Two of the best and most talented bands of our time are currently on tour. Together. In celebration of The Monumentour, we’re counting down Paramore and Fall Out Boys best live songs!
Album versions and live versions of songs are sometimes very different. Sometimes a song on an album doesn’t quite translate to a live performance, or sometimes a song sounds a bit flat on an album but kills when performed live. That’s the beauty of music. Each performance, live or in studio, has its own vibe and sound. No two performances ever sound exactly the same.
Instead of listing these two bands’ best songs, we’re celebrating the ones that are the most awesome when performed live in front of a crowd. Songs that give us chills, take our breath away, and may even make us cry a little bit. We honestly couldn’t be more excited that these two amazing bands are touring together.
While Paramore and Fall Out Boy may not be playing all of these songs during their Monumentour sets, here are our absolute favorite songs of theirs to hear (and experience) live!
Paramore
‘Let the Flames Begin’
If you ask any Paramore fan what their favorite live song is, chances are that they’ll say “Let the Flames Begin.” While it may be kind of a sleeper on their second album, Riot!, it takes on a whole new level of sound and emotion when you hear it live. Plus, the outro is absolutely raw and fantastic. it gives us chills every time.
‘Part II’
Five years after releasing “Let the Flames Begin,” Paramore released “Part II” as a sort of melodic and thematic sequel to the song (hence the name). While the studio version of “Part II” does sound more similar to the way that Paramore plays it live, the live version is still amazing. It picks up exactly where “Let the Flames Begin” ends and adds to the idea of feeling lost and hopeless. Yet, it in no way feels pessimistic. When we hear this song live, all we want to do is sing at the top of our lungs. It’s so fantastic (especially when paired with “Let the Flames Begin”).
‘Pressure’
Three words. The. Pressure. Flip. Who doesn’t love the “Pressure” flip?! While this is one of the oldest Paramore singles, it definitely never feels dated or overplayed. It’s so fun and light-hearted. Plus, we love it when we, as an audience, completely take over the second verse. We don’t know about you, but we ALWAYS look forward to the flip that Jeremy and Taylor do as they play the chorus a final time. It’s just so classic and so Paramore and we love it so much. The end.
(Also, “Pressure” may or may not have randomly come up on our playlist as we were writing about our feelings for the song, and we may or may not have had to take a dance/”sing into a hairbrush” break because of it.)
‘Still Into You’
We love live performances of this song for three reasons. First, the energy. Paramore puts even more energy into this song during a live performance than they did in the studio recording, which is pretty impressive. It’s so infectious that we can’t help but jump around in time with Hayley. Second, Hayley’s high note at the end of the bridge is amazing and gives us chills every time we experience her hitting it. Third, the balloons/confetti/whatever the band wants to throw out at the audience. They’ve had it at most performances of the song, including their appearance on Good Morning America in June and we can’t get enough of it!
‘Misery Business’
Correct us if we’re wrong, but Paramore hasn’t played a show since Riot! came out in 2007 where they haven’t played this song. And it just feels so good. Seriously. The whole song is just so fun and so energetic, especially when performed live. We especially love how the band has been inviting fans onstage to finish out the song (and usually the entire show) with them. It’s such a great way to show how much the band cares for its fans and it gives us fans hope of ever being onstage with them! While this song could have gotten old and felt overplayed by now, Paramore always finds a way to keep it fresh and fun.
‘That’s What You Get’
Besides the fact that “That’s What You Get” is this writer’s all-time favorite Paramore song, it’s such a fun song to hear and watch at a concert. The song is so upbeat and so energetic that it’s hard to keep from jumping and bopping around to it. Plus, it never sounds exactly the same from performance to performance. You can tell that the band really loves playing because they always have giant smiles on their faces and swing their instruments constantly. This is on top of all of the headbanging that they do (that we don’t really see them do as much anymore). No Paramore setlist would truly be complete without this gem.
Continue onto the next page to see which Fall Out Boy songs we deemed as our favorites to hear live!
Fall Out Boy
‘Saturday’
“Saturday” is just such a Fall Out Boy classic. It makes us feel so nostalgic and happy every time we hear it. We love that the band uses this as their closing song because it really just shows how much they enjoy playing it after all this time. Plus, the song (at least to us) is about the excitement of playing a show and not being able to wait for Saturday. There’s so much fun in the way that they perform that we can’t help but to lose ourselves in this tune every time. It’s just so hard not to love “Saturday.”
‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’
It may be cliche to count this song in as one of our favorites to experience live because it was their first well-known single, but we don’t care. It’s another Fall Out Boy classic. “Sugar, We’re Going Down” makes us feel nostalgic for the time when we first heard it. It’s just so incredibly catchy and easy to sing along to. Plus, it just really makes us happy, so much so that we can’t put it into words why.
‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race’
How could this song not make our list of best live Fall Out Boy songs? When playing this song, the band hits the audience with a wall of sound. Plus, Patrick Stump has such an air of confidence and a large stage presence that we kind of wish they’d play this song multiple times in a night. Above all, we really just like screaming “This ain’t a scene, it’s a goddamn arms race”! at the top of our lungs. Because of reasons.
‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)’
Not only is this song catchy to the point of being downright infectious, but it’s also a reminder of how happy we were the day that Fall Out Boy ended their hiatus. Every time they play this song, it seems like they put in a little extra energy just because it was their first single after their hiatus. And you know what? We definitely put in a little extra energy when dancing and singing along.
‘Dance, Dance’
“Dance, Dance” is the perfect song to hear performed live. After all, why else do you go to a concert but to enjoy the music and dance, dance? It’s so awesome to jump around to and to bust out your craziest moves for. Plus, nothing comes close to experiencing Andy Hurley playing the drums on “Dance, Dance” live, especially when he has a drum solo before they even start the song. And then there’s that awesome baseline that’s so prominent in the beginning of the song… Excuse us while we go dance, dance. (That was our last attempt to make a “Dance, Dance” pun. We promise.)
‘Save Rock and Roll’
Talk about an anthem. “Save Rock and Roll” was totally meant for arenas and live performances. Though it’s one of their newest songs, it has quickly become one of our favorite songs to hear live. It has such powerful chords and a chorus that we can’t help but get into. Plus, we can never seem to stop wanting to shout “Oh no, we won’t go ’cause we don’t know when to quit, oh oh” once it gets stuck in our heads. And then there’s the key change… Seriously. We can’t be the only ones who get the chills every time we experience this song in all of its glory.
Bonus: ‘Chicago Is So Two Years Ago’
Okay, so we kind of pretty much picked this tune purely for selfish reasons because this writer is from the Chicagoland area. What’s better than hearing a band play a song about your home? Singing along to a song about your home at the top of your lungs while one of your favorite bands plays it in front of you, of course. And hey, even if it was about another city or town, we’d still be totally into it as we are now. We can all relate to it at some point in our lives, which makes singing along to it at a concert really great!