Fall Out Boy excited to perform at All-Star Game

COLUMBUS -- While Pete Wentz and Andy Hurley may have played some different sports when they were younger, the members of Fall Out Boy didn't plan on becoming a band with multiple songs ingrained in the sports culture.

Fall Out Boy will perform during the first intermission of the Honda 2015 NHL All-Star Game. The band recently released its sixth album, and has had multiple No. 1 hit songs. Sports fans, particularly NHL fans who were paying attention during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, have become quite familiar with Fall Out Boy's work.

"It is wild because you don't set out to do that," Wentz, a bassist, said. "We just want to make songs that our audience can relate to, but that is kind of cool."

Playing for a few minutes at an event like this is a different kind of challenge than headlining a big show.

"I think we're going to be playing in front of people who are maybe not totally familiar with a lot of our stuff," Wentz said. "For us, it's cool because that's our band grew up. We played a lot of festivals where you really have to earn a crowd. It will be cool to try and earn some people tonight. We're also probably not the primary focus. Most people are probably here for the hockey and for the alcoholic beverages possibly.

"We're the eye candy," guitarist Joe Trohman said.

Two of Fall Out Boy's songs have earned plenty of attention in the sports world. "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark," which is also more informally know as the "Light 'Em Up" song, was a fixture during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC and NBCSN.

Their most recent single, "Centuries" was part of the ESPN College Football broadcast, something fans in this city know well after Ohio State won the National Championship two weeks ago.

"I was a music kid so I didn't really have any time in my brain for sports," lead singer Patrick Stump said. "I was like totally focused on music. If I was trying to write a song for sports, I wouldn't know how to. It's kind of crazy. I've learned more about [sports] in the last six years or so just from the opportunities the band has afforded us than I ever learned at home."

Stump and Wentz are from Illinois, and the band has done some work with the Chicago Blackhawks. Recently, they were featured in ESPN The Magazine's music issue along with Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo.

"We went and did a shoot at the Blackhawks' training facility," Wentz said. "We got on the ice, and it was certainly not as easy as you remember it being.

"It was a lot of fun. We got out there and tried a little a bit, learned a little bit with Carcillo."