You might remember the alt-rock band The All-American Rejects and lead singer Tyson Ritter from their handful of turn of the century hits such as “Dirty Little Secret.” As University of Missouri seniors graduated Sunday, the band played the latest in a series of pop-up shows it’s been doing — at people’s houses.
Here's how the secret spilled:
Michaela Bailey, co-music director, KCOU: We got a message from our General Manger John Sansone on Slack, saying that he received an email from the managers just inquiring about can we do this. We said absolutely, and it needs to be at our house.
Lily Frank, tenant: In the last hour, I have been trying to get people to eat the rest of the falafel from my graduation party. And then trying to get this tour bus backed into my driveway. And then trying to find rugs or plywood and some cardboard to set up a set up for the All-American Rejects, who are playing at my house tonight.
Tyson Ritter, lead singer, The All-American Rejects: The whole thing about this has been sort of like this weird synchronistic happenstance of reactivity. We played this random house party, and it was like, of all the shows we played in the last 10 years, it was, like this big wake up call to the reality of, “Oh, this is why we started doing this.” We played in house shows. We played backyards, VFWs and I just told my manager, I go, "That worked, let's do that."
Aj Ruch, concertgoer: I’m from Perryville, Missouri. We drove like three hours to come see them, and we just walked around until we found their address. Yeah, followed the music and found them.
Ritter: “I think the Midwest is blessed. And a lot of bands don't come to Columbia, Missouri or Ames, Iowa or Green Bay, Wisconsin. They go to the major cities. They plant their flag in a giant arena. You pay $1,000 for you and your friend to go see him.
Bourbon Larue, concertgoer: I think that art in general needs to be more accessible to everybody. Whether that’s free or pay what you want type of prices. It’s getting seriously out of control with how much venues charge bands to actually come in, which passes that price onto the consumer.
Ritter, to crowd: The cops just shut us down.
Crowd: Boos.
Via Amos, singer, The Park: What I hope people take away, not just from tonight, but like their tour as a whole, is that this era of live music never went away. Like it's still here. It's still happening. It's open to everyone, and it's happening all over the country with so many great bands. Like, your favorite band is probably playing in Kyle's basement.
Ritter, to crowd: They said we could play one more song.
Crowd: Cheers.
Bailey: Everyone has to be a community member. It takes work to be a community member. And moments like this, moments of enjoyment, moments of togetherness, sharing memories. This is what keeps people coming back to CoMo. This is what keeps CoMo artful. This is what keeps CoMo relevant. And I’m so happy to be part of it.