All-American Rejects, Boys Like Girls bring new genre to Events Center Sunday

Sunday night’s concert was the first concert Milford junior Josh Manning has attended in his three years at Central Michigan University.

He didn’t find the “hip-hop stuff” Program Board usually brings in appealing, he wasn’t into a lot of mainstream music, but rock and roll — that Manning could do.

“This is a change of pace for Central Michigan: It’s different, and I think it’s a change for the better,” Manning said. “I love rock and indie rock, and I thought this was the concert to go to.”

More than 2,000 people came to see The Ready Set, Boys Like Girls and The All-American Rejects at the CMU Events Center. The concert was Program Board’s first rock show since We The Kings in fall 2010.

John Bachor, a Dearborn Heights freshman, said this was the first concert in his life. He was excited that the first bands he got to witness firsthand were going to be Boys Like Girls and All-American Rejects.

“These bands are different from most bands,” Bachor said. “Most hip-hop bands just sing about themselves. These bands sing about real issues.”

The Ready Set started the night blistering through a raucous set, even breaking into an energetic jam of South Korean rapper’s popular hit “Gangnan Style.”

Boys Like Girls arrived on stage soon after, starting the show with two consecutive fan favorites: “The Great Escape” and “Hero/Heroine.”

Sarah Wood, a Chelsea freshmen, said she was particularly looking forward to Boys Like Girls.

“I really like Boys Like Girls,” Wood said. “I’ve just been listening to them since 6th grade. I think they appeal to a younger generation.”

Boys Like Girls followed The Ready Set’s trend and performed brief, animated covers of M83′s “Midnight City” and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” but the climax of the concert came from the rendition of “Two is Better Than One,” their collaboration with pop sensation Taylor Swift.

With Taylor Swift not in attendance, Boys Like Girls pulled Grand Blanc senior Kimberly Hanksworth on stage instructing her to look longingly into the lead singer’s eyes and sing Swift’s second verse.

She followed the instructions to the letter.

Boys Like Girls ended the concert telling the audience to put away their cameras and cell phones, so they could “rock and roll like the old days.”

Lansing senior Rachel Chilcote said the next band up had special significance to her.

“I’ve been listening to the All-American Rejects since my childhood,” she said. “I have a lot of memories attached to them.”

All-American Rejects burst on the stage with a rendition of “Dirty Little Secret” and followed that up with the crowd favorite “I Wanna” for their third song.

“There’s not much to do here except drink and rock tonight,” AAR lead singer Tyson Ritter said to an eruption of cheers.