It was a modern rock hit-fest as the Honda Civic Tour rolled into a nearly sold out crowd of 14,000 on Memorial Day weekend. Hordes of teenagers and their parents invaded the amphitheater as Chicago alt-rock superstars Fall Out Boy put on their largest scale show to date with help from former Blink 182’ers new band +44 and the quickly rising Chicagoans The Academy Is, among others.

Fall Out Boy (or F.O.B. if you were in the text message mindset) pulled out all the stops in their 80-minute set, heavy on the material from their current Infinity on High album. The group launched into the opening cut “Thriller” as the band surprisingly used pyrotechnics and fireworks.

As the images of a “Duck Hunt” type game (complete with the members of the band as targets), the band swung around wildly and actually seemed tighter than past shows, while maintaining super high energy.

Even though band heartthrob (and self-promotion king) Pete Wentz did most of the between song banter; lead singer Patrick Stump is the clear real force in the band.

In new songs such as “I’m Like A Lawyer…” and past tracks such as “A Little More Sixteen Candles…,” Stump’s voice proved to be the difference that has set them apart in the current batch of emo-leaning rock. The band even pulled out a very faithful rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” mixed in with new material.

Fall Out Boy has been taking cues from their older peers and has upped the stage and production value of the show; and it clearly showed on this tour.

Ex-Blink 182 stars Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus showed off their new band, +44, as they played a 45-minute set, with a surprise or two. Most of their new material, such as “Baby Come On” and “Make You Smile,” seemed like a little less playful version of their former band but still tolerable to listen to. Barker was silent as usual behind the drum kit; but Hoppus kept his usual childish banter coming throughout the set. The group did bust out one Blink 182 song, the catchy “The Rock Show.”

Maybe stealing a bit of the thunder from +44 was the Chicago band The Academy Is... With their recently released album Santi, the group had the fans up on their feet early. Lead by jovial lead singer Will Beckett, the band kept the material heavy on the new material such as “LAX to O’Hare” and the ballad “Everything We Had.” The band’s current single, “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands” garnered the biggest fan response until Fall Out Boy came on. (For a pre-set interview with The Academy Is, click here.)

Houston rapper Paul Wall seems like an odd fit on the bill, and his one-note hip-hop themes seems a little played out in his 25-minute set. The set was full of one to two minute rhymes he dished out on other people’s songs. The Civic tour may not have been the best fit for Wall.

Kicking off the show were the New York based dance rock outfit Cobra Starship, who warmed up the crowd with a 25-minute set that fit much better than Wall’s material. Sporting a look straight out of the 1987 hip-hop scene, lead singer Gabe Saporta displayed the group’s catchy material, such as “The Church of Hot Addiction.” In one of the best moments of the show, The Academy Is... singer Beckett and Wall joined Saporta on stage for an almost complete recreation of the band’s hit “Bring It” from the movie Snakes on a Plane. Wall took the rhyme that the Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy did on the song, to leave no part unheeded. (For an interview with Cobra Starship, click here.)

If you are looking for music for the 2007 time capsule that you are planning to make, then the music at the Honda Civic Tour would be essential. As for DTE Energy Music Theatre (at Pine Knob, as this reviewer will never stop calling it), this show was a strong start to the season.