LIVE REVIEW: Bowling For Soup @ Preston Guild Hall, Preston
As the year begins to draw to an end, more and more gigs seem to pile on at once, as masses of bands try to pack in one last run before the holiday season kicks off proper. Fans of pop-punk in particular have something new to enjoy in 2018 though, as Texas’ finest BOWLING FOR SOUP are heading back to the UK for a very special festive run – the ‘Almost Christmas Tour‘. With promise of festive staples in amongst the usual fan-favourites, we headed up to Preston’s Guild Hall for the tour’s opening night to see how the pop-punk heroes would get on with their annual tradition.
Tonight’s opening act, NOT UR GIRLFRENZ, are somewhat of a unique and intriguing pick. Comprised of singer/guitarist Liv Haynes, bassist Gigi Haynes and drummer Maren Alford, this Texan power trio only have a combined age of about 40 between the three of them, but seemingly have enough talent and drive to outdo bands many times their age based on their performance tonight. Cranking out tracks from their debut EP New Kids In America alongside a few other choice cuts, including a particularly impressive cover of PARAMORE classic Misery Business, the band’s sound on this occasion definitely sits them firmly on the pop end of the spectrum of pop-punk, but the overriding factor of the set is simply ‘fun’. That a band making their debut performance in a foreign country on the other side of the world from home can be so undeniably enjoyable to watch is no small achievement, and when it’s coupled with songs as inherently fun and catchy as Warped and New Kids In America, it’s borderline impossible to imagine that you’re watching anything other than potentially one of the next big things in pop-punk music – for fans of the genre, NOT UR GIRLFRENZ are certainly ones to watch.
Rating: 7/10
Ever a reliable pick for any pop-punk bill, it should come as little surprise that PATENT PENDING are on strong form tonight too. The Mount Sinai quintet are no strangers to touring with BOWLING FOR SOUP and reliably bring the fun whenever they turn up – even though they’re technically a man down tonight (more on that later). Tonight is no exception either, with firecracker frontman Joe Ragosta bounding about the stage like a sugar-rush-addled pinball as the band bound through some of their very best material, From the very first notes of opener Shake Weights & Moving Crates, PATENT PENDING are an unstoppable force of positive energy tonight, blending huge poppy hooks to a musical canvas so infectiously cheery, you can’t help but stand there and grin throughout. Sprinkling a little bit of everything into their set, including heavy-hitters Let Go and Classic You (the latter seeing an attempt to bring out Jaret Reddick for his guest verse, which he humorously claims he “doesn’t know”), things seem to pick up more and more momentum as time goes on, with as-yet-unreleased song Let It Burn even garnering some of the best responses of the whole set thanks to its’ recycling of the classic chorus from The Roof Is On Fire by ROCK MASTER SCOTT & THE DYNAMIC THREE (yes, the same one used by both COAL CHAMBER and THE BLOODHOUND GANG over the years). Elsewhere, it’s the usual suspects, as the delightfully cheesy Hey Mario sees the whole room jumping around like the titular plumber, before a titanic rendition of the brilliant Douchebag brings PATENT PENDING’s time in Preston to a close.
Rating: 7/10
Tonight really though, is all about the meeting of BOWLING FOR SOUP and Christmas. And with trees adorning the stage, accompanied by lights and a huge festive-themed backdrop, it’s evident that the band are as all-in on this as possible. Coming out to Christmas music in lieu of their usual PARRY GRIPP theme song, the band kick things off with the opening portion of Corner Store On Christmas, immediately setting the tone for the festive-tinged evening to come. An early run of fan favourites then quickly ends up yielding the likes of Almost, The Bitch Song and Life After Lisa – proving once and for all just how many brilliant songs a now almost 25 year can yield, as the entire Guild Hall seems to shake in its’ foundations from the amount of fans jumping around and bellowing lyrics back at the band.
Of course, the elephant in the room is the absence of longtime bassist Erik Chandler, but tonight his position is filled by PATENT PENDING guitarist Rob Felicetti, who does a stellar job under the circumstances, and receives just the right amount of ribbing from Jaret and co. across the evening in doing so. Tonight isn’t the most polished and perfect BOWLING FOR SOUP show in the world by any stretch of the imagination – long delays in setting up the show earlier in the day mean a few technical mishaps turn up here and there, and there’s probably a touch too much faffing around, even by the band’s usual standards, but when you’re talking about a band capable of sliding from dick jokes straight into songs as brilliant as Punk Rock 101 and High School Never Ends, you quickly begin to excuse BOWLING FOR SOUP for it. Of course, it helps that the entire band are on incredible form musically for an opening night; Jaret Reddick’s vocal performance sounding as great as ever against the musical canvas of his bandmates as the Texans thunder through what essentially feels like a condensed greatest hits set, albeit with a few curveballs. This being the Almost Christmas Tour, we’re treated over the course of the night to no less than a three part rendition of the aforementioned Corner Store On Christmas spread across the set, as well as a punky take on Frosty The Snowman and a comical interlude which sees Reddick attempting to teach the people of Preston the words to Feliz Navidad, to mixed response.
There’s all of the usual things you’d expect from a BOWLING FOR SOUP show too, including a festive take on the band’s trademark Beer Aided Photo Opportunity, which sees them all don Santa hats and pose to the crowd while festive music blares in the background and threatens to wipe the entire room from the Whamageddon running; there’s the now-obligatory speech from Jaret about how he hears all British heckling as something akin to “STORM THE CASTLE!”, and there’s of course guitarist Chris Burney’s ever-impressive array of guitar pick flips and tricks throughout the evening. With time working against them as more and more time is spent joking around, the band do eventually work their way through the latter half of a set featuring the likes of Get Happy, Ohio and Phineas & Ferb theme Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day, before finally arriving at what must be one of the best one-two encore pairings within their genre – Girl All The Bad Guys Want and 1985. As you’d expect, fan appreciation is at fever pitch by this point, and the entire room threatens to drown out the band with their singing as the show hits its final moments.
They may be about to hit their 25th anniversary, but if tonight is any indication, then BOWLING FOR SOUP are showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, and their fans are still loving every single moment.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography here:
