The All-American Rejects Throw a House Party for the Ages in Nashville

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There was no way the All-American Rejects could have expected the week they’ve had. Since early May, the pop-rock band has been putting on DIY shows in a bunch of unexpected locations — from bowling alleys to corn fields. The lively crowds from each performance recall house parties from aughts movies and have since gone viral online, making the All-American Rejects’ impromptu sets the can’t-miss show of the season.

The band’s final house party show in Nashville almost didn’t happen. On Wednesday, a few hours before the All-American Rejects took the stage, someone had leaked the address of the party, leading to 16,000 RSVPs — tripling the attendees from their previous set in Columbia, Missouri, where the cops were called. The band was forced to limit the capacity of attendees due to security reasons.

“We were just kind of hoping it didn’t get shut down,” Tyson Ritter tells Rolling Stone the day after the performance. Luckily, the Nashville party continue as planned, with a manageable number of attendees. Fans who couldn’t get in still found ways to go all-out and cheer on the band: Some ripped through a neighbor’s fence to get a better view and others were purchasing ladders to get a glimpse of the raucous crowd.

“To see a crowd actually engaged that made me actually feel like I would want to play Nashville again,” Ritter said, adding, “You usually just don’t get that connection.”

Rolling Stone dove into the chaos to capture the Rejects’ latest house party.