Concert Review: The All-American Rejects at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
The anthemic indie-rock band let audiences in on their dirty little secret during their headlining performance at South by Southwest’s 2026 Music Opening Party, hosted by Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater on March 12.
Written by Valeria Mota
Photos by Olivia Cagle
The All-American Rejects (AAR) are an undeniable staple of 2000s rock. With a career spanning 27 years, the Oklahoman quartet is now back in full swing after a wild ‘House Party’ tour, where the band played at bowling alleys and college campuses across the Midwest. As the group gears up for the release of their fifth studio album, Sandbox, AAR graced Austin’s SXSW crowd with a headlining show at Stubb’s, bringing the audience back to the start of the century for an exhilarating performance complete with witty remarks and an erratic stage presence.
The Music Opening Party warmed up the crowd with three opening acts before AAR’s set. At 7 p.m., Bristol-based grunge quartet Grandma’s house delivered a 40-minute set with loud instrumentals and stoic delivery. The third slot, Tijuana native La Texana, was a noticeably poppier addition to the lineup, though his live gritty guitars did pack a heavier punch compared to his mellow studio recordings. Yet the standout set was sandwiched in between — FEET, an indie-rock band from Coventry, performed a high energy set that had the SXSW crowd appropriately careening their feet alongside them for the entirety of their short 30 minute slot. With their diverse sounds and limited crowd interactions, the three acts’ SXSW debut quickly built anticipation for the headlining band.
Twelve minutes after the promised 10 p.m. start, the stage lights at Stubb’s died down, making the crowd whoop with excitement. Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” boomed through the speakers, a fitting welcome song for the Austin crowd. It wasn’t long before AAR burst onto the stage by opening with one of their biggest hits, “Dirty Little Secret.” Though lead singer Tyson Ritter’s voice has inevitably aged since the track’s release in 2005, it’s clear that the band is equally happy to perform it as they had 20 years ago. The audience couldn’t have been happier as well — as blue and white lights coated the Rejects, fans did not miss a single lyric, clapping along to the bridge as Stubb’s signature marijuana smell wafted through the air.
“How the fuck we feeling tonight, people?!” a barefoot Ritter asked, prompting the crowd to cheer. As the group began to play the sprightly intro of “Fallin’ Apart,” the SXSW audience could only nod along after not recognizing the tune. It only took a bit for them to get on board with the performance, fueled completely by Ritter and guitarist Mike Kennerty’s energy. The group might be almost three decades old, but their indisputable energy makes them seem twenty years younger.
Afterwards, Ritter took a moment to address the crowd and invite them to his “fucking time machine,” though he was soon told he wasn’t allowed to curse. “It’s a clean show? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he exclaimed in disbelief, eliciting laughs from the crowd. “A clean show? At SXSW?” He jokingly corrected himself to ask the audience if they were “fricking ready to jump in [his] fricking time machine,“ but eventually just signaled the band to “turn on [his] fucking time machine.”
Ritter proceeded to dramatically trudge on stage as the band’s instrumentals mimicked futuristic machinery. He asked the Austin crowd for their voices to power the time machine, to which fans happily obliged. The comedic vocalist guided the Stubb’s crowd through the years before squarely landing on “two-thousand and frigging two.” Transported into a 2000s headspace, the time-traveling band could now perform “My Paper Heart” with heightened energy, with Ritter quipping, “How about that barbecue?” during the song’s instrumental break.
AAR’s set did include several lesser known songs, but they definitely did not forget to perform their hits. As soon as touring keyboardist Sebastian Tenorio Vallejo played the introduction to “Swing Swing,” the group’s first commercial hit, fans immediately recognized the tune and started singing along. Ritter and Kennerty fed off each other’s erratic energy while fellow guitarist Nick Wheeler finally caught up to his band members’ spirit, jumping around the stage as he thrummed his acoustic guitar.
The following track, “Search Party!”, leaned into AAR’s natural disposition for loaded guitar riffs, though the newer tune mostly received enthusiastic nods. The crowd was soon reinvigorated with the blunt “I Wanna,” where Ritter cheekily changed the lyrics from “I wanna touch you” to “I wanna fuck you” for the song’s final chorus, and an impromptu saxophone performance added a welcomed layer to the pop-punk song. Ritter praised the “sexy saxophone player” for making “squeaky sounds sound sexy” before getting closer to the audience.
“Is this an industry crowd?” he asked straight-up, eliciting laughter from fans at the barricade. “You got your stinkin’ badges,” he joked in a mock Irish accent, before continuing his tirade against SXSW’s supposedly clean show policy.
“I just kept thinking, they don’t want me to say ‘fuck’ up here, do they not allow rated R movies in the SXSW premieres?” he asked genuinely, clearly thinking out loud. “No, you got to get your parents’ permission before you go inside. I hope you all got your parents’ permission tonight,” he said to the Stubb’s audience, who whooped in approval.
“And I’m sorry if your parents are dead,” Ritter said abruptly as he walked to the back of the stage, a pure highlight of his irreverent humor. “‘Cause that might be the case for some of you old fuckers … Y’all want to get into some sexy vibes tonight?”
The constant switch in tone only made the following song, “Sweat,” all the more fun to watch. The track, which Ritter bluntly described as “a song about [him] wanting to be a stripper,” opted for more upbeat arena-rock instrumentals that helped the crowd easily learn the chorus and lean into the group’s charmingly unpredictable stage presence. Drummer Chris Gaylor and Vallejo mostly kept to themselves as they executed the song, but the energy from Ritter, Kennerty, and Wheeler alone was enough to keep the SXSW audience engaged.
Soon enough, blue lights coated the band members as they performed the significantly slower “Close Your Eyes.” Ritter stumbled across the stage as he sang the song’s harrowing lyrics: “There's these voices in my head / There's screaming words I should've said / But I don't know / I can't let go.” Ritter’s raw emotion was palpable, and while the track displayed the band’s range, the performance did not quite live up to the grandiosity of “Sweat.” The introspective track was soon forgotten, however, as the lead singer approached his mic to address the crowd once again and explained that they were going to play some “new shit.”
“I know how much everybody always looks forward to a band playing their new shit,” the Oklahoman singer joked, making the audience laugh. He quickly introduced the next song, “Get This,” and rocked out alongside the rest of the band with his Fender Mustang bass. The vigorous outro was received with hollers from the audience, cementing their approval of AAR’s “new shit.”
As “Get This” concluded, Vallejo improvised some riffs on his keyboard, making Ritter dance around like a drunken ballerina. The crowd couldn’t help but laugh at the lead singer’s antics, and neither could the band. By this point, the frontman’s absurdity had become a staple of the group’s performance, though Ritter swiftly switched gears to perform the hopeful “It Ends Tonight.” Deep purple lights covered AAR as Ritter’s earnest voice deepened the song’s sentiment. The crowd soaked in the intimate moment — One crowd member in a full suit held up his hands as if receiving a sermon at church.
Of course, Ritter was quick to return the show to its original lightheartedness. “If anyone’s going to the bar,” he announced, “I would love a fucking delicious fresh beer.” He proceeded to take a sip of the drink he already had in his hand. “It’s okay, I wouldn’t get me a fucking beer either.”
Though the crowd thoroughly enjoyed Ritter’s sarcasm throughout the night, they also welcomed his more introspective monologues. The lead singer went on to share the band’s experience playing at Austin’s now-closed Red Eyed Fly when he was 15. “We were never cool enough to get the invitation to SXSW, but I gotta say, it’s better late than never.” The crowd promptly roared with approval.
“This is a big deal for a few Oklahomans,” he admitted, though he acknowledged the bad blood between Oklahoma and Texas. “I don’t hold any sports affiliations, so I love all the Texans.” He pointed out that Kennerty is from Houston, and then concluded, “And fuck it, and I was born and raised here in Austin, Texas. The truth is out!”
Ritter continued his reflective rambling by voicing his gratitude for the success of AAR’s ‘House Party’ tour. “Somehow, it gave us a second bite of the apple, and we are fucking putting that whole thing down our throats … It tastes really sweet to deep throat that apple.” The hollers from the SXSW audience only grew as the frontman introduced “Easy Come, Easy Go,” which he dramatically described as “a song born on the backs of the summer winds.” The late 2025 release might have been a part of the band’s “new shit,” but the boisterous chorus and flashing orange lights further energized the already enthusiastic crowd.
As “Easy Come, Easy Go” concluded, the stoic Gaylor was quick to improvise some drum fills. Ritter, ever the dancer, tiptoed like a ballerina along to the fills, which teased the beginning of the Green Day-esque hit, “Move Along.” The crowd gasped in recognition of the track, and the anticipation rose as Ritter signaled the audience to make some noise, to which they happily obliged. Fans sang every word of the chorus effortlessly while Kennerty jumped around with his guitar behind the lead singer. AAR’s live rendition of “Move Along” was significantly grungier than their studio version; nevertheless, it was evident that the group enjoyed performing such an empowering track.
The band left the stage for less than two minutes, but fans were already hollering for one more song. As the Stubb’s crew members frantically rearranged the stage, it was no surprise when AAR came out for an encore. Ritter marched back onto the stage, still barefoot and with a Red Solo cup in hand. “To The All-American Rejects, may they live forever!" Ritter exclaimed before taking a big swig of his drink. The lead singer introduced the final song as “a big middle finger from 2009” and jokingly started singing the chorus of the band’s biggest hit, “Gives You Hell,” in a forced falsetto. After a bit, he simply addressed the crowd: “I hope this gives you fucking hell.”
The showcase attendees were already fully invested in the band’s performance, but they sang the loudest for the entirety of “Gives You Hell.” The band’s energy increased as the performance went on, matching the song’s growing instrumentation. The Rejects fed off the crowd’s chants and concluded their headlining performance with killer guitar riffs and fervent head-banging. The audience cheered long after the song was done, with Ritter thanking them and purposely spilling some of his beer on the stage for no apparent reason, most likely drenching his bare feet.
With a combination of newer tracks and old classics, The All-American Rejects transformed the Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater into a wild 2000s house party. Ritter’s absurd humor and the band’s endless energy perfectly set the tone for SXSW’s music showcases and gave a peek into the bright, spunky future of The All-American Rejects, may they live forever.