Denver’s Summit Music Hall hosted a trio of bands Sunday night. Parachute, Boys Like Girls and The All-American Rejects played to a crowd of teenage fans or those reliving earlier years.
The show opened with Parachute, which performed an energy-raising set list and brought the crowd together in a thrilling opener. In the excitement, lead vocalist Will Anderson jumped on his keyboard, causing the stand to collapse. However, like any true performer, he got up, still in tune with the rest of the band, remarking, “I don’t need a keyboard stand anyway.” For the rest of the band’s performance he played the keys right on the floor.
The crowd soaked up Kit French’s saxophone solo in “Something to Believe In,” cheering and screaming as he blasted the instrument, sandwiched between electric guitars. Although those in attendance were less familiar with Parachute’s lyrics, they played off of Anderson’s energy and were thoroughly warmed up for Boys Like Girls’ entrance.
Boy Like Girls opened with a heart-pumping rendition of “The Great Escape,” getting the crowd prepped and ready for the entertaining set to come. Lead singer Martin Johnson seemed to be enjoying himself as he interacted with the crowd, even singing a song to one girl in the crowd, commenting, “Blondie you’re cute.”
As the show progressed, the group moved toward older songs, much to the crowd’s delight. “Hero/Heroine,” “Five Minutes to Midnight” and “Heels Over Head and Thunder” were among the audience’s favorites, eliciting the biggest response. Johnson, obviously a fan of having the crowd involved with performances, invited a member of the crowd up to the stage to dance and excite the crowd during the band’s performance of “Life of the Party.”
When it came time to perform “Two is Better than One,” which usually features Taylor Swift, Johnson asked the crowd who knew her part, followed by numerous ear piercing screams. After some of the noise died down, one member of the audience was chosen to sing female vocals.
As their performance came to a close, the band started to play a fan favorite “Love Drunk,” but not before Johnson stopped abruptly, telling the crowd to put away phones and cameras and to rock the last song old school. After completing the song pre-social media style, the band finished with a cover of “Hey Jude” while the crowd sung along to a great finish.
Opening with a dramatic entrance, The All-American Rejects was the climax to the crowd’s night. The band began with the well-known “Dirty Little Secret,” which had everyone jumping and screaming the lyrics. The crowd clearly responded well to lead singer Tyson Ritter’s eccentric attitude and crazy dance moves. Often he asked the women to sing one part while the men sang another, actively engaging the crowd in his performance.
The band played a packed set list, including some of their most popular songs “Move Along,” “It Ends Tonight, “Gives you Hell” and “Swing, Swing.” Fans were familiar with popular lyrics and sang aloud to this last act’s performance even more so than the others.
The All-American Rejects was predicted to be the biggest hit of the night, but fell somewhat short in energy level. Whereas the two preceding acts engaged with the audience and put on more of a show, The All-American Rejects focused primarily on musicality. The songs sounded monotonous and had less individuality than the other performances, sticking close to the way they were recorded and not adding any flair to their live show. Although the audience responded well to the band’s performance, it was much less memorable and distinct than other songs performed throughout the night.
The three performances varied in their approach: Parachute warmed up the crowd with their engaging lead singer, Boys Like Girls worked the crowd into an alt rock frenzy and, finally, The All-American Rejects delivered a set focused on musicality and little else. Overall, the crowd offered fantastic rock festivities that fans of the bands were sure to love.
