Live Review: Bowling For Soup - O2 Academy, Birmingham
16th April 2022
Support: Lit, The Dollyrots
Words & Photos: Damian John
After covering mostly extreme metal for the last few months, it's time to let my hair down and experience something a bit more light hearted & jovial. Joining what seems to be a few thousand other music fans circling around the block from Birmingham's O2 Academy I find myself in the queue for the pop punk legends 'Bowling For Soup'. Having not listened to them since my late teens, am I about to experience possibly the biggest nostalgia trip of my life or should I have left BFS back in 2006 with my fringe and skateboard? Let's find out.
Up first tonight all the way from Los Angeles and Tampa Florida are the three piece punk rockers The Dollyrots. Intertwined through their songs about partying and 'friends who get you into trouble', there's ample amounts of banter being thrown around the stage but I can't help but feel a lot of it is filler. Their performance while energetic feels very single paced with little to no variation between songs up till their cover of 'Brand New Key'. Taking a moment to slow down by playing The Wurzels composition before adding their own spicer upbeat touch. By their final song the room has well and truly filled up, a testament to Bowling For Soups pulling power. The Dollyrots put on an energetic performance but I had hoped for something more nuanced, they weren't for me tonight but I'd still happily give them a second shot in the future.
Lit are the second act tonight and they have the honour of being the main support. Now Lit aren't a band I'd heard of before, or so I thought, it turns out they've been nestled deep in the depths of my brain hiding away till this evening. Each of their tracks barreling to the forefront much like the band themselves onstage, jumping off their amps with frontman Ajay Popoff running from side to side toying with the audience. Guitarist Jeremy Popoff stands stage right with a glittery guitar killing his performance as does bassist Kevin Baldes and percussionist Taylor Carroll, hitting every note, nailing every solo. Maybe I've been working too many extreme shows as of late but 'Lit' genuinely seem to be having a great time onstage performing for the Brummie crowd, as am I watching them do their thing bounce around the stage. Ending with their classic 'My Own Worst Enemy', Lit has the crowd singing their hearts out, hands in the air with vocalist Ajay jumping onto the barrier to be with his fans. Calling them a support act seems borderline offensive right now, they've absolutely smashed it this evening.
I have never seen a band as professionally unprofessional as Bowling For Soup, effortlessly stopping halfway through songs to have a joke, telepathically knowing exactly when to kick back into the song. Frontman Jaret Reddick mentioned that they've been doing this for 28 years now and it shows, turns out they've learnt a few things on the road too, some of it involving foreskins but we'll save that for next time, or 'for the parents to explain on the ride home' Jaret chuckled. Guitarist Chris Burney can be seen bouncing a guitar pick off his elbow before pulling funny faces at photographers and fans alike. 'I Wanna Be Brad Pitt' goes down particularly well tonight just before kicking into the BFS comedy section where every member tells a joke to the crowd, admittedly it's a drop in energy but thankfully they go straight into 'Punk Rock 101' to get the ball rolling again.
I was a little worried that my enjoyment of the show would be based solely on nostalgia. I was worried that I wouldn't really get the newer material and would be waiting around for the handful of tracks my younger self used to have on repeat. Thankfully that wasn't the case, Bowling For Soup are just as sharp as they were back when I was kick-flipping my way through school. Their newer material blending seamlessly with their classic hits and getting a fair response from the crowd too who loved it all. Classics like 'High School Never Ends' and '1985' still get the biggest reactions of the night but that's not taking away from the fact that the crowd were singing along to every word from the instant Bowling For Soup walked on stage. They're clearly a band who thrive from the live show and enjoy every second they spend up there just as I enjoyed every second of their hilarious show.
All photo credits: Damian John Photo
ICYMI - Check out our pre-tour interview with Jaret here.
