Last-minute hiccup at Rogue Valley Mall prompts less-than-24-hour notice to secure a location, with an estimated 6,000 fans flocking to Pear Blossom Park for free gig
After a capacity issue at the Rogue Valley Mall prompted a last-minute scramble to salvage a surprise performance during a national tour of The All-American Rejects emo pop-punk band, a handful of city officials and local event promoters rallied to bring an even larger-scale event to downtown Medford with less than 24 hours’ notice.
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 fans converged on downtown Medford’s Pear Blossom Park on Saturday, packing a few-block area between 2:30 p.m. and an 8 p.m. start time.
The heavily attended event evolved from what was intended as a stop-off in Medford as part of the band’s “House Party Tour,” launched last year to provide free concerts in between paid gigs and to highlight up-and-coming artists who open for the band.
Medford-based DownTempo Productions owner Vinny Dominick, who launched his event promotions company three years ago, said he responded to the band’s shoutout for places to stop over a year ago.
When he got confirmation last month that The All-American Rejects would play in Medford, Dominick said he partnered with nonprofit Rockafairy founders Mike Sandoval and Ryan Fogleman to host the event at the mall.
A last-minute fire marshal’s mall visit seemingly scuttled the event.
“The way they do these pop-ups is you’re not allowed to say anything to anybody. They just announce the location the day-of, everybody shows up and floods the place, and it’s a great time,” Dominick recounted to the Rogue Valley Times on Sunday.
“I had everything set up, all the permits and everything. Then, pretty much the day before the show, the fire marshal goes in and sets the mall capacity to 288 people. … I was like, ‘That’s crazy because on Black Friday you guys have way more than 288 people, but OK.’”
A subsequent post by the band brought dozens of social media suggestions for possible venues, Dominick said, with the band “even checking out somebody’s goat farm in Grants Pass as a possible location.”
Rogue X was briefly considered, but that was ruled out due to North Medford High School’s prom happening on the same night.
Medford City Council member Kevin Stine, a longtime fan of the band, said he saw a Reddit post by the band in addition to other posts, including one from Dominick.
“I just happened to go onto Reddit at like 1 o’clock in the morning Friday night and see someone posted that The All-American Rejects needed a place to play in Southern Oregon. … I saw the band had put out a video that said, ‘Hey, we were going to play at the mall and now we can’t. Does anybody have, like, a bowling alley or a barn?’” Stine told the Times on Sunday.
“I saw that and was like, is that even for real? Number one, I love the band. Number two, what a cool opportunity for Medford.”
After a flurry of messages and a 2:30 a.m. phone call between Stine, Dominick and longtime former Medford parks and recreation commissioner Julian Cordle, who helped vet locations, Stine and Dominick met a half-dozen city officials at Pear Blossom Park at 11 a.m. Saturday. Stine on Sunday said he was “still processing” all that transpired in less than a day’s time to bring “such an iconic band” to the Rogue Valley.
Before Saturday’s concert, Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter walked downtown Medford and posted an online “shoutout” to the city, encouraging support for local business, a focus of the pop-up tours.
Band members and city officials ultimately announced the event earlier than is seen with usual pop-up performances, drawing a steady flow of fans arriving between 2:30 and the 8 p.m. kickoff of opening act, Medford-based post-hardcore band Hate It Here.
Medford city officials, who provided additional police presence for the event, said the event was peaceful aside from typical concert shenanigans, which included teenagers scaling buildings — and a handful of rooftop “moonings” that elicited hoots and hollers from the crowd and at least one photo in the band’s event gallery — and a distinct cloud of smoke.
Despite the change of venue, Rockafairy provided a crew of 20 volunteers, and city event coordinator Sandi Sherman and Deputy Police Chief Trevor Arnold rallied a half-dozen city leaders and added police presence for the event. City officials did not have an estimate on cost for the event on Sunday.
A request by the band, which posted to social media that the Medford event was its largest pop-up to date, had asked for a key to the city. Stine said his wife. Casey Stine. scoured local shops to find an old wooden key in an antique shop and a willing engraver in time to present the key to the band on Saturday night.
“They could’ve asked for a goose that laid golden eggs, and I was so on board with making this event happen that I would’ve said, ‘Yes, I’ll make that happen!’” Stine said with a laugh on Sunday.
Stine expressed amazement at “a totally positive event with no major issues,” despite the large crowd size.
By comparison, capacity for Jacksonville’s Britt Festival is just over 2,000 patrons.
Stine admitted still being on an adrenaline high Sunday from presenting the wooden key and meeting a favorite band.
“It was like an out-of-body experience in some ways,” the city councilor said. “I’m usually pretty chill, but to be on the stage and have thousands of people listening to you was pretty indescribable.
“This couldn’t have happened without all the people who stepped up,” Stine said. “I think this will be a cool thing we all look back on and people will say, ‘Remember, back in 2026, when All-American Rejects came with NO notice and took over Pear Blossom Park? I just keep asking myself, ‘Did that really just happen?’”
Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.