Two American rock bands told Gainesville residents and students to go out and vote during a Friday-night concert.
About 7,500 people attended UF’s “Rock the Vote” concert on Flavet Field.
The All-American Rejects, who headlined the event, were paid $65,000, and the opening act, Magic Man, was paid $25,000, wrote Dillon Knox, the chairman of Student Government Productions, in an email.
“We believed these bands would excite the campus and put on a great show that would be very well attended, and that was the case,” Knox said.
Phillip Duong, 21, waited for more than an hour for a chance to see one of his favorite bands, The All-American Rejects.
“They remind me that punk isn’t dead,” the UF nuclear engineering senior said. “Every time I listen to them, it gives me energy.”
The band’s hour-and-a-half performance was peppered with political jokes and expletives from the lead singer, Tyson Ritter.
“(We) are standing on the precipice of watching human wrestling,” he said, referring to the presidential election.
After playing some of their hit songs, Ritter said the band wrote a song specifically for the election, called “DGAF,” about doing what you want without a care.
After the final song, he threw four drumsticks and a guitar pick into the audience.
AJ Hochsztein, 21, was hit on the chest with the pick. She said she considered selling it but decided against it.
“I think it’s cooler just to keep it,” the UF psychology junior said. “I might put it on my wall.”
Tyson Ritter, the lead singer of The All-American Rejects, performs during the free “Rock the Vote” concert on Friday evening on Flavet Field.
