.png)
On October 12th, Phoenix was graced with the presence of Emo legends, “The All American Rejects”. Because of the unfortunate situation with the “When We Were Young” festival, Phoenix became the last stop on the band's “I Wanna Be” tour. Needless to say, I was super pumped to be going. My friend and fellow KAMPer Topaz and I had always dreamed of seeing them live, and this was the perfect opportunity!
The venue was within the AZ State Fair, so getting there was an experience. The show was held in the arena within the fairgrounds. Doors opened at 7, and the show started shortly after. They played for about an hour, with 9 songs on the setlist. Hits like “Gives You Hell” and “Dirty Little Secret” were obviously included, and lucky for us, the band's setlist for our venue included their new single, “Flagpole Sitta”. If you haven’t heard it yet, I highly recommend it. The song itself is super upbeat, with a bounce-y flow to both the drums and the vocals. It’s the perfect blend of their older stuff and new sounds. It really captures a kind of summer vibe, but the kind of summer spent running around causing chaos. The song is a little repetitive in its progression, but it’s not exactly an offense to the ears. I feel like it adds to the “Background of a fun summer” vibe it brings. I do really enjoy the chord progression the guitar takes in the beginning, though it kind of disappears for the rest of the song. However, I do like the position the drums take quite a bit. The drums are given a pretty large presence, seemingly second to the singer. I do wish they did something more with the drums in terms of complexity, as the basic beat adds a bit too much to the repetitiveness. This is, however, coming from someone far too used to the drums of metal, so take that idea with a grain of salt.
Overall I think the song is a fun new edition to AAM’s repertoire and something worth checking out! It’s fun to dance to and gives a good listening experience. I’m excited to see what else comes from this new era of All American Rejects!! The show itself was so much fun. I loved being able to get up close and take shots of the band. Most bands as they age kind of lose that “Spark”, and their shows become lackluster. Not AAR though. Their stage presence is amazing, and they all seemed to be genuinely having a really good time. The lead singer was barefoot the whole time, which I find hilarious. Most of the people I looked at were either singing, dancing, or overall had a smile plastered on their face. The energy was up the whole time, and it made the experience so enjoyable. The use of seats rather than having an open floor did kind of dampen things since it made it harder to actually dance, but I understand why it was done. Everything else really made up for that small disappointment. It was an amazing experience and All American Rejects definitely delivered on everything I was looking for. Long live Emo baby!!
Show Lineup: All American Rejects
Genre: Emo Pop
Venue: Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ
Date: 10/12/24
Description: explanation and analysis of the event and your rating
Reviewer Name: Kirby Ellis
Original Date of Review: 10/14/24
Commenti