It’s a real treat for all 2000s pop-punk fans as Bowling For Soup and Less Than Jake roll into the Halls, Wolverhampton, to truly bring the party and a night of some of the ultimate anthems you’ll hear in any rock nightclub worth its salt. First up, though, are Vandoliers, whose melting pot of country and punk get the crowd warmed up nicely. In some ways, they really fit the bill well, with the inescapable sense of fun they bring. Their cover of The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles goes down a storm and there are surely what seems to be a few new freshly bought Vandoliers t-shirts around the venue after they finish.
Photo credit: Tim Finch Photography
Less Than Jake bring things up a notch with a memorable and entertaining set. Egging the crowd on to drink more than the previous night’s crowd did, with humorous stage banter between songs, they are well-versed in leading an audience as big as tonight’s. With boundless stage presence, they jump around wildly and really captivate the crowd. The High Cost of Low Living and Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts are surefire highlights of the first half of their set.
After jokingly asking if anyone is from neighbouring Dudley they launch into a raucous History of a Boring Town before virtually the whole room gets dancing to The Science of Selling Yourself Short. They also bring the set down for the lighters/torches-in-the-air ballad The Rest of My Life, which ends up as a real set highlight. Performed acoustically for its first half, it’s a magic moment when the full band come in. With stage props blowing around as they end on an infectious Gainesville Rock City, they end to rabid cheers from their appreciative audience.
Photo credit: Tim Finch Photography
With hype building in the room, Bowling for Soup put a giant timer on the screen and play Kickstart My Heart over the PA, opening the set with the sing-along Emily into the thinly veiled references in My Wena. With a set full of the most recognisable pop punk songs of the last couple of decades, the crowd sing, dance, and laugh in the right places to their stage banter. Jaret Reddick has some real laugh-out-loud one-liners and if nothing else makes certain that everyone in the room is having fun.
Punk Rock 101 adds some bite midway through, and with a wry smile Jaret acknowledges that he’s in his fifties, singing about high school, before launching into High School Never Ends. After a heartfelt intro about mental health, Turbulence sees a sea of phone torches in the air, and following a belting rendition of Girl All The Bad Guys Want the audience seem to absolutely demand an encore. Closing with 1985 (which, had it been written today, would have been called 2005!) to draw a night of nostalgic anthems to an end, Bowling For Soup leave with a reasserted status of pop punk legends.
Photo credit: Tim Finch Photography
All photo credits to Tim Finch Photography
