The alternative punk band All Time Low sold out shows Nov. 22 and 23 during a stop at MGM Music Hall on their “Everyone’s Talking” world tour.
The shows drew longtime fans, first-timers and plenty of people who grew up with the band’s signature sound. Accompanying the band were openers The Paradox, Four Year Strong, The Cab and Mayday Parade. Their presence made the weekend feel less like a standard concert, and more like a small reunion of a few bands that defined the 2000s era of rock.
The band comprises lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Jack Barakat, bassist and backing vocalist Zack Merrick and drummer Rian Dawson. At the Nov. 22 show, the group expressed their appreciation for the city of Boston, as it was one of the first major cities in which they performed as a band.
“When we booked this show, we knew it would be the best show of the tour,” Barakat said. The band performed like they meant it.
All Time Low opened with a cold video backdrop before Gaskarth walked out alone for a stripped-down intro. Within seconds, the rest of the band joined Gaskarth on stage, igniting the venue with a burst of lights and a driving first chorus. From there, the setlist moved quickly, covering more than 20 songs across two decades of releases.
Newer tracks from the band’s recent album blended seamlessly with older favorites. Songs like “Suckerpunch,” “Oh No!” and “Calm Down” showcased the group’s shift into a bigger, more polished rock sound, with dense instrumentals and heavy vocal layering. But the classics were still the heartbeat of the show. “Weightless,” “Six Feet Under the Stars” and “Time-Bomb” sent the crowd into some of the loudest sing-alongs of the night. During “Glitter & Crimson,” the audience lit the room with thousands of phone flashlights, turning the floor of MGM into a sea of light.
Part of Saturday night’s appeal was the band’s natural rapport with their fans. All Time Low built its reputation not just on catchy songs, but also on how accessible they made themselves early in their career. Formed in 2003 in the suburbs of Baltimore, the group began as teenagers covering pop-punk songs in a high school basement. They released their debut EP before graduating and quickly found a national audience through MySpace, early touring circuits and appearances on the Vans Warped Tour. By the time “Dear Maria, Count Me In” became a breakout hit in 2007, the band had solidified themselves as one of the genre’s most recognizable names.
That history hung in the air during the Boston shows. Many fans in the crowd had been following the band for more than ten years, and it showed in the way they responded to every lyric and note. At several points, Gaskarth let the audience sing full choruses on their own, stepping back from the mic with a grin as the room carried the melody without hesitation.
Barakat’s stage presence was especially energetic, moving across the platform and trading jokes with Gaskarth between songs. The entire band kept technical precision while still offering the looseness and sense of fun that made their early performances memorable. They tossed guitar picks into the crowd, pointed out posters and signs from fans, and cracked jokes about how Boston always competes to be the loudest stop on their tours.
By the time they closed with “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” MGM Music Hall felt like a chorus of nostalgia. Fans shouted along to the song, whether they discovered it in middle school, on TikTok or somewhere in between. The final notes echoed through the venue as fans kept singing even after the band walked offstage.
