Beyoncé rode a vintage car through the air &#8212; but does that hold a candle to getting busted by the cops while playing a Columbia, Missouri, house party?
In an era where over-the-top concerts and sky-high ticket prices dominate headlines, The All-American Rejects are taking a different approach. The pop-punk band, which rose to fame in the early 2000s, is reconnecting with fans on their House Party Tour, which brings the band to intimate, fan-suggested venues. 
Frontman Tyson Ritter explained the motivation behind this unconventional approach.
&#8220;I recently read something about people financing festival tickets, the complete inaccessibility of the concert experience in 2025, and how it&#8217;s juxtaposed against these wild and weird economic times,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/all-american-rejects-interview-house-party-tour.html#:~:text=%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20says.-,%E2%80%9CI%20recently%20read%20something%20about%20people%20financing%20festival%20tickets%2C%20the,our%20shows%20can%20still%20work.%E2%80%9D">Vulture</a> in a recent interview.
This realization led to the band investing their own money to bring live music directly to fans.
&#8220;We took $50,000 out of our own pockets, booked a bus,” Ritter explained. “For me, it was that we could find an opening and an opportunity as four guys from Oklahoma who didn’t come from much.&#8221;
&#8220;I was raised in a trailer house, my first concert was sitting on my porch listening to a band that was playing at an outdoor pavilion,” Ritter added, noting that the backyard tour is also a form of protest against the music industry status quo.
“It was like, this is the reason people are showing up. It’s the have-nots and have-littles in the middle-of-nowhere America who keep the lights on for our country. They’re often drive-through states for many of these big tours. Who’s playing Ames, Iowa? Who’s playing Green Bay, Wisconsin? Unless it’s a big arena with the big old sponsor,” he told the outlet.
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“You’re seeing it now where these giant artists — I’m not going to say her name — aren’t really selling out their shows anymore, and they pay for these arenas to make it look like they did,” Ritter added. “The first 25% of the arena gets sold from people buying $300 tickets, and they don’t even know that the local promoter is getting hundreds of free tickets to fill the rest of the venue.”
The House Party Tour has taken off in a large part because younger concertgoers never got to experience intimate concerts. And since Gen Z is all about nostalgia, they were eager to latch onto something they’d heard about, but had never got to try firsthand.
“We did a show in LA that was the kind that you have to do when promoting new music. It left a sour taste in our mouths and in this giant gorilla of an industry we’re clawing our way back into, we decided to put on a show the next day,” Ritter told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/05/21/all-american-rejects-singer-tyson-ritter-pop-up-shows-interview/83777418007/">USA Today</a>, adding that the band first played at the home of a University of Southern California student with just five hours notice.
He added, “We start playing and there were [40 ounce bottles of beer] hoisted in the air and people crowd surfing. I looked into some of their eyes and I saw a rite of passage moment was happening. That they’re going, ‘I saw pictures of my parents doing this, but I never got to.’”
Ritter said the band recaptured a feeling from long ago. “We felt cool,” he told Vulture.
“So after that night, we all put our heads together to see what would be possible. My wife’s getting ready to bring our second child into the world, and she’s due in a week and a half. I told my manager, ‘What if we do as many as we can in this week-and-a-half space? Let’s do it the same way we did when we started out. Let’s reach out to college radio stations and local businesses. Let’s ask for a $5 donation at the door.’ It was that simple.”
Since then, the Rejects have performed in a variety of unconventional venues, including a Minneapolis bowling alley and fans&#8217; backyards in “flyover states” like Iowa and Missouri. These pop-up shows emphasize spontaneity and a return to the communal spirit of live music.
Despite not making money hand over fist like other artists charging hundreds or even thousands of dollars per ticket, the band has been prioritizing connection with fans over profit. And they’re finding new fans in addition to the millennials who remember viral hits from the early aughts like “Swing Swing,” “Move Along,” and “Gives You Hell.”
In the case of getting <a href="https://people.com/all-american-rejects-backyard-gig-shut-down-by-cops-11741776">busted by the police</a> while performing at the University of Missouri, the patrol sergeant admitted to listening to The All-American Rejects in college and allowed the band to play “one more song” before the party had to disperse.
Their choice? The viral 2008 jam “Gives You Hell.&#8221; Obviously.
The House Party Tour coincides with the release of &#8220;Sandbox,&#8221; the band&#8217;s first new song in almost 14 years. They will be opening for the Jonas Brothers on an actual stage beginning on August 10, but for now, they’re gaining fans and publicity by proving they don’t think they’re too good for a classic middle America roller rink.
And instead of being embarrassed or feeling like it’s beneath them, the band is proud of the route they’ve chosen. “This is going to be a feather we fly in our cap, and we’re going to Yankee Doodle as far as we can go,” Ritter said. “I felt like I was watching an echo of a yesterday that got me into doing this.”

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This Pop-Rock Band Ditched Pyrotechnics For Middle America Porch Parties

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Lizzo announced she’s been picked to play rock-and-roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe when she makes her lead acting debut in a new biopic about the gospel singer.
In a post on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DHlw_1rP0-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a>, the 36-year-old singer/rapper &#8212; born Melissa Jefferson &#8212; said she was excited to finally be able to share the role she landed in Amazon’s MGM Studios&#8217; film, titled “Rosetta.”
&#8220;Black people made rock n roll yeaaaah,” Lizzo wrote, adding on her <a href="https://people.com/lizzo-lands-first-lead-acting-role-as-rock-star-rosetta-tharpe-i-m-so-excited-and-honored-11702324?taid=67e1a8ea142e3e00010ce375&amp;utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&amp;utm_content=new&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com">Instagram Story</a>, &#8220;It&#8217;s finally out ya&#8217;ll. I&#8217;m so excited and honored.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🎶Black people made rock n roll yeaaaah🎶 <a href="https://t.co/B4Vpa53rC4">pic.twitter.com/B4Vpa53rC4</a>
— LIZZO (@lizzo) <a href="https://twitter.com/lizzo/status/1904219256457461807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
For the part, the four-time Grammy award winner will take on the role of the gospel singer who is credited with being one of the first artists to appeal to both rock n’ roll and R&amp;B audiences, <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/03/lizzo-rosetta-amazon-mgm-studio-1236347889/">Deadline</a> noted.
Gaining popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, Tharpe’s work with the electric guitar and spiritual lyrics got her the title of “Godmother of rock and roll,” the outlet noted.
Natalie Chaidez (&#8220;The Flight Attendant,&#8221; &#8220;Queen of the South&#8221;) and Kwynn Perry (&#8220;Tigerbelles,&#8221; &#8220;The Burned Photo&#8221;) are writing the screenplay. Producers on the project include Lizzo, Kevin Beisler, and Significant Productions’ Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker, the outlet added.
There is no word yet on a director, The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lizzo-rosetta-tharpe-biopic-amazon-mgm-1236171384/?taid=67e197b32a0fbf0001c9f60c&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">Hollywood Reporter</a> noted.
The singer previously appeared on the big screen in Jennifer Lopez’ “Hustlers” in 2019 when she played the role of a stripper named Liz, <a href="https://people.com/lizzo-lands-first-lead-acting-role-as-rock-star-rosetta-tharpe-i-m-so-excited-and-honored-11702324?taid=67e1a8ea142e3e00010ce375&amp;utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&amp;utm_content=new&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com">People magazine</a> noted.
Lizzo recently took to social media and wrote a series of <a href="https://x.com/lizzo">posts</a> claiming poor treatment of famous black rockstars, ahead of the news on Monday about her movie.
“I think seeing and hearing a black woman make real music with radical joy triggers miserable people… but I follow in the footsteps of Janet, of Funkadelic, of Earth Wind and Fire… nobody’s doing it like me for Us,” the rapper <a href="https://x.com/lizzo/status/1901752174323155058">wrote</a>. &#8220;And I stand on that.”
“Aretha [Franklin] &amp; Whitney [Houston] got backlash for being ‘too pop’ and they kept going… and so will I,” she added. “I’m out here reclaiming rock n roll for US…”
“The way this world treats black women is sickening… blacklisted Janet and now 20yrs later y&#8217;all calling her music ‘cute black girl bops’ &amp; giving her flowers… Dogged Whitney for her love life &amp; called her a drug addict for laughs but now y’all wanna honor her,” Lizzo continued. “Y’all laughed at Tina’s abuse and never let her forget… The least protected person in America…”
In August 2024, Lizzo said she was that taking a hiatus from the limelight after multiple <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lawsuit">lawsuits</a> were filed against her starting in 2023 by former employees, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lizzo-said-shes-taking-a-gap-year-following-harassment-lawsuit-drama">reported</a>.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lizzo-walks-back-rage-quit-in-new-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lizzo Walks Back Rage Quit In New Post</a>

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This Pop-Rock Band Ditched Pyrotechnics For Middle America Porch Parties

Lizzo Picked To Play Rock-N-Roll Pioneer In Biopic