The year was 2003 and I was a newly minted Middle School graduate entering high school. I was getting heavily into music, compulsively buying records at a fervid clip, and the local radio station Live 105 was putting on their annual summer concert festival BFD (short for Big F***ing Day) during the halcyon summer months. The lineup was unreal that year— AFI, Foo Fighters, Deftones, Finch, Interpol, Transplants, The Ataris, The Used, The Roots, The Donnas, The White Stripes (a lot of goddamn “The” bands in that era). And as you can imagine based off what album we’re talking about today, The All-American Rejects.
It’s hard to fully describe how fun that day was– you have a combination of newfound freedom and pure aliveness that only the surging testosterone of a 14-year old can replicate, combined with the energy of the crowd and the feeling of being infinite as you experience so many things for the first time with your closest friends. I remember a lot of things that day but the one that sticks out most happened during The All-American Rejects set. “Swing, Swing” had made them a household name and attracted a significant female fanbase. During their set all the fans were going nuts when all of a sudden a college-aged woman flashed the lead singer from the middle of the pit. As a 14-year old I had never been exposed to something like that, and I can remember turning to my friend Mark to my left and both of us looking at each other incredulously like it was the wildest thing we’d ever seen (at that point in my life it might have been). That moment cemented in my little hormone-charged brain just how much the power of music has to elicit a significant emotional response in the listener and give you the freedom to push outside your comfort zone. It’s something I’ll never forget.
Standout Songs: “My Paper Heart”, “Swing, Swing”, “The Last Song”
Matthew. 