All-American Rejects
Edgefest 12
Dallas, Texas

The Okie heart throbs of the All-American Rejects kicked off Edgefest 12 Texas style. Singer Tyson Ritter came out singing "Paper Heart" through a loudspeaker to get the full effect. Although there was not a huge crowd, the people that were there were very supportive. After about two songs the crowd surfing finally kicked in and beach balls started flying. Drummer Chris Gaylor kept a good beat while Ritter belted out their first single "Swing Swing". The crowd really got into this one, and guitarist Nick Wheeler and bassist Mike Kennerty, were rocking right along with him head banging through every song. To get the crowd even more involved, Tyson changed the words of a song to "I want to see this group on their feet, come on Dallas!"

After all of the excitement of water bottles dashing from the stage to the fans, beach balls flying on stage, and Ritter sticking his tongue out every chance he got, the band ended with the very appropriate, newly released hit "The Last Song". The Rejects had a great performance overall, and the people of Dallas loved them. Edgefest 12 would not have been the same without AAR in the 2003 line-up.

-Ashley Blackmon
bandchat.org Correspondent