The All-American Rejects have hit out at soaring ticket prices, saying the battle to get tickets makes seeing live music a “District 1 Hunger Games luxury”.
Speaking to the Metro following the release of ‘Sandbox’, their first full-length LP in 14 years, guitarist Nick Wheeler and vocalist Tyson Ritter said they were glad to be considered a “band of the people”, and touched on how the industry commodifies live music.
Talking about sticking to a “blue-collar rock” sound throughout their career, Ritter said he didn’t feel the band had ever “succumbed to any of the pressures or expectations of the ‘market’. We’re talking about art here. The fact you can commodify your fans, that’s the game now.”
Last year, they embarked on a tour that included stops at house parties, a bowling alley and a barn, all in an attempt to create a more financially accessible live music experience for fans – although one such attempt was shut down by police.
“We started doing house parties because we wanted to get back at eye level with our audience in the spaces that we started playing. We had very little capital to make any noise within the avenues and current landscape of marketing for music. We’re self-funded, we’re self-produced. It turned into something we didn’t expect.
“And that surprise empowered another thought which was, ‘Oh, why is this happening?’ This realisation that people need intimacy again, people are tired of having their bank accounts run dry,’ he continued.
“How has it become less expensive to go overseas to see your favourite band than just see them in your own city?”, Wheeler asked, with Tyson adding: “We’re at a point with this conversation where the responsibility, especially in the headliner, falls on the artists.
“It’s on the fans to say, ‘Well, does my favourite artist need to make $75, 000,000 this summer? Or could they make $30,000,000? Is that enough money for you?'”
“‘It’s become a one-percenter’s experience, and I think that’s fucked up, because the people who love music the most, the people who need music the most, are the people that are hand-to-mouth, the people that come from where we’re from.”
In response to growing frustration about ticket prices, the UK government announced in early 2025 that it would impose a price cap on how much touts can resell tickets for, and also launch an official consultation into the industry and controversial ‘dynamic pricing’ practices.
The consultation ran from January 10 until April 4, but by last November, no concrete plans had been announced, spurring the likes of Radiohead, Sam Fender, Dua Lipa, and more to call on the government to keep their pledge.
Days after the statement was shared, the government announced its plan to introduce a price cap on secondary ticket sales in a bid to “protect fans from rip-off prices”. At the time, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told NME that the efforts would be outlined in the King’s Speech. From there, she explained, it would have to “pass both the Houses of Lords and Parliament to become law”.
However, fresh concerns later emerged that the issue had slipped out of the government’s agenda, prompting music industry figures to pen another open letter asking the government not to make a U-turn on their promise. This April, signatures came from management for huge artists, including Arctic Monkeys, Ed Sheeran, Fontaines D.C., Keane, Nick Cave and Radiohead.
That open letter preceded outcry from the music industry after the UK government announced a draft bill on a ticket tout ban in the King’s Speech earlier this month (May 13).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had vowed to “stamp out ticket touts for good” in a letter to live music fans, promising to act “as soon as possible”, as exclusively revealed by NME.
However, in the King’s Speech delivered in the Houses of Parliament, the plans to tackle the issue were introduced as a draft bill, dubbed the Draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill. Its status as only a draft bill deprioritises this vital piece of legislation, and it will likely result in it becoming a much lengthier process than it could have been if introduced as a primary government bill.