Nintendo Fusion Tour. Sold out show. Huge venue. I thought I would save myself some frustration and arrive at the Myth, (a brand new venue in Maplewood, Minnesota) a little late to avoid long lines. I was actually more frustrated when I showed up to find I had missed both Boys Night Out and Panic! At The Disco's sets. Apparently neither band played many songs - 4 or 5 at most.

I was lucky enough, however, to catch Motion City Soundtrack's set, and it being the band's hometown area, the crowd was insane. The truth is, though, every time I've seen the band live, the crowd has been insane; It really doesn't matter what city they're playing in; They get a huge reaction wherever they go. Their songs are fun, they look like they're having fun on stage... Fun, fun, fun. I highly recommend catching one, if not more, of Motion City Soundtrack's shows. If not the Nintendo Fusion Tour, see them when they're playing smaller venues. You won't regret it.

Something about seeing The Starting Line live makes me question their talent as a band... Don't get me wrong; I've always enjoyed listening to their music on CD. But every time I've seen the band hit the stage, which is more than a couple times, I've just never felt the "magic", so to speak. It's like they're just up there to play their songs and move onto the next city. If they livened things up a bit and interacted with the crowd more, I think their show would improve a great deal...

One slight annoyance, and I'll move on: A pre-recorded tape played in-between sets, featuring cheesy PA announcer, "Dirty", as he dubbed himself. "Dirty" announced a set of songs and then played them; A rather clever way of promoting new artists. However, I felt as though I was back in junior high, and it was a little more than I could handle.

And the winner of the band with the most pre-teen girls in the crowd goes to.......... Fall Out Boy. I've been a big fan of this band for quite awhile now, and I've noticed that the more exposure they get, particularly on MTV, the more female fans they draw in. I'm not saying having a large female fan base is a bad thing by any means. I'm sure the band isn't complaining, either. But I honestly felt like I was witnessing The Beatles or Elvis live during FOB's set. Screaming loud and high enough to give you the chills; Something along the lines of running fingers over a chalk board. And when Pete Wentz jumped into the crowd... Let's not even go there.

Besides that, the band put on a great show. They played some old songs, some new songs, cut to "intermission", played some more material off of "From Under The Cork Tree", and came back with an encore. One of the more memorable moments occurred when Pete Wentz asked everyone in the crowd to put up their ring fingers instead of their middle fingers as many bands often do. He then proceeded to ask the crowd to think of the one person they could see themselves living with the rest of their lives. Isn't that cute...

On a side note, you wouldn't think FOB fans would be that vicious, but the past two times I've seen the band, I've come close to near death experiences. Well, they've both been more along the lines of paralyzation, but 'near death' sounds more exciting. Fall Out Boy body surfers will be the death of me.

Overall, despite my complaining, I truly did have a good time. Both Motion City Soundtrack and Fall Out Boy put on amazing shows. And from what I was told, Panic! At The Disco was nothing short of kick ass, either.

Review by: Nicole