Tyson Ritter, the lead singer of the band All-American Rejects, performed with the band Wednesday night in the A&S Auditorium as part of a concert sponsored by Concerts and Convocations.
I was pleased last night when, despite many of us having class in the morning, and winter weather making driving up hill feel like a slip and slide, there was a large crowd at the All American Rejects and Boys Like Girls concert.
There is something about waiting in line in the snow that made the concert extra special. After being cold going in the Arts and Sciences Auditorium felt like a cozy treat.
The opening band Parachute was better than I expected. It is an unspoken rule that the first opening band is there to make the headlining band appear better, but Parachute was entertaining to watch. The band had lots of energy but they sounded like a typical young band.
Their songs felt rushed, and musically nothing stood out. The lead singer at one point stuck his foot out as he was playing the piano and jumped from a speaker, in a move that added little to the music, but made the audience cheer. Overall, they are fun to watch and I hope after they are signed to a major label they will make their debut as a well-liked all-male pop group.
Boys Like Girls stole the show. After an awkward half-an-hour set change, in which I discovered that there are double doors that open from the stage directly outside, the band came on full of energy and played a set mixed with some of their well known hits and a few slower numbers.
They were able to capture the audience with their simple lyrics and catchy guitar riffs. They brought two guys on stage to dance topless a moment that reminded me of the movie Magic Mike. It was refreshing to see men viewed as sex symbols for a change.
During the final song of their set the singer stopped the song and light show to call someone out for looking at the show through the recording on their phone and not enjoying the band. It just goes to show that there are people out there who would rather go to a concert and worry about posting it on the Internet instead of dancing and having fun.
The Concerts and Convocations RSO did a fantastic job of organizing and running the concert. They were taking tickets and I could not help but notice they also helped change the stage from one band to another. The concert was an excellent mid-week treat that showed that the weather might be changing, but UW can still host an excellent concert.
