| Sputnikmusic
 

Sputnikmusic

When’s the last time you saw a band play at someone’s home? Many of us have fond memories of live music in this environment, and it seems the good old fashioned house show has been experiencing a revival as of late. I recently caught up with the one and only tyman128 to learn more about his experience seeing The All-American Rejects on their ‘house party’ tour this past weekend.

 


 

normaloctagon: Sup, tyman 128! Heard you got to check out a special All-American Rejects set recently. Could you start by telling us how you heard about the show? You seemed pretty stoked when you shared the news over discord.

tyman128What’s up! Yeah, it was pretty wild how I found out honestly. This summer, I’m working at the local newsroom as an assistant editor, so I’m in touch with all the news desks for the local news (paper, broadcast, radio, etc.). In one of our channels, someone said that their friend was an intern for the Rejects and that they were throwing a surprise show off-campus Sunday night. It was said so casually that I was really confused, and eventually realized it wasn’t a joke… so I immediately texted my roommate that we had plans that night haha. Turns out, they were actually the “super-secret-special-guest-performance” (yes that is verbatim from the poster) for a local graduation house show that was taking place. So, the concert was actually already announced before with performances from three local DJs and a local band called The Park (shameless plug, go check them out, they are amazing). Then, about an hour and a half before the Rejects performed (which was about 15 minutes after the house show started), they announced that they would be playing there!

normaloctagon: Are you a big fan of The All-American Rejects? What does their music mean to you personally? And do you have a favorite song/album/era of theirs?

tyman128Alright, truth be told, I’m not the biggest fan of The Rejects by any means. However, in the last few years, I went out of my way to check out their albums, and I thought it was really great stuff. But of course, the main thing their music means to me is the nostalgia factor. The number of times that I played “Move Along” on Rock Band 3 as a kid… I don’t know if I could put a number on it. Of course, other songs like “Dirty Little Secret” and “Gives You Hell” are staples of my childhood as well, and man are those some catchy choruses! I still think their debut album is my favorite; it’s definitely less polished than what they would do later on, but those songs are so fun, and they scream early 00’s pop punk. Plus, my favorite songs from them are “Swing, Swing” and “One More Sad Song” so I’m more of a fan of that album at the end of the day.

normaloctagon: How was their set?! Did anyone else perform? Tell us about your experience of the musical performances that night.

tyman128Dude, it was awesome! Like I said before, there were a couple DJ sets and a local band that played. I unfortunately missed the DJ sets because I was running a bit late (and they actually moved the show earlier than it was supposed to be), but I did catch most of The Park’s set. I’ve already seen them perform before, and they are always top tier with their stuff. But when the Rejects came on, it was a whole different sort of energy. First of all, if you’ve never seen them live, they sound just as good live as they do on record. The instrumental is ace, the vocals are about as perfect as you can get, and the nostalgic energy is ever present. Tyson Ritter ran out of the house with a Mizzou graduation cap and gown on to kick off the show with “Dirty Little Secret.” Of course, they played all of the hits, and literally everyone there was shouting along very loudly. Ritter was super crowd engaging and was messing around with the audience throughout the night. Like I said before, I’m a huge fan of “Swing, Swing,” so that song was absolutely insane live, and I’m really glad a lot of people there knew the song, too. They also jammed their newest song, “Sandbox,” which is actually a super sick track and lowkey gets me hyped about their upcoming album this year (no official release yet).

normaloctagon: Sounds like a great show, wow!

tyman128: Yeah, and I haven’t even talked about the best part! “Move Along” started, and everyone went crazy for it. They did a little extended intro with Ritter teasing each part of the drum intro, which was entertaining and full of so much energy. People went absolutely nuts for the song, and everyone was shouting along to the chorus… when all of a sudden, they stopped playing and Ritter said: “the cops just shut us down.” I thought it was a joke, but lo and behold some police cars were patrolling down the street. Let me tell you, the crowd erupted with booing and started chanting “one more song” … which somehow the cops were fine with? I don’t know, I’m not gonna try to figure it out, but the Rejects continued with one more song. And what better song to play at that moment than “Gives You Hell.” It was a phenomenal way to go out for them, and it was the loudest the crowd had been the entire night. Unfortunately, I saw the setlist later, and they didn’t play “Easy Come, Easy Go” because it was slotted after “Move Along.”

normaloctagon: That’s one hell of an encore, for sure. Aside from the eventful ending, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on how it all came together the night of. A house party is a pretty unique venue for something like this.

tyman128It was a wild place man. That house is sort of known for doing house shows like this because two of the people living there are associated with the radio station that orchestrated this whole thing. But seeing how it all was set up was nuts. They had all the instruments and equipment set up just in front of the stairs that lead to the front door of the house, and the porch was decked out in large banners and things for the Rejects. They had floodlights set up near the audience for when it got dark outside, and it was just super DIY feeling which made it all that more amazing. Friends of the local band or DJs were able to be on the porch or up on the roof of the house, which made it feel a lot more like a celebration and party than just a concert… definitely made it feel more personal and entertaining. It was a really nice night out as well, so it was awesome to be with this huge crowd outside of a house off campus and screaming along to a band that I listened to quite a bit when I was a kid. 

 

tyman128: Also, one other thing about the set up that I thought was sick was the goal of the show in the first place. Around the block and on some of the speakers and equipment, there were flyers with QR codes to donate money. One of the local theaters in town, along with some other arts and culture organizations in the area, are facing severe federal funding cuts, and it could have a significant impact on their longevity. So, these QR codes provided the opportunity for attendees to donate to these places and show their support. I just thought it was really cool to see that, and it was awesome during the show because Ritter gave a massive shoutout about it and said that he had donated $500 himself, which is just a huge thing for a local town that really does appreciate the arts and music. 

normaloctagon: That’s great to hear. So, I take it you’re glad you went? Did you come away from the experience with any ‘aha’ moments?

tyman128I am extremely glad I went. I had literally nothing better to do Sunday night, so I knew I had no reason not to go. I mean, how often do you have the chance to go see a childhood band for free just off the campus that you attend for your master’s? Not very often I would say, especially in a smaller college town like this where most big-name bands wouldn’t even consider doing something like this. I’d probably say the whole thing was an “aha” moment. I mean, I’m just grateful that I knew people that told me about the show to begin with, and I’m so glad that I was able to attend something as, literally, once-in-a-lifetime as this, because very rarely do bands at the caliber of the Rejects do surprise pop up shows in smaller college towns like this. It’s really cool to be a part of something like that. I know they had been getting some recognition for their pop up shows the last week, particularly at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and at a bowling alley in Minneapolis, so it was awesome being able to be in those select few shows that they decided to do.

normaloctagon: Totally, what a unique experience. Gratitude is the attitude. As a final thought, I want to ask how long you’ve been attending concerts, and what they mean to you. Why do you think live shows are important?

tyman128I’ve been going to concerts for a long while at this point. I think I was… 8 or 9 when I went to my first concert with my family, and I’ve always made it a goal to go to any concert that is nearby that I can make it to. Whether it’s a concert at a bigger music venue here in town, or some random house show I found out about that is just a bunch of smaller local bands that deserve the recognition. I mean, live shows are just super important. There’s something special to me about going to see a band that I’ve loved listening to and being able to show my support and sing/scream/shout along with all the stuff they’ve made. And in general, shows are just important for literally everyone to go to. It’s important for the band because it gives them the opportunity to showcase their pride and joy of the songs they’ve made for an audience, and it gives them the outlet to put all that energy into a performance. But it’s also important for the fans, because it gives them the chance to show their physical support, and it also gives them the outlet to connect with a bunch of random strangers about a band they all love. Music is such a community thing, I mean we are on a music site after all, so why would we not want to go to live shows where that community can be seen face to face?


Thanks again to tyman128 for reminding us of the importance of live music!

Sputnikmusic

 Share your favorite concert memories with us over at…

Bluesky

Facebook

Twitter





normaloctagon
05.21.25
Sput loves live music [123]

tyman128
05.21.25
Hey that's me!

vult
05.21.25
damn from the photos that looks like a sick vibe!

NexCeleris
05.21.25
Two machines collaborating? What is this—pick-and-place?

jrlikestodance
05.21.25
Looks like a fun time. The only time I saw this band was in high school and the singer performed on stage in a full body cast (blink 182/Fall Out Boy tour). Thought that his dedication to the show was so sick

YoYoMancuso
05.22.25
Move Along on Rock Band 3 was a top tier shared collective experience

dedex
05.22.25
banger piece thanks for the itw norma and thanks for the dope insights Tyler!!

TheNewWhack
05.26.25
A random local news piece on this show popped up in my Google feed. Apparently, the cops were fans of the band, hence the encore.

tyman128
05.26.25
That's amazing! They actually just uploaded the video of when they got shut down on their official page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IclaMR4xiNI&t=1s&ab_channel=TheAll-AmericanRejects

You need to be logged in to post a comment
Login | Register

STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy