As if a new video board and ongoing bleacher construction weren’t enough to make for a memorable opening night, award-winning rock band Fall Out Boy will perform as part of the festivities before the Cubs’ season opener April 5 against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.
Fall Out Boy, whose members hail from Chicago, will perform three songs live on the field before the 7 p.m. game. It marks the first time that MLB Opening Night pregame events will feature a live musical performance.
“Centuries” — the band’s platinum hit — will be televised live nationally on “Baseball Tonight” on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. Fall Out Boy also will play its newest single – “Uma Thurman” – and “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ’em up).”
“Wrigley Field has always been a magical place to me,” Peter Wentz, bassist for Fall Out Boy, said in a statement. “In some ways I can chart milestones of my life and growing up there – from going to see Andre Dawson and Ryne Sandberg play, to going with the my dad to one of the first night games they ever had there, to the first time I took the ‘EL’ there on my own for a game with my friends.”
To accommodate the musical performance, batting practice for the Cubs and Cardinals will be moved up by approximately 30 minutes.
Gates at Wrigley Field will open at 4:35 p.m.