Source: Jemma Dodd
Being a long haired slightly scruffy twenty something nowadays means a few things. One being that you spend far too much money on shampoo than you’d like to, and that a big part of your childhood came with a Bowling For Soup soundtrack. After the news of the Farewell tour back in 2013, I thought I’d missed my shot to experience my first Bowling For Soup show. So, as you can imagine getting onto this tour was a necessity.
Arriving in Newcastle it was apparent that I wasn’t the only fan surging with excitement, the turn out was pretty intense. I was really wondering what to expect from tonight, the shows I attended usually consist of pits, crowds surfing and the occasional injury, and I was really hoping that with this being a pop punk show, that it wouldn’t fall flat. Well, as I itched up my baggy assed TopMan jeans, a voice in my slightly inebriated head echoed: “There’s only one way to find out.”
Source: Jemma Dodd
The O2 academy isn’t the most spacious venue at the best of times, but this place was well and truly rammed for Soup. Squeezing through the heaps of sozzled Geordies was like drowning in a thick bovril, a sweaty broth with a beery after taste. Due to an interview I only caught the last song from Lacey. Although, ‘Shadow’ was a more than fitting jam to sip overpriced beer to.
MC Lars was a funny one. I hadn’t seen this much Adidas Y3 since I moved away from Middlesbrough but this dude was pretty witty. His Freestyle section was a personal highlight, taking inspiration from a whole manner of items: Gig tickets, shoes, tampons, condoms the lot! Rapping isn’t my usual deal, but this guy was more than capable of fuelling a collective giggle or two. The Dollyrots were direct support and quite the energetic bunch I’ll tell you that. The US rock duet seemed ecstatic to be on UK soil and hammered through a set of their collective hits. ‘Because I’m Awesome’ and ‘My Best Friends Hot’ were definite highlights. Also, Kelly Ogden. Girl you are pretty fucking metal.
Source: Jemma Dodd
Leaving my temporary roost at the bar, fuzzy eyed and skint broke it was time for Bowling For Soup. From the minute they walked out, my inner 13 year old squealed. Bowling For Soup spared no time blasting out some of their classic hits from way back when. ‘Almost’, ‘Ohio (Come Back To Texas)‘ and ‘Emily’ made for one hell of a nostalgia high. Soup’s chemistry as always was on point, cracking jokes, laughing and performing with such pride and enthusiasm. You wouldn’t think these dudes are in their 40’s, still the same band 13 year old us remembers. Disney fans rejoiced as ‘Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day’ made an appearance, despite the fact the volunteer backing singers totally fucked up. A major high of the entire show was the pop punks not dead medley. Fusing together classics from Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Green Day, New Found Glory and Jimmy Eat World all into one punk rock powerhouse was utter genius, ending with a full cover of Fountains Of Wayne‘s iconic anthem that is ‘Stacy’s Mom’. Seeing these guys play was a real treat, and I encourage all you UK folk to get your ass to a show if you haven’t already. Standing there in my Sylosis metal merchandise belting out every single word resulted in a night I’ll remember for a long ass time. Best of luck to Bowling For Soup for the rest of the tour, hopefully we’ll meet again real soon.
Source: Jemma Dodd
