Bowling For Soup – O2 Academy Oxford – 22/10/2011
Not every band manages to sell this place out, but somehow Bowling For Soup have done it. The room was jam packed. Seeing the queue going down the road, round the corner, and beyond that possibly joining the M40 and heading to the next show, meant I was glad I didn’t have to join it. Queues are one of the worst bits of going to gigs, it has the “waiting” element that continues inside, but you also get to stand in the cold.
The first band up is the punk band “Orange”. I’ve not seen them before, but they played a solid set, playing songs that you swear you already know. Sometimes because they’re catchy enough that by the second verse, you pretty much know the song already, others you’re not sure, but may well have heard before, but where? The band were well received by pretty much everyone in the room, meaning that by the end of the set, it was already getting hot in there, so people were forgetting the boredom and cold of outside.
I’ve seen Suburban Legends before, when they were supporting Reel Big Fish on their 20th anniversary tour, and if I’m completely honest, they were the band I really wanted to see. Once again, they didn’t disappoint. Technically, they’re not the tightest band out there, nothing is quite “perfect”, but you just don’t care because the whole thing is so much fun. Starting with riding “sharky” the inflatable shark onto the stage, and launching into brilliantly choreographed dance routines performed by everyone (bar the drummer) on stage. By the time you add in the disney songs like “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”, you just can’t help but enjoy yourself (unless you’re Mr. T, who can’t stand ska). They’re just as much fun as I remember them from the Reel Big Fish show, but now they stand out even more in a line-up where they are the only ones with horns. No doubt they gained a few new fans at this show.
Finally, Bowling For Soup. I’ve heard tales that a couple of shows on the tour were affected by poor health, and even a couple of technical difficulties at other venues, but here? Here they rocked it like very few bands can. They played all the favourites, played tighter than a tight thing, had people join them on stage, and happily swore like sailors.
Little things can make a massive difference, like the way Jaret would grab the radio mic and move around the stage when he didn’t have a guitar part to play, or make jokes about british food, sex, farting, and other family friendly topics. Their energy was infectious and quickly consumed the whole room, and didn’t let up until the end of their set.
Finally, at the end of the night they were called back for an encore, which had all the fans talking as they left the venue, mostly hoping the band would be back again soon.
Review and Photos by Chris Blizzard (http://chrisblizzardphoto.com/)
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