The ‘Team Rejects’ intramural softball team certainly got the memo about the baseball theme at Innings Festival 2025 in Tempe, Arizona.
Sporting matching baseball uniforms, complete with 70s-style knee-high stirrups, The All-American Rejects would’ve taken home the ‘best-dressed’ award at Innings, if there was one, along with their participation medals.
Walking out to a mumbled version of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” by Ozzy Osbourne, Tyson Ritter, the Oklahoma rockers’ lead vocalist, sported a handlebar goatee to coincide with his ensemble.
However, he said his wife slept in a different room for a week leading up to Innings, as the “baseball player” facial hair scared her.
“I sacrificed sex at home for Tempe, Arizona,” Ritter told the energized audience in front of the Right Field stage.
“You ready to wiggle around, motherfuckers? Of course you are. How are you feeling today, you fuckin’ burnt crispies?”
The band performed an up-tempo set, playing hits from across their 25-year career.
“I thought you guys might be too cool for fuckin’ school, but you motherfuckers showed up today,” Ritter told the crowd.
“We’ve been playing since I was 17 and I just turned 40 this year and the fact that we still get to do this shit, you’re the motherfuckers that make this world go round, baby. I want to thank Neon Trees for being so fuckin’ cool to us. I want to thank The Black Keys for being so fucking gracious with this stage.”
Ritter was engaging throughout, serenading a Rejects fan named Patty, conversing with a Post Malone look-alike in the crowd and calling out the “freeloading” kayakers in the Salt River, adjacent to the festival grounds.
“Too cheap to buy a ticket, but rich enough to own a kayak,” Ritter teased.
The band also took time with former Major League Baseball player Ryan Dempster, who was interviewing bands and MLB stars throughout the weekend on the Left Field stage.
Here are a couple of awesome photos from the Rejects’ performance by photographer Roger Ho:
Photographer Ismael Quintanilla III captured the Rejects’ chat with Dempster—here are a couple of his shots:
Follow the band at https://www.allamericanrejects.com/.