The All American Rejects and Matt Toka Mobile, Alabama 11/14/12

I was sitting in math class one day and I got an email from my mom saying “What are we doing wed November 14?” I was a little confused because that was a Wednesday, but I answered and said that we were not doing anything. Her response? “All American Rejects at Soul Kitchen. Be there or be square =D” I jumped out of my seat in the middle of class. I was so excited because I had not seen them since 2009 and I was feeling deprivation. Of course, knowing my luck, I was sick on the day of the show, but that did not stop me. I left school and went straight to Mobile. When I got there, I stood in line for a little while then I got in and got my underage bracelet and stood in another line. The security guy let us in the room and my mom and I headed for the barricade. The first guy was Matt Toka. I was absolutely amazed by how good he was. He is one of those guys that will one day be responsible for the punk rock revival. He had so much energy and ran around the venue like he owned the place. I did not know any of his songs other than the Nirvana cover of Courtney. I got to meet him after his set and he was just… awesome. I cannot think of another adjective to describe him. If he ever comes back to Alabama, I will be attending.

Then it was time for All American Rejects. Gosh, I was so stoked. Tyson walked onto the stage and he was just as beautiful as could be. They opened with Dirty Little Secret. The opening guitar to that song really set the standard for how the rest of the night would turn out. They followed that with

Fallin’ Apart

My Paper Heart (Written about a girl from Alabama. “This song goes out to Anna Banana *gives a fake address*)

Beekeeper’s Daughter (My Favorite! AHH!)

I Wanna

Walk Over Me

Fast and Slow

Swing, Swing (Told a story about writing this album in his grandmothers attic in her run-down trailer)

Mona Lisa

It End’s Tonight

Gonzo

Move Along

Kids In The Street

Heartbeat Slowing Down

Gives You Hell

During the show, Tyson told the crowd about how he was from Oklahoma, but in 1995 when the Alabama Football Team was on a winning streak (ROLL TIDE!), his dad wanted to piss off his neighbor, so he spray painted a huge Alabama “A” on their trashcan. His neighbor was really pissed and Tyson said, “ Yeah, my dad is a bad-ass!” Closer to the end of the show, Matt (formerly of Taking Back Sunday) and Tyson had a bass-off where they tried to see who was the better bass player. Tyson played the theme song from Top Gun and then started calling himself old because most of the people in the crowd did not know it. Matt followed him with the Nintendo theme song and the crowd went insane. Tyson then made a comment about needing an extra life after that one and the keyboard player (Cheese) played the extra life tune. All I could do was laugh. At one point, Tyson tripped and he fell on his butt. Even though he kept singing, I could tell he was hurt. Before they played Heartbeat Slowing Down, Tyson said that it was the first song they ever all agreed on as a band and that it was incredible. After the show I got to meet Matt and I got a picture with him. I drove home and I could barely talk because obviously smoking bars, sinus infections, and screaming your lungs out are not a good mix. If given the option, I would do it all over again.