Of all the bands you’d expect to have a gig shut down by the cops, the All-American Rejects probably would not be your first guess.
That’s exactly what happened last weekend, however, when a house party concert the band was doing at a college got shut down by police. Over on Instagram, All-American Rejects shared footage of a show they were playing at the University of Missouri when cops showed up to shut it down.
They did allow the Oklahoma-born band to play one more song. It was reported that one of the officers stated that he was a fan of the band and used to listen to them “a lot” when he was younger.
“The cops just shut us down,” All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter says in a social media clip to resounding boos from the crows. He then exclaims, “They said we can play one more fucking song!” while the band kicked off their finale: the 2008 hit “Gives You Hell.”
Ritter later joked, “I guess we’re getting kicked off campus.”
All-American Rejects’ Wild Backyard Gig Shut Down by Cops
Columbia Police Department’s assistant chief of police, Mark Fitzgerald, spoke with CNN about the incident. He explained that the band and their security staff—as well as the crowd—were all “very cooperative” with officers. But he reiterated that he show had to be shut down for being “in violation of several local ordinances.”
Fitzgerald went on to share that the officers who responded to the scene “listened to a couple of songs” before letting the band’s team know that their show would have to stop. “The Sergeant told me that he knew exactly who the band was and listened to them a lot while he was in college,” Fitzgerald stated.
“The Police Department would be happy to have the All-American Rejects return and play in Columbia,” he concluded, “hopefully with the proper permits and approval.”
The All-American Rejects have been playing several small, more guerrilla-style shows lately, promoting their forthcoming new album, which will be their first in 13 years. You can check out the first single, “Sandbox,” below…
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