Many bands heading towards a three-decade career may well have run out of steam and be past their best; some with just one (or less!) original members and in it for the pay cheque.
Churning out their hits like a juke box and no new stuff for a long time. Appealing only to the die-hard fan.
So when US pop-punk veterans The All-American Rejects announced “The Recess Tour”; a bunch of European dates and two UK headliners, plus a slot at Download, maybe there were some who expected a nostalgic trip down memory lane and an enjoyable hour or so, but likely nothing to shout about.
Well, they’d be wrong. Saturday the band wowed the huge crowd at the Download Festival in Leicestershire, before a cracking sold out show on Sunday in Manchester,.
And last night selling out the 2,300 capacity 02 Forum in London to a very, very enthusiastic crowd, with an utterly sizzling 17-song set from across their catalogue – including material from their brand new album.
Setlist
Swing, Swing
Fallin’ Apart
My Paper Heart
One More Sad Song
Get This
I Wanna
Sweat
Search Party!
Stab My Back
Dirty Little Secret
Green Isn’t Yellow
(Acoustic)
There’s a Place
(Acoustic)
Kids in the Street
It Ends Tonight
Move Along
Encore:
Easy Come, Easy Go
(Tyson Ritter song)
Gives You Hell
Just three songs in the set from their fifth album”Sandbox”, which dropped 15th May, their first album for 14 years. Eighth song of the set “Search Party”, then 11th up “Green Isn’t Yellow” and first of the two-song encore “Easy Come, Easy Go”. “Sandbox” is the follow-up to their 2012 record, “Kids In The Street”.
A fan in the crowd had created a makeshift sign and threw it frisbee style direct to Tyson on stage. Requesting “picks” (aka guitar plectrums) and the setlist as mementoes of the gig. Tyson comments on the image on the card of guitarist Nick, saying it was “freaky” how they’d turned him into Jesus! Not sure if the guy got his picks and setlist.
This was their first London gig since 2012, when they played the O2 Arena with Blink 182. They did perform at the Slam Dunk festival in Hertfordshire in 2024.
The core of the band is Tyson Ritter on lead vocals and bass, Nick Wheeler on guitar. Plus Mike Kennerty on rhythm guitar and Chris Gaylor on drums. The live band is a five-piece with the addition of Sebastian Tenorio-Vallejo on keyboards.
Back in late 2025, singer Tyson was under doctor’s orders for vocal rest, which saw the band pull out of the remaining dates on The Jonas Brothers’ tour as opening act. But here in London, his voice was fully intact and he and the lads were firing on all cylinders.
The band formed in 1999 in Oklahoma after Tyson met Nick at a high school party and began writing songs together. Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor joined in 2002.
Coming to this venue triggered memories of sitting in the queue to see New Found Glory here some 20+ years ago. No support band this time, but there was a DJ who played a banging set of set of emo and pop punk classics; including “Teenage Dirtbag”, “Greenday’s “Holiday”, Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Going Down” and a mass sing-along to My Chemical Romance’s “Black Parade”.
So the fans were well up for it when AAR arrived on stage at bang on 8.30pm. The vibe really was electric. Tyson Ritter teased the crowd; they cheered as he faced them, he’d then face away and they’d go quieter, then face back to them to another cheer. Each of the front three members had their own rug on stage, with Tyson barefoot for the show.
“Swing, Swing” kicked things off in style and loud appreciation, the band full of energy and movement around the quite dark stage, before the lights came up for second song, “Fallin’ Apart”. Lots of arms in the air through much of the set, and for song # 10 the former banger of a single, “Dirty Little Secret” exploded and the crowd went wild.
A younger crowd than I expected and good to see the band are still picking up new fans some 27 years since they started. Lots of AAR tee shirts in the crowd, and plenty of eyeliner and fishnet tights; or was that just me?
For London, they dropped three songs from their Manchester show’s setlist: “King Kong”, “Fast and Slow” and “I’m Waiting”.
The guitar solo from Nick in “Sweat” was raw and raucous, while Mr Ritter threw some shapes around the stage. I enjoyed “‘Get This” with its funky bassline from Tyson, and Sebastian swapping keyboard for acoustic guitar.
The brace of encore songs began with “Easy Come, Easy Go” which induced mass bouncing, before the closing song of the night, “Gives You Hell”, ended proceedings with a roof-raising singalong.
For those who have not dug deep into this band’s back catalogue, here’s their album discography: “The All-American Rejects” (2002), “Move Along” (2005), “When the World Comes Down” (2008), “Kids in the Street” (2012), and “Sandbox” in May this year.
The new record “signals a triumphant new chapter fuelled by renewed energy, perspective, and a healthy dose of chaos”. Produced by frontman Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist Nick Wheeler, and Scott Chesak, Sandbox “captures the band at their most self-assured and creatively unfiltered”. Led by Ritter’s songwriting, the album balances the band’s signature anthemic hooks with a sharper, more reflective perspective shaped by time, growth, and the chaos of adulthood.
“The record touches on themes of reconciling youth, finally having to stand on your own two feet as an adult, and facing the outside world,” says Tyson. “Sandbox has helped me survive in this modern age – not only where I am in my life, but in the world.”
The band clearly isn’t chasing relevance, trends, or radio hits. Instead, they’re grounded in the truth of who they are as a “blue-collar rock band” that never quite fit a scene but persevered anyway.
In London last night, they were in their own lane and delivering a live set that had all the energy and power of a band at their peak, and nowhere near slowing down or jaded after almost three decades. Candidate for gig of the year?
- Upcoming dates: June 18th: Tilburg, Netherlands, June 19th: Paris, Bataclan.
Photos by Liam Battersby
Words by Liam Battersby & Steve Best
*Band portrait photo: PR-supplied
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