It’s
just how it should be. A summary of my teenage years; scenie weenies, greebos
in New Rock boots and awkward inbetweeners. Bowling for Soup is a relatively
veteran punk-pop band from the 1990’s and they have enjoyed success in three
decades. Despite pushing 40, Jaret and co still exude youth in their shows and
this night was no different. The o2 academy in Bristol reeked comfortably of
beer and sweat on first entry.
The opening acts, Patent Pending and The
Dollyrots, were both impressive considering they are fairly unknown bands in
the UK. Patent Pending caters to the “moshers” craving for some rock
reminiscent of the late 90’s. The
Dollyrots, with female vocalist Kelly Ogden, who was suitably gazeboed during
the set, were Bowling for Soup’s equal. The Dollyrots clearly love interacting
with their fans and spent half of their set chatting and pumping up the crowd.
Bowling
for Soup made a typically comedic entrance as always with their larger than
life lead guitarist Chris Burney and cheeky lead singer Jaret Reddick leading
the coop. They opened with older hits such as ‘High School Never Ends’ and
their newer song ‘Let’s Go To The Pub’. As they had finished these songs, in
true BFS fashion, they stopped to have a chat with the crowd. They are self
styled as “The band that waves”, boasting of how they are always dedicated to
making their fans feel included and of course, I got a wave from bass guitarist
Erik.
There’s
always one imbecile who heckles at the band and this time, it went too far. Mid
song, one young man decided to throw his iPhone on the stage. Big mistake.
Jaret reacted with mock anger and a few mumblings about “f***ing douchebags”
but didn’t fly off the handle like many pretentious bands would. The boy in
question was pointed out and shamed by the rest of us. Possibly the most
awkward and entertaining moment of the night. All in all, an enjoyable
throwback to the good old days of wholesome entertaining concerts. Many bands
play to the crowd but don’t interact but clearly Bowling For Soup know that
just doesn’t work. The proof is in the pudding.
No comments:
Post a Comment