Though the emo heyday of our youth may be dead, Fall Out Boy has yet to go down, swinging or otherwise.

Fall Out Boy closed out its 81 stop-long MANIA tour at the Smoothie King Center Wednesday night with a riotous performance that left the audience ecstatic.

The band is known for its angst-laden yet oddly uplifting lyrics meshed with a soul-crushing, infectiously vigorous beat. In New Orleans, Fall Out Boy did not disappoint. Lead vocalist Patrick Stump and bassist Pete Wentz have aged since they helped start the band in 2001, but their classic rock and roll-esque grooves and breathtaking vocals have not.

After resurrecting in 2013, Fall Out Boy has released four new albums and a number of hit songs. The MANIA tour was part of the promotion of its seventh and latest album, MANIA.

The night began with a solid performance by the lesser-known pop punk band State Champs, followed by a stronger, hardcore rap performance by Machine Gun Kelly.

The crowd was clearly there for one purpose, however: Fall Out Boy.

As the stadium went dark, the fans rose to their feet and a cheer resounded through the stands. The lights came up on the motionless silhouettes of Stump and Wentz. They were surrounded by smoke and appeared ghostlike, reminiscent of 20th Century rock and roll figures, resurrected from the dead.

The band started with the slowly intensifying melody of Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes, then picked up the pace with a string of classics: The Phoenix, Irresistible and Sugar, We’re Goin Down.

“Am I more than you bargained for yet?” fans screamed at the top of their lungs to the fervent punk beat of Sugar We’re Goin down. This 2005 song helped propel Fall Out Boy and arguably the entire pop punk genre to mainstream American culture.

The tone of the night shifted from crazed and riotous to warm and rousing when Stump set aside his electric guitar and began playing a grand piano and singing the 2013 hit Save Rock and Roll. As Stump sang about how he will defend the faith – that is, the genre of rock and roll – the crowd waved their phone flashlights rhythmically and sang along.

“Oh no, we won’t go / ‘Cause we don’t know how to quit, no, no.”  

These words, originally recorded with Elton John, have struck a chord with both fans of classic rock and pop punk and, at least for one song, succeeded in uniting the two genres.

Next, drummer Andy Hurley soloed a cover of Post Malone’s Congratulations, and Wentz and Stump made their way to a raised platform on the other side of the stadium.

The atmosphere kept its fierce, warm vibes but the emo energy in the room intensified as Wentz and Stump sang Wilson (Expensive Mistakes): “I’ll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.”

The climax of the evening came during the very next song – Thnks fr th Mmrs.

During all four choruses of the song, the stadium became a sea of raised fists, pumping up and down to the groove of “One night and one more time / Thanks for the memories even though they weren’t so great / he tastes like you, only sweeter.”

For many fans, the top-heavy guitar strums and fire-filled lyrics mirror the angst-filled, electric tension and amoral thrill of a loveless carnal affair.

The band closed out with Centuries, one of the band’s biggest hits. After leaving the audience cheering and screaming for an encore for at least five straight minutes, Fall Out Boy returned to the stage to perform My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark and Saturday.

Perhaps the most heartfelt moment of the concert, however, was when Wentz took off his denim jacket to reveal a #9 Drew Brees jersey. This shoutout came two days after the Saints quarterback set an all-time NFL passing record.

The love between Fall Out Boy and the Crescent City, it seems, is mutual.