Event Ace Enders • All-American Rejects • Shiny Toy Guns
City Chicago
State Illinois
Venue Aragon Ballroom
Date April 15, 2009
The All-American Rejects’ current headlining tour features bands with a wide variety of sounds. Ace Enders soothed the crowd with his mellower, less poppy sound. Shiny Toy Guns provided us with ear candy meant to make us dance and AAR simply brought the rock.
As an avid Early November fan, I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Early November’s bassist, Sergio Anello, was playing with Ace again. After seeing those two together tonight, I knew my opinion of Ace’s performance would be completely biased – so it might not mean much when I say that I absolutely loved his performance. Enders writes thoughtful songs with catchy melodies, but doesn’t load it down with sweeter, more pop-rock sounds. I see him as an artist who genuinely loves what he is doing, and does not try to put up a front of being anything but who you see on stage. If it wasn’t obvious yet, I have a soft spot for Ace Enders. Enders opened with the song “Rain,” which he sang with such emotion that I couldn’t help but smile throughout the whole song. He openly admits that his song “Bring Back Love (The Year 2020)” is the cheesiest song ever, but it still left a nice impact when he exited the stage to the crowd singing the word “love” in unison.
Shiny Toy Guns were up next and brought a massive amount of energy with them on stage. From their flashy lights and fog machines, to the beats that pulse in unison with the lights, everything is in your face all the time for Shiny Toy Guns. Stand out songs were “Ricochet,” “Don’t Cry Out,” and the always-popular “You Are The One.” If you are looking to get out and dance for thirty minutes, I recommend stopping by for Shiny Toy Guns’ set on this tour.
The All-American Rejects drew out a very diverse crowd, which surprised me. Their sugary sweet poppy version of rock wouldn’t be something I would expect a lot of big, burly men would listen to, and yet there they were, sprinkled within the young kids and their parents. However, The All-American Rejects put on a performance that could attract all sorts of folks. Despite the younger audience that the band attracts, frontman Tyson Ritter’s talk was openly vulgar, and he seemed to have no problems assaulting the virginal ears of his young fans. He kept up a pure “rock star” persona through the entire show, which all in all made the performance better. He even taunted fans by telling them “they’d have to motherfucking wait” for the band’s smash hit, “Gives You Hell.” Ritter’s antics on stage were humorous. His dance moves were out of the ordinary, and he spent an entire song on the floor singing. However drunken he might have appeared, his voice was on point and the crowd ate up everything he dished out like they were starving.
All-American Reject’s set had all the favorites, from their earliest hit “Swing, Swing,” to favorites such as “Dirty Little Secret,” “It Ends Tonight,” and “Move Along,” from the band’s second release. The All-American Rejects kept up a non-stop energy, which made for an enjoyable evening.
Check out our full sets of Ace Enders and Shiny Toy Guns concert photos.
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[linkedtext link = "http://www.myspace.com/shinytoyguns"]www.myspace.com/shinytoyguns----escape_autolink_uri:029853a45488d4672ac69a93f80684fd----
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- By ASHLEY SNIDER – Photos © ANNETTE ESSEY, AARON HALSTROM
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