So Fall Out Boy are back. We queued up in Camden behind hundreds of teenage girls and dozens of confused Eskimo Callboy fans (their show was originally set to be at The Underworld) to see Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley strut their stuff again

Six things we learnt whilst screaming along to Fall Out Boy in Camden

1) Who cares that it’s only February, the award for “Most Anticipated Gig of the Year” is already pretty much sewn up. By 5 o’clock the queue is snaking around the Underworld with kids desperate to buy spares longingly shooting sideways glances at those with golden tickets to this super-intimate show. Inside the atmosphere is one of hushed excitement and tetchy nervousness. Welcome. It’s here.

2) As the band smash on stage to Infinity on High opener ‘Thriller’ the shriek from the crowd is deafening. Make no mistake, whether you love them or hate them Fall Out Boy are a VERY important band and a band without whom the last decade of pop punk would look very VERY different. That they are back is joyful, wonderful and ultimately A Good Thing For Music.

3) There can’t be many bands out there with a back catalogue that can compete with the Chicagoans. They have so much in the locker in terms of song writing that it is at times overwhelming. ‘Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes’ sounds phenomenal but the biggest responses are saved for Take This To Your Grave era material with ‘Grand Theft Autumn’ in particular met with a rapturous sing-along.

Apologies if you get motion sickness whilst watching this…4) The positive reaction to older material isn’t saved for the crowd, the band too seem to enjoy giving the old stuff a run out. That said, Pete Wentz (the man who is arguably the focal point of the band) looks pretty bored throughout, giving a performance that occasionally kicks into gear but is mostly a little lacklustre. It is a shame – perhaps a product of jetlag or a feeling of having done it a million times before – because he is capable of really turning it on, as he does when he clambers into the crowd for closer Saturday. If only he had looked so enthused for the whole set.

5) The flip side of this coin is Patrick Stump. Oh, Patrick Stump. Rarely, if ever, has a pop-punk band had such a potent weapon in their arsenal as the Stumpster. His voice rises above the racket with consummate ease and from quickfire older material to the MONSTROUS crowd chant that he conducts for new single ‘My Songs Know What you Did In The Dark (Light ‘em Up)’ he is on point in style and delivery. He looks energized, focused, dripping in sweat and in fine fettle – it is wonderful to see.

6) Sure, the energy lulls during the 20+ song set and there are moments where WHO they are not WHAT they are doing carry the band through, but as Wentz’s proclamations about the transformative nature of music ring out across the sweat drenched venue it seems like a new chapter is opening for Fall Out Boy, one that they (and Stump especially) look hungrier than ever for.