Alpine family hosts The All-American Rejects — and 600 fans — in their backyard
The house party was one of the latest in a string of shows protesting Ticketmaster and Live Nation amid soaring ticket prices.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey
It’s 6 p.m. on a Sunday when you find out The All-American Rejects are looking for a San Diego venue to host a 600-person house party. What do you do?
If you’re Lisa Lower-Richter and Shawn Richter, you do everything in your power to get one of your favorite bands to play in the backyard of your Alpine home.
“I jumped out of the bathtub, threw some clothes on and was yelling at my son, ‘Clean your bathroom,’” said Lower-Richter, who was in the middle of her nightly bedtime routine when the band called.
In an era of soaring ticket prices and increasingly corporate live music experiences, The Rejects have spent the past two years trying something different: surprise house parties announced hours before showtime. Last summer, The Rejects played a series of unconventional venues — including in fraternity houses, backyards and bowling alleys — in an effort to return to their roots and make live music more accessible.
Instead of selling tickets in advance through platforms like Ticketmaster, the band announces shows on the day-of through text alerts, and admission is often free for fans who secure a spot in line and a wristband before capacity is reached.
The May 3 show was one of the latest stops on the band’s second tour of house party-style shows protesting Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which merged to form Live Nation Entertainment in 2010. The Rejects did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
Since the band released its debut album in 2002, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average cost of tickets for movies, theaters and concerts has risen more than 103% — outpacing overall inflation, which increased by about 85% during the same period.
Last month, Live Nation Entertainment lost a monopoly case filed by 38 states and Washington, D.C.
Arun Subramanian, the federal judge overseeing the case, wrote in his opinion that Live Nation Entertainment “has substantial share in the market,” selling between 75% and 86% of tickets.
In response, Live Nation said in a press release that it would challenge the verdict through post-trial motions and appeals. The company said it believes the ultimate outcome of the case will be similar to its previously proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, noting that the jury’s damages award applied only to a limited portion of ticket sales over the past five years.
Live Nation did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier in the day on May 3, The Rejects had originally planned to play at a house near San Diego State University, but the band’s team deemed it unsafe.
“I was actually helping set up at the original spot at SDSU, and we were told that it was a no-go,” said Max Cochran, a longtime fan of the band.
The second option — a fraternity house a few doors down — also didn’t pan out. “We cleaned that whole house in maybe under 10 minutes only for them to go, ‘Yeah, we can't do that place either,’” Cochran said. “I basically went back to my car, and I'm like, ‘OK, I'm waiting for them to give me the text.’”
Around 5 p.m., The Rejects’ lead singer Tyson Ritter posted a reel on the band’s Instagram account with the opening line, “Shit keeps happening.”
“We’re in San Diego. Cat’s out of the bag,” he said. “We’re in fucking San Diego, and our venue cannot safely accommodate us. We need a place to play in San Diego…If there’s a place where you can house a band and 500 people, we need your help.”
After Ritters’ post, friends began tagging the Richters’ cosplay Instagram account. The Richters had talked about wanting to host the band for more than a year.
When the band first announced the concept for its initial house party tour last year, the Richters applied to be one of the hosting venues. But the band didn’t come through Alpine. When it announced the second round of shows in April, the couple applied again. To entice The Rejects to play in their backyard, Richter tagged them in an Instagram reel of himself playing one of their most well-known singles — “Swing, Swing” — on the guitar.
“I was like, 'Hey, come on out. We've got the room. We got the place, and I would love to play with you guys,’” Richter told Daylight.
On May 3 around 6 p.m., the couple received a direct message from the band on Instagram asking if they would be able to host that night. They hopped on a phone call, and by 7:15, the band was on its way to Alpine.
About 15 minutes after the band deemed the Richters’ home a safe location, fans who had previously signed up for house party alerts (including this reporter) received a text: “PARTY IS HAPPENING - [Richters’ home address]. 8:30pm line starts - please uber. First come, first serve.”
![Screenshot of a cell phone message that says “PARTY IS HAPPENING - [Richters’ home address]. 8:30pm line starts - please uber. First come, first serve.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/18/55/18550d27-4856-4fa7-9f92-33639d54bd38/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-13-at-3.27.17---PM-1.png)
Within an hour, more than 400 people lined the residential street waiting to be led to the hill behind the couple’s house. The line grew longer by the minute.
As the crowd buzzed with excitement, two San Diego Sheriff vehicles suddenly drove up. Some fans worried the house party would be shut down before it even began. The Richters got calls from people working with the band that they needed to come out to speak with the cops.
But, by the time the couple made it to the end of the driveway, Richter said he found the two sheriff’s deputies chatting with Ritter.
“They were yucking it up, and they're laughing, and they're like putting their arms around each other, and instantly, we knew they were fans,” Richter said.
Although the sheriff’s deputies were called after neighbors noticed the growing line and fans blocking driveways, Lower-Richter said the deputies didn’t want to halt the show.
“They really wanted it to happen for us, so they really went above and beyond, and they said, ‘We just want it to be safe,’” she said.
Soon after, the band played a 45-minute set combining its well-known hits like “Swing, Swing” and “Gives You Hell” with songs from its upcoming album, “Sandbox,” which comes out Friday.
The audience was filled with fans of all ages, including at least one toddler and some young children accompanying their parents. The crowd sang and clapped along, lit up the flashlights on their phones and lined up to buy merchandise in the driveway after the show ended.
Although Cochran has seen The Rejects twice before, he said that as both a fan and a musician who often plays house parties, seeing them perform such an intimate show was a special experience.
“It's surreal because being in the scene, you're used to just going to house shows, playing house shows on a regular basis,” he said. “But seeing a band at that level, at All-American Rejects level, playing a show in a backyard — are you kidding? That's amazing!”
Lisa Lower-Richter and Shawn Richter giveaway t-shirts and posters gifted to them by The All-American Rejects at the Casino Inn in Alpine on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Lauren J. Mapp/Daylight San Diego
After The Rejects packed up for the night and prepared to drive away, they gave the Richters the remaining San Diego-specific t-shirts and posters. The following weekend, the couple gave them away to fans and Alpine residents at the Casino Inn.
“We're not really the type of people to look at a situation like that and go, 'Oh, heck yeah. We can put these on Facebook Marketplace and sell them for $25 a piece,’ or whatever, in the first place, but also, that would be like spitting right in the face of the whole point of their tour,” Richter said.
Ritter told the Alpine crowd that the house party tour is a “thank you” to the fans. He said it was all about providing access to many who couldn’t afford shows due to price gouging at larger venues.
“This is what the fucking house party tour is about,” he said. “It’s about connection. It’s about fellowship. It’s about healing this fucking God-forsaken world with a little bit of fucking sunshine, God dammit.”
