By Jason Genegabus

Jason Genegabus photos

Three years after their first visit to Honolulu, the All-American Rejects returned to Pipeline Cafe last weekend for a pair of sold-out shows.

I’ve got another 10 pictures from the evening after the jump, including flicks of opening act The Color Fred and the opener for the opening act, Council.

It was a madhouse yet again outside the Kakaako nightclub on Friday, as AAR fans in their teens and 20’s stood outside in a line that stretched almost to Ala Moana Boulevard.

Parking was non-existent in the immediate area, so I ended up grabbing a spot near Restaurant Row and hiking back over to the club. I got set up in front of the stage just before the first band started their set.

Council is made up of three brothers from New York who “formed the band five years ago with the intent of infusing their blue collar life with 90’s grunge and a modern arena sound.”

If you ask me, it sounds more like emo, not grunge. But whatever.

You be the judge.

Pat Reeves:

Doug Reeves:

And Andy Reeves:

That’s an emo-looking band, right? Or is it just me?

Anyway, Council turned in a decent set and appeared to be have so much fun that they decided to stay a bit longer. According to Pollstar, they’re booked to play Pipeline again on March 17 and March 24, followed by a return visit to the islands in June.

Up next was The Color Fred, which usually consists of more than just the band’s fearless leader, former Taking Back Sunday member Fred Mascherino. He told the crowd at Pipeline on Friday that he was there on short notice and the only reason he came was because of the fans who posted messages on the band’s MySpace page.

Unfortunately, the lighting guy at the club decided to take a break during Mascherino’s set and left the stage bathed in a red glow, which makes it extremely hard to take a decent picture.

This is the best I got. Yes, I know it’s in black and white:

Before he left, Mascherino promised to return for another show with his full band to accompany him. I’m looking forward to that.

For the next 30 minutes or so, we all stood around and waited for the All-American Rejects. Even though there were four or five roadies on stage getting things set up, it took a pretty long time for the main event of the night to begin.

Some of the teenagers in the crowd passed the time with chants of “AAR” and “Rejects,” interspersed with a capella karaoke versions of the band’s hit songs.

It got a little strange when what I believe was Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” began to play over the speakers. Luckily, the end of the recording meant the start of the All-American Rejects’ set.

Lead singer Tyson Ritter was in a kolohe mood on Friday from the jump:

Nick Wheeler was all smiles, waving at girls in the crowd and tossing out guitar picks like they were going out of style:

And Mike Kennerty was in fine form, leaping around the stage and mugging for both the cameras in the pit and the fans just a few feet beyond:

But it was Ritter who seemed to channel all of the energy in the room through his facial expressions:

Another look. Ritter’s blue eyes shined as they started off with “Swing Swing” and “”Sad Song,” followed by “Dirty Little Secret”:

And finally, my favorite image from the night. I like how this picture captures three of the All-American Rejects’ four members, and all of them are rocking out in their own way:

Now let’s see if they stick with the same game plan they had in 2006. After playing Pipeline in January, they returned a few months later for two more shows.

I’ve read in news reports online that Ritter and Wheeler have told fans in New Zealand that they would be back there again in 2009. If that’s the case, Honolulu could very well see the All-American Rejects again this year.

I just hope the next time they perform, it’s on stage at the Blaisdell Arena. Pipeline is a solid venue, but I think the band could easily sell the 6,000 to 7,000 tickets necessary to make a Blaisdell concert successful.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Nightlife, Music, Picture Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.