A few months ago, mention of the name Fall Out Boy would have been dismissed as an obscure "Simpsons" reference, but countless days on the TRL Top 10 with "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" and "Dance, Dance," a platinum-selling album and successful multimedia-based tour, the Chicago punk group has established itself as a driving force in the pop-punk community.

Since September, Fall Out Boy has been headlining the Nintendo Fusion Tour, a blend of up-and-coming bands and video-game technology, and, on Nov. 16, the band brought its infectious sound to a sold-out crowd at the The Rave's Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee.

An effort to contend with Nintendo competitors Sony and Microsoft, who also have music and video-game events, the tour features new games for GameCube, Game Boy Advance and DS systems, as well as four opening acts hand-picked by the guys of Fall Out Boy. Panic! At the Disco, Boys Night Out, Motion City Soundtrack and the Starting Line all helped build the show's momentum to the highly anticipated moment when Fall Out Boy took the stage.

Panic! At the Disco, a band signed to Decaydance, the label of Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, displayed some FOB influence, and Canadian rockers Boys Night Out got the night off to a strong start with an energetic performance. But Minnesota's Motion City Soundtrack really got the crowd moving with a driving set that included hits from I Am the Movie, as well as their latest, Commit This to Memory, produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus. In typical fashion, moogist Jesse Johnson bounced around and frontman Justin Pierre resembled an electric-shock victim as the band performed songs like "Capital H," "Everything is Alright" and the cleverly titled "L.G. FUAD." However, the high point in the performance came during the up-tempo "The Future Freaks Me Out," which had members of the audience "busting a move" as they sang and clapped along with the beat.

The Starting Line took the stage next, promising to exercise the crowd that frontman Kenny Vasoli proclaimed to be "possessed by the demon of rock and roll," and they nearly succeeded, in a performance that included crowd favorite "Best of Me" and "Bedroom Talk," which may have been a bit racy for the PG-13ers scattered among the crowd. The band broke into a teaser of "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" during its final number to help get the crowd amped for the headliners who were sure to give a fun, dance- and sometimes mosh-inducing performance.

Wanting to mix things up a bit on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, Fall Out Boy took to the brightly lit stage in a "theatrical" fashion, with cue cards and playful music ushering the confetti-filled beginnings of "Act 1" and "Act 2" with a brief intermission. The Chicago rockers wasted little time getting up to tempo with the driving guitar sounds of "Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued" and launching into their hit "Sugar, We're Goin' Down," which had the crowd throwing its hands in the air and singing along.

The performance relied heavily on the pop-punk flavor of material like "Dance, Dance" and "A Little Less 'Sixteen Candles,' A Little More 'Touch Me'" from the band's latest album, From Under the Cork Tree, and even established a cult-like aura about the crowd when it broke into a spoken-word portion and had members of the crowd reciting, "Why put a new address on the same old loneliness," as if some form of emo prayer.

Fall Out Boy did manage to fit some of its catchy older material, like "Grand Theft Autumn" and "Saturday," into its hour-long performance as well.

Fall Out Boy's energetic Nintendo trek continues through Nov. 23, but those who missed their rousing Milwaukee performance needn't worry. The band recently announced plans to circle back to Wisconsin on Dec. 19 for a show within walking distance, at Madison's own Madison Avenue. The Hush Sound and October Fall will join them, providing a night of rock in the same vein of last Wednesday.