pete Wentz was full of his usual charisma and insightful words, Joe Trohman was back doing his thing after returning from his mental health break, and shirtless Andy Hurley was as much of a vibe as ever on drums. They played \u201cHeadfirst Slide\u201d and \u201cDisloyal Order,\u201d which I never thought I would see live in my lifetime. They did a few creative and appropriate covers, including \u201cEnter Sandman,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m Shipping Up to Boston,\u201d and \u201cSweet Caroline.\u201d The \u201cShipping Up\u201d cover led straight into \u201cBang the Doldrums,\u201d which they had essentially never played live prior to 2023. I believe the Magic 8 Ball songs included \u201cXO,\u201d being played live for the first time in about a decade, and \u201cG.I.N.A.S.F.S.,\u201d which had also never been done before this tour. The highlight, however, came on one of the old classics: \u201cDance, Dance.\u201d Pete Wentz and his flowing blonde locks mysteriously disappeared from the stage prior to the song, only to reappear in a most unexpected place: ON TOP OF THE GREEN FUCKING MONSTER. The most iconic member of my favorite band had scaled the most iconic structure in my favorite team\u2019s ballpark. It was a moment for the ages, a true outside-the-box Pete Wentz idea that was beautifully on brand. I try to live in the moment at concerts, but this one had to be captured on camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the boys closed with \u201cSaturday,\u201d as they are wont to do, Darryll and I made our way toward the stairs to the exit, which just happened to be right in front of the Green Monster. Darryll took some great pictures of me standing in front of and touching the Monster, like the true photographer he is. My only regret is that the route we took out of the stadium didn\u2019t lead us to a merch stand, but my legendary brother Reyan ordered me a Tourdus<\/em>t hoodie online for my birthday, so I\u2019m not going to complain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days later, it was time for my first-ever game at Fenway Park. I wasn\u2019t quite sure how to feel at this point as I had now been to Fenway, but not to a game there. It was still an experience, however, going to my first Red Sox home game. When I bought the tickets, I thought the Sox might be out of the playoff race by this point, but the stars aligned to make it an important series against the Blue Jays. The Sox were just behind them in the wild-card race and had a chance to make up some serious ground. With the Sox coming back from a road trip, Fenway was festive and full of energy, anticipating a possible surge into a playoff spot. As Darryll and I were milling the bowels of Fenway pregame, we saw a goofily-dressed old man dangling a fishing pole over people\u2019s heads and speculated on his life activities. We bought some delicious Cuban sandwiches and made our way to our seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game got off to a pretty wacky start, as Toronto leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield smacked Boston starter James Paxton\u2019s very first pitch over the Green Monster for a home run, and instantly I felt like a bad-luck charm for the Sox. (Weirdly, it was the second game I\u2019ve been to where the very first pitch was hit for a bomb). The next batter, George Springer, nearly went yard as well, flying out to deep left-center just in front of the Monster. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then drilled another home run over the Monster, and Paxton was getting shellacked to start the game. It was cool to see Vladdy go deep, though. I missed his mammoth home run at the 2021 All-Star Game in Denver while wandering Coors Field, but that\u2019s a story for another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the top of the second, rookie Davis Schneider, in his first major league at-bat, hammered yet another bomb over the Green Monster. I had never heard of this man before, but Darryll and I agreed that his mustache made him look like a 1980s baseball movie villain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Toronto holding a 3-0 lead, I was very intrigued to see their starter, Alek Manoah. He had emerged as a young ace over the last couple of years, talking trash and making some enemies along the way, including some on the Red Sox. In 2023, he was having a bizarre season straight out of a movie. His career seemed to have fallen off a cliff as he got sent all the way down to the Florida Complex League and was absolutely lit up by low-level minor leaguers. Somehow, however, he had worked his way back to the Show with mixed results, and I had no clue what to expect from him at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the Sox, he was pretty damn good. Outside of a two-run shot by electric leadoff man Jarren Duran in the third inning, he mostly shut down Boston\u2019s lineup. With Toronto up 4-2 and two Sox on in the fifth, Alex Verdugo came up to the plate. Verdugo has made it clear that he\u2019s not a fan of Manoah\u2019s mound antics, and this seemed like the perfect chance to hit a go-ahead bomb and exact revenge. Alas, Manoah struck Verdugo out to end the inning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jays added more runs against Paxton and the bullpen, including a Daulton Varsho home run, to take a 6-2 lead into the seventh-inning stretch. In the bottom of the seventh, Yu Chang took Manoah deep over the Monster to make it 6-3 and chase him from the game. The fact that he had gone from allowing 11 runs to a rookie-level team to mostly shutting down the Sox at Fenway in a little over a month was a goddamn miracle. Amazingly, he would end up getting demoted back to the minor leagues not too long after. Baseball is cruel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things didn\u2019t get much more exciting from there, outside of a Matt Chapman home run in the ninth that landed pretty close to us, just beyond the Sox bullpen in right-center. That was the moment we appeared on TV for just a split-second, a fleeting moment of fame. The Sox went down quietly for the rest of the night and lost 7-3. It hadn\u2019t been the best luck of the draw game-wise, and Fenway was deflated, but I was determined to get the most out of the experience. I took Darryll with me to get as close to the Monster seats as possible, and he snapped several photos of me before a gruff usher basically told us to GTFO. I then went on a mission to get merch, buying a green Fenway Park hoodie from a not-quite-as-gruff vendor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that was it for our Fenway experiences. The rest of the trip was also an absolute blast, as we packed it with Boston activities, most of which were Darryll\u2019s ideas. We toured Boston Harbor in a cruise ship, touched stingrays at New England Aquarium, and went on a trolley tour of the city. We dined on some elite seafood and Boston cream pie, played Super Smash Bros. with some Boston bros at a barcade, and got competitive in arcade basketball after the concert. We enjoyed our signature drink, the Amaretto Sour. The day of the game, we went on a three-and-a-half hour whale-watching tour into the Atlantic Ocean on an absolute rocket of a boat, where we got some cool views of whales feeding and made my seasickness worth it. It was a fantastic vacation, and I truly feel that our time was spent in the best possible ways. Looking back, it\u2019s amazing how much we were able to pack into a five-day trip. A Juicy Piece of Pork Cutlet, you are a true icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you probably know, baseball and emo music are two of my biggest passions, and the Red Sox and Fall Out Boy are among my very favorite people and entities within those passions. The fact that I got to see both within a three-day span, at Fenway Park no less, was an absolute gift, and I\u2019ll be thankful for it forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the first week of August 2023, I was able to make my first-ever sojourn to the great city of Boston, Massachusetts. What brought me to Beantown, you ask? Well, I\u2019ve been a Boston Red Sox fan for life, so that definitely helped. My dad grew up in the area and went to Red Sox […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crossover"],"yoast_head":"\n