The All-American Rejects Come “Home” to Vegas

It’s been 23 years since “Swing, Swing” graced our eardrums, or in my case came wafting out of the stereo down the hall in our home and made my ears perk up. Luckily for all of us, The All-American Rejects have been making music that when it hits the eardrums, it makes you want to get up sing along and dance ever since.

The first time I saw them live was when they were the opener for Dashboard Confessional at The Pearl back in 2017 (co-Founder Stephy’s coverage of that night can be found here ) and I was so disappointed when no encore happened and so no “Gives You Hell” (yah I love that song) that night- alas.. but that show over all was excellent! The last time we ZRockR folk were blessed to catch AAR was back in 2022 when they played a sold-out show during the cancelled When We Were Young weekend at Soulbelly BBQ ( Former ZRockR staffer Nikkita covered that one which you can read more here ), and we have been eagerly awaiting their return since. Unfortunately, we missed their last-minute free show on Fremont Street, but that’s okay! The guys came back to their home away from home (we are sure Vegas is a bit more fun than Oklahoma anyway… well… a different fun I’ll put it that way… ) and yet again, AAR blew the roof off of the place; this time being at the theater in the Virgin Hotel & Casino.

It was a packed house with folks of all ages; the Gen Z’rs in the crowd danced along to newer songs like “Kids in the Street” off of their 2012 album with the same name, millennials threw on their Converse (or Vans) and skinny jeans to jump around to the more old school songs like “My Paper Heart” and “One More Sad Song” off of their self-titled 2002 release, and even some early Gen X folks were spotted in the crowd as well, who likely knew of the band thanks to either siblings or their kids playing “Swing, Swing” or “It Ends Tonight” on a loop in their younger years. Hell, we are sure some folks even were there due to hearing AAR’s cover of Harvy Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta”, which came out in September of last year. We wish they would’ve played that live! It’s a great cover. I am one of those people who became a fan thanks to my millennial kid who played their 1st album over and over- in all honesty, AAR are probably the one band of all the ones she listened to back then that I enjoyed as much as she did! Talented guys playing just fun music! (Not for nothing, I will ALWAYS scream along to “Gives You Hell”). So having the chance to cover these guys and my millennial be the one shooting the show- kinda brings things full circle I think!

From the minute the band hit the stage, opening up with “Dirty Little Secret” (another personal favorite) off of 2005’s Move Along, to the encore of “Gives You Hell” off of 2008’s When the World Comes Down, the crowd did not stop moving. Every single word was sung along with the band, and it was nonstop high energy. One of the biggest highlights of the show, just proving how awesome these dudes are as humans, was when Ritter pulled two young girls up on stage, both who were celebrating their birthdays, to have the crowd sing “Happy Birthday” before going into “Mona Lisa”.

Vocalist/Bassist Tyson Ritter runs around the stage interacting with the crowd, not in a commanding way, but in such a way that you almost forget that there’s a stage between you and the band. He jokes around with members of the crowd in a flirtatious and entertaining way, making you feel like you’ve been long lost friends meeting up at a party. Guitarist Nick Wheeler is hard to keep an eye on because he runs around even more than Ritter, never missing a note. Filling out the rest of the band is drummer Chris Gaylor and rhythm guitarist/backing vocal Mike Kennerty. You’d never know Gaylor and Kennerty aren’t “original” members. The guys have been there essentially since the beginning, so they basically are at this point.

AAR often joke whenever they book a Vegas show that they are coming “home”, and honestly, we can’t wait for another visit. (As I am probably old enough to be Tyson’s Mom, should I bake a cake next time?) They are absolutely honorary Las Vegans in our book, and we love having them here! Til the next one!

Setlist.

Dirty Little Secret
Fallin’ Apart
My Paper Heart
One More Sad Song
Beekeeper’s Daughter
Sandbox
I Wanna
Sweat
Close Your Eyes
Kids in the Street
Swing, Swing
Mona Lisa
It Ends Tonight
Move Along
Encore: Gives You Hell

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos by Stephy Muzio (Hayward) for ZRockR Magazine – All Rights Reserved