All-American Rejects Woo Young Girls

Phoenix Concert Theatre

Toronto, ON

on Apr 22 2009

Stephanie Joudrey (CHARTattack)

04/23/2009 1:52pm

I clearly didn't fully appreciate how popular The All-American Rejects have become over their eight years together. The lineup outside the Phoenix just kept going and stretched all the way north to Wellesley Street. Even without counting the more than a few people in line who didn't realize the Lily Allen show had been moved to a different venue, the club was still packed.

Shiny Toy Guns went on about 20 minutes late, perhaps to give people a chance to get in, and received a warm reception. Unfortunately, they didn't deliver. The band shared vocals between Chad Petree and new female singer Sisely Treasure. While Petree's voice sounded alright, Treasure proved she can't sing without studio trickery.

Treasure can't really dance either, but she insisted on bouncing around in blue spandex and doing moves from '80s music videos. Treasure and keyboardist/bassist Jeremy Dawson switched instruments between every song, which created a clumsy lack of continuity that definitely dampened the crowd's spirits.

The guys in Shiny Toy Guns should ditch the chick and start a cool electronic indie band where Petree can shine and they can get some real on-stage chemistry going. This version of the band just doesn't work and all the smoke machines in the world won't hide that.

All was forgiven when the lights went out and the girls started screaming for The All-American Rejects' entrance. Predictably, they jumped right in with "I Wanna." The song is about wanting to touch someone and, for about three minutes, we got to see frontman Tyson Ritter touch someone — himself.

That sexual energy makes Ritter a far better frontman than you'd expect. You were probably immune if you were of legal drinking age, but the endless sexual innuendos Ritter threw out definitely scored with the little girls in the crowd. He whined, cooed, hollered "baby" a lot and called the audience sexy between every song to the point where it was getting a little creepy. It's fun to see kids corrupted by rock 'n' roll, but when Ritter hummed low into the mic to make the floors vibrate to "get you off with his sexual bass," it was probably the point where sexy met silly.

When Ritter wasn't hitting on minors, the band put on a decent show. They were dressed for summer and ran around on stage showing off every rock star move and stance in the book. Guitarist Mike Kennerty thrashed his long hair around like he was in a metal band instead of playing the poppy single "Dirty Little Secret."

The band brought out chairs for an acoustic section midway through their set. Ritter sat on the edge of the stage with a keyboard to sing "Mona Lisa" and then walked through the crowd crooning "It Ends Tonight." It was cool for those in the front, but anyone in the back of the venue basically stared at an empty stage for two songs.

The Rejects eventually brought the whole crowd back on board with a spirited version of "Gives You Hell." This single is damn catchy and everyone — young, old and drunk — sang along.

That would have been the perfect way to end the set, but they added one last tune: "The Wind Blows." The song is probably more interesting than the rest of AAR's catalogue, but it doesn't work well as a closer or the soundtrack to parents dragging their kids out of a show before the music stops to beat the rush.

People don't go to an All-American Rejects concert expecting anything epic. They go for a bit of a guilty pleasure and, if you're a 16-year-old girl, some wide-eyed flirtation. The All-American Rejects successfully delivered on both counts.