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<\/p>\n
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<\/a> 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\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 fans converged<\/a> on downtown Medford\u2019s Pear Blossom Park on Saturday, packing a few-block area between 2:30 p.m. and an 8 p.m. start time.<\/p>\n The heavily attended event evolved from what was intended as a stop-off in Medford as part of the band\u2019s \u201cHouse Party Tour<\/a>,\u201d launched last year to provide free concerts in between paid gigs and to highlight up-and-coming artists who open for the band.<\/p>\n Medford-based DownTempo Productions<\/a> owner Vinny Dominick, who launched his event promotions company three years ago, said he responded to the band\u2019s shoutout for places to stop over a year ago.<\/p>\n When he got confirmation last month that The All-American Rejects would play in Medford, Dominick said he partnered with nonprofit Rockafairy<\/a> founders Mike Sandoval and Ryan Fogleman to host the event at the mall.<\/p>\n A last-minute fire marshal\u2019s mall visit seemingly scuttled the event.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way they do these pop-ups is you\u2019re not allowed to say anything to anybody. They just announce the location the day-of, everybody shows up and floods the place, and it\u2019s a great time,\u201d Dominick recounted to the Rogue Valley Times on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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. \u2026 I was like, \u2018That\u2019s crazy because on Black Friday you guys have way more than 288 people, but OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n A subsequent post by the band brought dozens of social media suggestions for possible venues, Dominick said, with the band \u201ceven checking out somebody\u2019s goat farm in Grants Pass as a possible location.\u201d<\/p>\n Rogue X was briefly considered, but that was ruled out due to North Medford High School\u2019s prom happening on the same night.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI just happened to go onto Reddit at like 1 o\u2019clock in the morning Friday night and see someone posted that The All-American Rejects needed a place to play in Southern Oregon. \u2026 I saw the band had put out a video that said, \u2018Hey, we were going to play at the mall and now we can\u2019t. Does anybody have, like, a bowling alley or a barn?\u2019\u201d Stine told the Times on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw that and was like, is that even for real? Number one, I love the band. Number two, what a cool opportunity for Medford.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cstill processing\u201d all that transpired in less than a day\u2019s time to bring \u201csuch an iconic band\u201d to the Rogue Valley.<\/p>\n Before Saturday\u2019s concert, Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter walked downtown Medford and posted an online \u201cshoutout<\/a>\u201d to the city, encouraging support for local business, a focus of the pop-up tours.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 and a handful of rooftop \u201cmoonings\u201d that elicited hoots and hollers from the crowd and at least one photo in the band\u2019s event gallery \u2014 and a distinct cloud of smoke.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n