Ames gets a dose of 2000s nostalgia with surprise All-American Rejects show in barn
The All-American Rejects are doing surprise pop-up shows as they tour for their new album, "Sandbox." And a barn south of Ames was its latest surprise stop.
Lead singer Tyson Ritter has been announcing the pop-up shows on Instagram and TikTok just hours before they're set to play. In a wind-whipped video, Ritter directed fans of early 2000s fame "Move Along" and "Gives you Hell" to a barn with a blue door south of Ames at the Black Contemporary farm.
“We are out in God’s country," Ritter said. "We are playing this barn out in a horror movie setting and it’s so f---king awesome. Cornfields. Dreams. If you build it they will come. Get your a-- to Ames, Iowa. Let’s party.”
Another video showed cars and people stretching far down the gravel roads waiting to get an up-close dose of the nostalgia. One fan was shown carrying a case of Bud Light while waiting in line.
And in perfect playing-in-a-barn-in-Iowa fashion, the fans were miniscule compared to the giant silos, farm equipment, outbuildings and farmland as far as the eye can see.
"Ames, Iowa you sure know how to show the hell up," the video read. Other videos posted to The Rejects' Instagram showed thousands of people there.
The show was hosted by 88.5 KURE, the student-run alternative radio station at Iowa State University.
This was the fourth pop-up on The All-American Rejects tour for their new album — their first in 13 years — having played at a bowling alley in Minneapolis on Friday night.
Their next tour stop is in Indianapolis on May 23. Where will they appear next?
If you have videos or photos of the May 17 pop-up show in Ames, submit them here: https://spanner.imagn.com/#/ugc-form?newsroom_id=57ZDC26si7t9KrcUmDrf76pR8.