Bowling for Soup @ Birmingham Academy, 13th October 2010
Forever The Sickest Kids garner a huge scream from the crowd as they take to the stage. They’ve got heaps of energy and play a surprisingly tight set, it definitely feels like a ‘Party vibe’ in the Academy tonight as the crowd is more than up for their Pop Punk tunes. Hits like My Worst Nightmare and Hey Brittany go down a storm and their final song She’s a Lady has the crowd with the arms in the air making hearts with their hands.
Up next are A, remember them?! Kicking things off with Something’s Going On it would seem from the subdued crowd reaction that only few people realise who they are. They are one band member down, replaced by an I-Phone of all things! It’s been 7 years since Perry and Carter have played together in Birmingham and its 7 years since Starbucks was at number one in America but the hit song is still fresh in the minds of some of the crowd as they sing along. I remember stories of A’s last gig in Birmingham and the band haven’t forgotten either as Perry regales the story. Having to leave the stage mid set with a urinary tract infection and then hearing the crowd chanting not for him but for Goldfinger has to be pretty disheartening but there are no such antics tonight. As the set continues the crowd start to warm up and Carter’s requests for a circle pit are granted. Rush Song is great with Carter’s bass ringing out. They close the set on their biggest hit Nothing and its great!
With their aptly named Can’t Get Rid of Us Tour Bowling For Soup are back on UK soil once again. Bounding on stage to their own intro theme tune and all sporting some very fetching cowboy hats Jaret screams ‘Birmingham are you ready? We are the greatest Rock & Roll band that’s ever lived!’ and they head straight into You’re a Star the crowd are jumping up and down more than willing to succumb to the charm of the 5 guys from Texas on stage. No Hable Ingles is up next followed closely by My Wena, as Bowling For Soup play the screens behind them show music video clips and movie clips which go along with the songs which is a nice touch.
If you’ve seen Bowling For Soup before you’ll know that it’s as much about the banter on stage as is about the songs that get played and tonight is no different as Jaret ask whether they should just play or get to know each other. The crowd doesn’t seem to mind either way and cheer loudly as Jaret lets us in on his favourite colour, ‘brown, because no one ever picks it’. The banter between the band members is entertaining, there’s the inevitable conversation about dicks and discussions about Chris, the extremely rotund guitarist being on Crack. As Jaret raises his arm in victory he informs the crowd that he stinks and will be showered by the guys later and anyone one else who wants to join in which elicits a huge cheer from the crowd.
Punk Rock 101 is super and the band stop proceedings mid way through for a ‘Bowling For Soup photo opportunity’, is a nice little twist as they all drop instruments and pose for photographs left, right and centre stage. All the big hits get played with the likes of High School Never Ends and Bitch Song getting the eager crowd singing along to ever word. Jaret is by no means modest as he laments ‘Is it weird that we get better every year?’ There’s an interesting cover of the Ting Tings That’s Not My Name thrown in for good measure, they may not have written it, ‘but we still play it awesome!’ Fan favourites Girl All the Bad Guys Want and 1985 go down a treat and the encore A Really Cool Dance Song with its disco sound is a great way to end and amazing live show. As Bowling For Soup leave the stage to a huge cheer they leave the sound crew to finish the song.
Bowling For Soup having been doing this for over 15 years and as they put it so eloquently ‘and will continue to do it as long as you guys come out to see us; even if we’re in diapers’. They’re a band that have definately got the live show down so here’s to the next 15!
Set List
Intro (Here Comes Bowling For Soup)
You’re A Star
No Hablo Ingles
My Wena
Theme from Pheneaus And Ferb
Almost
Last Rock Show
Punk Rock 101
BFFF
High School Never Ends
Bitch Song
That’s Not My Name (Ting Tings Cover)
2113
Shutup and Smile
Girl all the Bad Guys Want
1985
Encore
A Really Cool Dance Song
Review – Hannah Sebestjanowicz
Photos – Sharon Rafferty
I was at A’s last show in Birmingham. He promised next time they were back they’d play for three hours. Cheers for that boys.
Sorry to say, but this review is bad..
Where are The Dollyrots?
You’re A Star? Don’t you mean Star Song?
5 members of the band? Who is the 5th?
And have they not been together 16 years?
Oh, and the tour name was “Just Can’t Get Rid Of Us”
I would read over whatever you publish next time.
I do apologise! Obviously a typo on the 5 members! I do recall Jaret saying on stage that the band had been together that long, I’m not an expert I’m assuming he knows how long they have been together! It’s hard to remember all the song names and I did my best to get the setlist together so I got one song name wrong, you obviously knew which one I meant!
Hi Hannah,
I love Bowling For Soup and I liked this review, I’m not sure what Oliva banging on about because they formed in 1994, that to me is over 15 years. Seems a bit petty! Anyway, sounded like a cool gig, esp that photo opp bit!