2012年 04月 10日 火曜日 02:30

Mon 9 Apr – The All-American Rejects, A Rocket To The Moon

I went to see The All-American Rejects tonight at the Metro in Wrigleyville, Chicago. AAR has been one of the bands I've grown up with ever since their first album started playing on my Launchcast in 7th and 8th grade, so it was really cool to see them in concert!

My friend and I took the subway down to the Addison stop, and I had never been to Wrigleyville before so it was cool to see the area. We got to the Metro at 6:30, and found a nice spot on the slightly elevated platform at the back right of the main floor. The demographic was pretty much what I expected (a little more girls than guys, ages 15-35), but there were also a few older people there. I'm sure some of them were parents, but a good number of the older people were also singing along to the words, so that was pretty cool. There was a very creepy older man in front of us though, who was wearing his jacket off the shoulders and moving his body very strangely for most of the concert….uhhhh……

Anyway, A Rocket To The Moon played first. This was the second time I had seen them in concert, as they also opened for Motion City Soundtrack a couple years ago. It was nice hearing "Baby Blue Eyes" again and singing along to the " bada ba ba bada ba ba ba bada" part in "Dakota". I also thought their cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" was pretty good. There was an interesting moment when Nick (the lead singer) stopped the concert and started complaining about some girls in the crowd fighting rowdily during one of their 'chillest' songs. It was kind of funny and we saw the ladies being escorted out of the concert. "Like We Used To" actually got pretty heavy radio play in Seattle so it was nice to hear that one. But they did not play their best song, "Mr. Right"!

The All-American Rejects setlist:
I'm trusting setlist.fm for this one, since I didn't know their new album too well!

Dirty Little Secret
Beekeeper's Daughter
My Paper Heart
Fallin' Apart
Fast & Slow
I Wanna
Someday's Gone
Walk Over Me
Your Star
Swing, Swing
I for You
It Ends Tonight
Gonzo
Move Along

Encore:
Bleed Into Your Mind
Kids in the Street
Gives You Hell

AAR was great! Tyson (the lead singer) is pretty crazy though, stumbling around/falling down on the stage, saying "Chi-chi-ca-go-go-la-la-la" or something like that, and telling some pretty crude jokes. But I thought it was pretty cool when he was dancing around the stage, looking like he was playing the piano with his feet (while another band member was actually playing the piano). Was Tyson a little drunk during the performance, or is he always that entertaining?!

I really enjoyed the echoes with Tyson repeating the lyrics at the ends of some of the songs, and I also thought it was pretty effective when the band "teased" us before playing some of their most popular songs - they played the opening drum rhythm of "Move Along", and then paused and repeated it several times before actually starting the song. Therefore, I started jumping in the air a couple times, only to pause after a few seconds. :P They did a similar thing with "Gives You Hell" as well. As for the setlist, I was glad they played most of my favorites but I thought it was a little too new album-heavy. While I did enjoy some of the new songs ("I For You", "Kids In The Street"), I would have loved to hear "Stab My Back", "Dance Inside", "Mona Lisa", or "Another Heart Calls".

"Dirty Little Secret" was a great opener, and I think I gained a new appreciation of "Fallin' Apart". "Swing, Swing" really hit a chord with me tonight, and it took me back to the times when I first started getting into music. Swing swing swing from the tangles of, my heart is crushed by a former love…"I For You" was nice as was "It Ends Tonight", and "Move Along" is probably in my top 10 songs of all time. I'm pretty sure I completely lost my voice at the end of that one. :D And of course "Gives You Hell" was the way to end it…my friend and I were still singing "when you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell" as we were leaving the concert. All in all, a great experience!