BOWLING FOR SOUP // THE USHER HALL, EDINBURGH
Bowling for Soup and friends bring a festival of Pop Punk to the Usher Hall.
PICTURE: ALAN WHITFIELD
★★★★☆
Collectively known as Not Ur Girlfrenz, this power rock trio from Texas took the stage with as much self-assurance as I’ve seen from a band. It’s perhaps only their size and stature that gives anyone a clue as to how young they are.
They seemed excited to be here but if they’re nervous about playing their first UK tour, it didn’t show as they launched straight into their set of pop rock anthems. The a high energy “Warped” kicks things off and probably takes most people by surprise. There are only three of them on stage and they still manage to make a huge amount of noise. Perhaps their size makes this all the more unexpected.
The show is immediately absorbing and infectious. I can’t help smiling whilst tapping along to the swirling energy and excitement on stage. For a new band they have a decent repertoire at their disposal, everything from the shouty rap style of the Beastie Boys to melodies and riffs that, once upon a time, would’ve graced the albums of Lit and Fall out Boy.
They are able to slow things down too with ”Somehow” which is their only ballad to date. It’s a well-crafted, Avril Lavigne shaped love song and it was good to see them pull off this change of pace. Liv’s vocals are impressive as she gives Maren and Gigi a short break during the acoustic section of this song. Inevitably the bass and drums come in to build the song towards a routine but fitting finale.
Their confidence continues to shine as they chat with the crowd and have a go at punting their new merchandise. Tonight they not only perform tracks from their recently released EP “New Kids In America”, but they throw in a Christmas number as well as a newly penned track that creates a well-rounded set.
They close with “No One Asked You Anyway” and with its snappy chorus and chunky riffs it has a bit of a Jimmy Eat World feel to it. The drums are on point as they have been all night and as capable as each member of the band are, Maren has really impressed me. She is technically exceptional and could fill anyone’s shoes tonight if she was to sit behind their kit.
As I said in my previous review of their EP, I’ve heard a lot of bands try to write this type of music but it’s been a long time since I have heard one be so successful at it. I stand by that statement after seeing them live and it’ll be interesting to see where the next few years take this group of very talented individuals.
I knew little about Patent Pending other than the brief musical introduction I gave myself earlier today.
It was immediately obvious these jaunty New Yorkers didn’t take themselves too seriously and were absolutely here to have a good time. Their debut album sound started off somewhere close to Bowling for Soup territory with their more recent materiel verging over into the more polished pop of Len or Imagine Dragons.
The relentless banter from frontman Joe Ragosta was ruthless but marvellously affable as he encouraged the Edinburgh crowd to rise to the occasion despite it being a bitterly cold Tuesday evening. His persistence worked and pretty soon he had the crowd bouncing along with him as he threw himself across, around and, at times, off the stage.
There songs all came together live, the heavy polish of the studio was lifted and the band sounded much rawer tonight than what I had heard earlier. It was a sound that suited them and really transformed songs like “Hey Mario” and “Brighter”.
They also managed to put play two of the most eclectic covers I think I’ve heard at a single show. Both Frankie Valli’s “Your Just Too Good To Be True” and The Bloodhound Gang’s “Fire Water Burn” were given their own Patent Pending twist with the later demanding a huge amount of crowd participation.
This might have been some of the best on stage banter I have heard, they gave everything you would want from a support band and more.
Winding up the show with “Douchebag” they gave everything they had left. They must have won a few new fans tonight and were a lot of fun to watch from start to finish.
Bowling for Soup feel like one of those bands that came along at a time when it was difficult to keep up with the record executives signing any act that sounded a bit like Blink 182. It was a period that lasted about 5 years but the truth is Bowling for Soup were there from the beginning and believe it or not, their debut LP was out 22 years ago.
Tonight the veteran pop punk rockers are here to deliver their “Almost Christmas Tour” and to get into us all into the spirit they open with “Corner Store Christmas”. After a few adjustments to Jared’s flashing Santa hat they quickly dive into “Almost” and “The Bitch Song” and given these are two of their better known tracks there probably wasn’t a better way to introduce themselves to the Edinburgh crowd.
Despite doing this for two decades all the signature plectrum flicking dance moves are still there and after a slightly unusual rendition of “Frosty The Snowman” they have the crowd singing “Punk Rock 101” the top of their voices.
There was a lot of good humoured joking with the crowd, something the band are known for but then I start thinking “Okay I think I’ve heard this already tonight”. I’m right, this is “Corner Store Christmas” again. It goes down well enough but the crowd are roused further with a pyrotechnic stage show during “High School Never Ends” and it’s here sections of the audience really show their appetite for punk pop.
Half way through the country-esque “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)” the band allow the crowd to take over as Patent Pending’s Joe Ragosta and Not Ur Girlfrenz take the stage to huge applause. They take over and finish the song off with their mentors watching from their purpose built bar. If nothing else this proved what I had been thinking earlier about Maren but all four of them smashed it before making way for the headliners.
What feels like an unplanned version of Wham’s “Last Christmas” follows which they surprisingly declare the best Christmas song ever written. Not many people in the crowd appear to disagree.
What I like most about Bowling for Soup is their sense of humour. They have this in spades and the best example of that is the song “Stacy’s Mom”. Apparently a large portion of their fans thought this was their song and were frustrated when they didn’t play it live. So, rather than correct them, they covered it. Not only that, they released it as a single and now incorporate it into every live set.
As I am sure it does every night, this Fountains of Wayne classic goes down a storm.
Okay, that’s definitely that same song again. I’m not a Bowling for Soup purist so I’m not sure if this is something they do but I’ve just heard “Corner Store Christmas” for the third time. For me they could have played another one of their hits, I’d have loved to have heard “Where to Begin” or “Me With No You”. That said, they have already played a lengthy set , it’s entirely their show and no one seems to be complaining.
They end the show with a strong encore of “Girl all The Bad Guys Want”, an impromptu fan request “Emily” and SR-71s “1985” which is another cover they’ve almost magically managed to make their own.
Earlier in the show Guitarist, Chris Burney, suggested Jaret and he were going to be working as Santa’s in the shopping malls of Dubai. I think this can remain an elaborate back up plan for the time being as it appears there is enough left in the Bowling for soup tank.