Bowling for Soup bring a very special acoustic tour to the United Kingdom
Leaving half of the band back in Texas, Bowling for Soup duo Jaret Reddick and Erik Chandler began their very first acoustic tour outside of their home state with a memorable show at a sold out Birmingham Academy 2. Whilst the concept of the pair playing without their electric instruments may have caused scepticism, the acoustic translations of their punk rock songs like ‘The Bitch Song’ and ‘High School Never Ends’ were particularly impressive.
In the months preceding the tour, it had been advertised to the fans that they were to use the website www.pickrset.com to assist them in catering their setlist each night to the desires of the attending audiences. Therefore, the gig frequently descended into a shouting competition, with fans competing to get their requests heard over the noise of fellow fans doing the same. Fortunately, as soon the songs began the requests subsided and the audience transformed into a sea of enthusiastic singers.
Bowling for Soup have never hidden from the fact that they enjoy the odd alcoholic beverage, currently favouring a bright pink cocktail branded ‘The Delicious Gary’. However, the combination of jet-lag and the considerable amount of alcohol consumed began to take effect during the performance, causing mistakes to unfortunately become more frequent. For any Bowling for Soup fan, this laid back attitude often comes with the territory, but having paid to see a Grammy-nominated band, you would be quite entitled to expect the level of professionalism to be maintained to a slightly higher standard.
Yet, a Bowling for Soup show is never just about the music. The conversational interaction between band members has always formed an integral part of their stage antics and despite the absence of guitarist Chris Burney and drummer Gary Wiseman, the comedic offerings were just as plentiful.
Whilst the concept of a Bowling for Soup show without ‘Punk Rock 101’, ‘No Hablo Ingles’, ‘Emily’ and ‘I’m Gay’ may seem disappointing, it became evident that this was the beginning of a very special tour for their fans. Jaret and Erik gave renditions of numerous fan favourites such as ‘Star Song’, which they had never played live in the UK before, and songs like ‘Val Kilmer’ and ‘Shut Up and Smile’, both of which they claimed they had never ever performed live at all before.
With an impressive performance of two and a half hours in length, this gig was incredible value for money. Most importantly though, this was one very special gig for the fans of Bowling for Soup and despite the negligible criticisms, the atmosphere was sensational and a wonderful time was had by all.