Music
All-American Rejects a good choice for nostalgic WILD
Social Programming Board’s dirty little secret is out: the All-American Rejects will be playing Brookings Quadrangle next month.
I don’t know about anyone else, but my middle school dreams are coming true. When the All-American Rejects first gained popularity in 2003, most of us were still in grade school. By the time they released the album that spawned “Dirty Little Secret,” “Move Along” and “It Ends Tonight,” we were starting to develop our individual music tastes. When “Gives You Hell” would not stop playing on our moms’ car radios, America’s teenagers faithfully memorized the lyrics to sing after our first breakups.
The headliners of the last five years have primarily been rappers, electronic duos or DJs. In other words, it has been quite a while since a good, old-fashioned drum set has graced the Brookings stage. The announcement of a real rock band—and one engrained in popular culture, to boot— has registered very positively with students.
“I listened to the All-American Rejects from the time I was approximately eight years old until approximately now,” freshman Helen Fox laughed. “They remind me of shaking my booty to ‘Move Along,’ just weeks ago.”
And while the nostalgia factor is certainly high, other students are just glad they’ve heard songs from the headliner before.
“I did not know any songs from the fall WILD artist, and [I] am a lot more excited to sing along this time,” freshman Gianna Finz commented.
The All-American Rejects’ latest studio album was back in 2012, and though the band has written some new material in the four year interim, they know to stick to the oldies. Looking at the handful of gigs the band officially played in 2015, the favorites are always in the set-list. So don’t worry, you will get to yell, “When you see my face/hope it gives you hell!” in the general direction of anyone you want.
And if an early 2000s garage band isn’t your style? Don’t worry; the Knocks will be playing the traditional EDM set-list to warm up the crowd. Relatively new, young and known for remixes and DJ sets, the duo is perfect for those who just want the WILD dance party experience. Besides, the mixture of musical styles helps keep WILD from getting stale—giving students options is one of the best ways Social Programming Board ensures people end up making it to Brookings Quadrangle.
So get excited for Friday, April 29. Tell the last classes of the semester to move along (last pun, I promise), and go relive your middle school music choices. It might be the first WILD in a long time at which people lose their voices screaming along.