1,114 BOWLING FOR SOUP, Patent Pending, Not Ur Girlfrenz, Southampton Guildhall, Saturday 30th November 2018

A return to the “Scene of the Crime” for Logan, as it were…! Having decided, a couple of years back, that heavyweight melodic Texan pop-punk jesters Bowling For Soup’s 2016 Southampton Guildhall gig would be a good way for my then-8 year old son to kickstart his gigging days, we could scarcely have anticipated the events of that night, my little man joining the Soupsters onstage in the “arm-swing” during “Ohio (Come Back To Texas)”! An unforgettable way to start what’s been a pretty decent gig-career for Logan thus far, and BFS unsurprisingly still hold a place in his musical heart, so when Jaret and co. announced an “Almost Christmas” UK tour, this was pretty much a no-doubter for us. The fact that our preferred weekend date meant a return to the venue where those events unfolded was just a delicious coinkydinky!

Logan insisted in bolting on the same “Ohio” t-shirt that got him dragged onstage for this one, despite it now resembling more of a belly-top on his now-11 year old frame, but thus attired, we picked up BFS uber-fan The Big Man, plus his daughter Jess, for a swift and early drive down the A34 beat route. Parking up in our usual spot, we hit the slowly-filling old ornate hall early doors, snagging a barrier spot for the kids, house right. Result! So we were in place for openers Not Ur Girlfrenz, on at 7.30; I immediately remarked to Rich, “goodness Big Man, they look about 12!” to be informed that they actually were, well the bass player at least, the confident ponytailed vocalist-guitarist and her hard-hitting drummer colleague being relative veterans at 14 (!)… So okay, their spritely powerpop-punk was a bit formulaic and lightweight, okay it felt a little unrehearsed and clunky at times, but taken in context that could be forgiven. They’re kids! Real kids! In a band! On a proper tour, in a different country (one which they were utterly effusive about too, “your grass is so much greener! Ours is brown!”), so huge, huge props for that, girls. I liked their slowie, “Someday”, which saw the early audience hold phones and lighters aloft to the singer’s squealy delight, and their wilful punk rock demolition of “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree”. I hear they also dole out similar treatment to U2’s “I Will Follow”…

Our space filled up with a young crew led by a talkative Pompey lass called Shannon, a couple of her friends remembering Logan from last time out. Woah! Patent Pending were next up at 8.15, bursting onstage with a riot of super-fast shiny new millennial punk rock riffery, led by vocalist Joe Ragosta who, after one number, explained that the Ritalin that he takes for his ADHD had kicked in midway through said first song. That explains the bouncing around and crowdsurfing (during the opening number!), then…! Although again, PP’s actual Green Day-lite punk rock was a little lacking in originality, Ragosta was an uber-energetic performer, bouncing around the stage as if it was the local trampoline park, urging – nay, demanding – your attention and participation, and also later issuing out Turner-esque messages of kindness and positivity. A newie “Let It Burn” appropriated the hook from The Bloodhound Gang’s “The Roof Is On Fire”, getting the crowd chanting along to the, “let the motherfucker burn!” hook, Jaret joined them onstage for one number, and I enjoyed their almost faithful version of Frankie Valli’s old crooner’s standard “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”. But Ragosta was the real star; boundless energy and a nice bloke too. Well done!

Enough time for a quick loo break, then the Soup were on in pretty short order themselves thereafter, Jaret entering last sporting a bobble hat festooned with fairy lights, quickly discarded (“this hat was a bad idea! It’s hot as shit here!”) as they eased into opener “Corner Store At Christmas”, their own take on the “12 Days” standard, which was then reprised twice more during the set. “Almost” kickstarted things proper, after which Jaret praised both Southampton (“scene of the only BFS brawl in the parking lot!”) and Patent Pending (“we take [them] on tour so they can do the jumping and we don’t have to; don’t want to risk a broken hip!”). From the off, the usual BFS scatological chat and antics were in full force and effect; plenty of pyrotechnics, a dummy Christmas lights button (the band pulling up a punter dressed in a Scooby Doo costume onstage to “switch on”, the lights then smashing to black in fake explosion fashion) and a posing “photo opportunity” midway through a frantic “Punk Rock 101” (during which Logan held up a prepared “remember me?” sign up, accompanied by suitable shouts from Shannon’s posse, Jaret squinting at it then giving Logan a thumbs-up…  nice!). Musically, the band sounded tight and relaxed, bassist Rob Felicetti filling in seamlessly for the absent Erik Chandler, and an earlier-than-scheduled cover of Fountains Of Wayne’s powerpop classic “Stacy’s Mom” (brought forward after a game of “Chinese Whispers” to decipher a mosh-bound fan’s shout resulted in a request for it; Jaret mock-complained about how that song isn’t even theirs, then they played it anyway!) and a later “Ohio” (during which Logan again lifted up his shirt to show the band the logo – sorry mate, lightning doesn’t strike twice…) were my highlights.

 

A fun and faithful cover of “Frosty The Snowman” and a final go-round of “Corner Store” ended the set proper, the band gathering in their corner “bar” to toast proceedings before Jaret stepped up again, asked the crowd to, “give it up for us… wasn’t that an amazing show we just played?”, then led BFS through a final singalong “1985”, after which he walked to our side of the stage and chucked a pick out for Logan. Nice, again! A friendly steward handed him a BFS set-list (an actual BFS list! Wow!) as a fine punctuation on a splendid evening, before a brisk wander back to the car and swift drive home. Overall, not the epic night last time out turned out to be – as I mentioned, lightning doesn’t strike twice and in no way were we expecting it to – but a great fun evening’s pop-punk entertainment nonetheless, in Logan’s “Crime Scene” return!

974 BOWLING FOR SOUP, The Dollyrots, Lacey, MC Lars, Southampton Guildhall, Saturday 13th February 2016

And tonight I was joined by my 8 year old son Logan! Wait, what? Logan???? Yup, this was Logan’s first “big” gig, after a small sprinkling of local things, and hooo boy, did it turn out to be one to remember – forever!

Bowling For Soup, Texas’ finest proponents of scatological and surprisingly harmonic beefy pop-punk and a “live” mainstay since our first sighting at Reading Festival 2000, had actually retired from UK touring since their 2013 jaunt (which we missed), but had announced another “Howaboutanotherround” tour for Feb 2016. This had coincided with Rach playing some of their stuff to the kids in the car, to a very positive and singalong reception, albeit ignoring or bleeping the “bad words”! Thus we gave some thought to taking Logan (at 8, old enough for O2 venues) along, only to find the Bristol show sold out, and the Southampton show coinciding with Rach’s 40^th birthday girly trip to Iceland (yes, the country…!). However, Grandma kindly stepped in with an over-nighter offer for Kasey, and it was all systems go!

We dropped Kasey off at Grandmas and hit a sodden M4/ A34 beat route at 5.30, finding nearby street parking and joining the smallest of the 3 snaking GA queues to get in the rapidly-filling venue just after 7. Met up with Rich near the front, stage right, and Logan joined Rich’s daughter Jess on the barriers right down the front. MC Lars kicked things off pronto with some rabble-rousing compere work and a couple of quickfire rap numbers. Not my cup of tea, but Logan liked it, enough to stop and chat with MC Lars afterwards, at the merch stand on the way back from a quick loo trip. Got a quick pic with our erstwhile compere, and I explained to him that tonight was Logan’s first “big” gig, which elicited an offer of a free CD from the man. Chap!

Thus buoyed, we caught most of Nottingham’s Lacey, who plied some clean sounding but initially inauspicious shouty emo/ pop punk, but then startled with a fine Jimmy Eat World-alike slow burn tearjerker “Contender”. Their humble attitude impressed, as did a hooky final number, their new single “Shadow”. Nice! MC Lars then returned for a couple of literary Edgar Allen Poe-influenced (!) rap numbers, before 2-girl, one bloke trio The Dollyrots burst on with some initially thin sounding but improving punky stuff. An early cover of “Brand New Key” (“about love, not farming equipment,” according to gregarious blonde vocalist Kelly) was silly fun, and subsequent numbers added some Pixies-ish sleazy guitar chuntering. Then we had MC Lars back again, for a final rap based on Iggy’s classic “The Passenger”.

This bumped us right up to 9.30; the lights plunged and da Soup took the stage to their own nursery-rhyme silly backing track. “We’re fucking back, motherfuckers!” announced a surprisingly corpulent vocalist Jaret, and straightaway I thought there was no point even trying to censor this evening for Logan…! Ahhh, fuck it! So a boisterous “Bitch Song” and “Emily” kicked things off, before Jaret paused to compliment Southampton, “scene of the first ever Bowling For Soup parking lot fist fight!” He went on to state the bleedin’ obvious, bless him, commenting, “some of you may have noticed I’ve got really fat during the break,” remarking that he’d probably stolen Big Chris’ “fat love” in the process, but maintaining that this still made him a medium size in America! Then “Ohio”…

Logan had picked up an “Ohio” t-shirt the previous week to wear to the gig, celebrating one of his favourite BFS numbers, and as soon as the song moved into raucous shit-kicking gear, he rocked along, lifting his shirt over his head to show the band the logo. Inevitably, the observant Jaret noticed him, then incredibly he broke off from the song before the middle 8 to announce, “there’s this little kid with an “Ohio” shirt down the front… bring me that child, hand me that child!” So a bouncer lifted Logan out, and up he went, joining the band onstage! Erik remarked, “it’s pretty badass to be named after Wolverine!”, Jaret got him to get the crowd to wave their hands, wave at Big Chris etc. and Logan even sang a line when the band got “Ohio” going again; “there’s a seat for you at the rodeo and I’ve got every slow dance saved…!”. Ultimately, the whole audience, some 2,000 (!) in tonight, seemed to be chanting, “Logan! Logan! Logan!” Utterly amazing!

Well, that was it; they totally had me after that, could pretty much do no wrong in the eyes of this incredibly proud and grateful dad. A frantic “Punk Rock 101” was stopped half-way through for tonight’s first “digitally enhanced” trip to the “pub”, a mock-up bar at the corner of the stage. Jaret remarked to the guy holding his girlfriend aloft on his shoulders, “your neck’s gonna smell like a vagina!”, and before an acoustic interlude of a surprisingly affecting “Passengers” and a touching “Friends Of Mine”, Chris introduced Jaret as, “acoustic Jaret” before announcing that acoustic Jaret ate electric Jaret! The effervescent vocalist again stated that BFS were, “the band you can wave to,” bitching about Rammstein not waving back when he saw them (!).

A riotously singalong “1985” saw an acapella intro leading to some fiery pyrotechnics, before a medley of pop-punk classics (including clips from “All The Small Things”, “Basketcase” and an excellent snatch of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle”), “to prove that pop punk isn’t dead!” To underline this point further, a delicious cover of “Stacy’s Mom” followed, before “Almost” needed 2 goes to get started, Jaret mistakenly playing the riff to “1985” instead, then asking the line-up of assembled roadies and guests at “the bar” to give him a kick in the ass, before getting it right next time! Encore “Shut Up And Smile” was an all-inclusive love-fest, channelling the celebratory mood of the night, then the finale of “the best song ever”, a rambunctious “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” ended a thrilling and entertaining set of irresistibly harmonic and singalong pop punk. Which on tonight’s evidence is quite far from dead!

On the way out, Logan got lots of attention too; fist bumps from the guys, and hugs from the girls (!), and even free stuff from the merch stand! An equally sodden drive home saw us get home at a red-eyed 12.30 am, probably the latest Logan has ever stayed up. But hey what a way to kick-off his “big” gigging days. All I can say as a very proud dad is; thank you, Bowling For Soup, Thank You!

860 BOWLING FOR SOUP, The Dollyrots, Bristol O2 Academy, Friday 26 October 2012

A relatively late addition to my gig itinerary, this one, and it was thanks to my kids! Rachel was always going to go to see Texan pop-punk clown princes Bowling For Soup with her fellow Soup uber-fans Debbie and Steven, but I initially wasn’t up for it enough to justify sorting a babysitter out. However our kids then announced they wanted to go for a sleepover at Grandma’s during half term, so I persuaded Rach that this should be the night, rather than Gaz’ Wednesday date, so I could enjoy some big dumb punk rock fun, then get a lie-in the next morning!

So we set off at 6, picked up our friends then had a queue-punctuated journey down, parking up about 7.30 and consequently completely missing first support Patent Pending, who were on at the unfeasibly early time of 6.15! Main support The Dollyrots sounded clumsy and formulaic, so we stayed in the bar instead, popping into the hall and down onto our usual stage left spot about 8, just before the entrance of the Soup, to their own composed opening track.

Kicking off with the hooky “High School Never Ends”, the gig initially promised to venture seamlessly into the usual BFS formula for fun, particularly when vocalist Jaret took a phone from an audience member who was using it during the first song break, then handed it to Chris to chat up the caller! However things took a turn for the worse, as Jaret was clocked good and proper by a phone thrown by some dickhead audience member, and his reaction briefly threatened to turn the atmosphere a little nasty, as he called the guy out to either leave or come onstage and let his guitar tech kick his ass. Thankfully, he gave the guy one number to think about it – the highly appropriately titled “I Don’t Need This” – which seemed to calm him down as well. Normality restored!

An excellent early “Almost” was preceded by Jaret calling for the audience to form, “one big happy Bowling For Soup chorus,” then an incredible toughened up version of Fountains Of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom” (“if you’ve come here to hear our big hit “Stacy’s Mom”, that was Fountains Of Wayne, but seeing as we get the credit for it anyway, we might as well play it!”). By now the Soup were well in their stride, with the between song banter and antics as spontaneous, scatological and entertaining as their infectiously tuneful, if a little one-dimensional, harmonic US poppy punk rock. Introducing “Ohio”, Jaret announced, “this is about the great state of Texas, and I’m looking forward to returning for the Mexican food and my wife’s vagina!” “Punk Rock 101” saw a mid-song break for the band and their support acts (who’d been gathering in the corner of the stage during the set in an impromptu “bar”) to pose for photos onstage, whilst the PA played Van Halen’s “Jump”, and the line-up jumped at the appropriate points. Jaret then labelled his band, “Bowling For Soup; the band you can wave to!” before introducing, “the best song ever,” a splendid “Girl All The Bad Guys Want”, which got a frenzied reaction from this as-usual very young but knowledgeable crowd, who’d been singing along to pretty much everything. And, despite myself, I was pretty much joining in as well!

Set closer “1985” brought a thoroughly entertaining hour and 45 minutes set to a close, before “My Weiner” and a superb “The Bitch Song” saw the band once again bringing on the support acts to join in (Jaret and The Dollyrots' female vocalist banging heads while harmonising!) for an all-inclusive finale. They’re never going to pull and trees up in the creativity stakes, but they know what they do and do it very bloody well indeed. I’ve been to better gigs this year, but if you want sheer dumb fun and punk rock frolics, you know you’re going to get that from Bowling For Soup. And that’s no bad thing!

525 BOWLING FOR SOUP, Uncle Brian, Shooting Reef, Cardiff Sam's Bar, Wednesday 22 August 2001

Next week, US punk reprobates Bowling For Soup will become the first band (worth going to see!) to play Swindon for, oooh, at least a few years, with their Vic show. And where are we? At the American Hi-Fi show in London! So, this unfortunate clash prompted a plan to head to Cardiff, and friend and fan of the Soupsters Rich was up for it too!

Found the venue reasonably easily and got the beers in. Rich introduced us to BFS vocalist Jaret, so chilled awhile and also met Thom and his Cardiff-domiciled girlfriend Helen, while the enthusiastic but half-formed local support Shooting Reef played their thrashy punk. Main support Uncle Brian were better, doing the skateboard ska-punk thing quite well with an enjoyable set, which prompted Rich to open his wallet for their CD.

Bowling For Soup hit the boards (and boards they were too, in this wood panelled bar) about 10.30, and smashed into a splendid, extremely funny and entertaining set of their bright, fresh new millennial punk rock. Once again, the splendid 3 part harmonies set them apart and above the usual cartoon punkster crowd of Blink 182 wannabees, and these were excellent again tonight, especially during "I Just Want A New Girlfriend". Showmanship was in strong evidence too; during the splendid "Belgium" they slipped in bits from Britney and Eminem songs, then had a competition to try and stick their plectrums into huge guitarist big Chris' butt crack! Also, Jaret grabbed a punter's mobile phone - while he was talking to his girlfriend! - and proceeded to serenade her "live" onstage! This tomfoolery was, of course, notwithstanding the usual plectrum juggling (Chris), face pulling (Jaret) and funny between-song banter. All in all a superb hour-long set and well worth the (very) late night and bleary eyes the next morning. As they put it, Bowling For Soup were, "The Shit!"

561 [spunge], BOWLING FOR SOUP, Gash, Bristol Fleece, Thursday 30 May 2002

This was very much a, "will we, won't we," gig, as it was firstly rescheduled to this evening from the previous night, and then down-graded from the Academy, then BFS weren't going to play, then they were! So off we went, eventually, accompanied by BFS groupie The Big Man. Hit the venue at 8 to find that, because the Academy was originally scheduling this show as 16+, the Fleece weren't serving alcohol! So Rich led us backstage to meet the Soup guys and sneak some of their rider!

Caught most of young skate-punk openers Gash. When on-song, they sounded like a less mature China Drum, but were mostly relentlessly noisy and steamhammer repetitive. Bowling For Soup are however a much more musical and varied proposition. A most unusual band; self-confessed goony skate-punks, but with a sense of melody, harmony and good hooks, they came on to "I Just Want A New Girlfriend" and put together a very entertaining and easy-on-the-ears set. Good oldies like "Belgium" and "The Bitch Song" dovetailed in with new numbers, including the theme to new film "Jimmy Neutron", which was dedicated to Rich and which had more than a hint of the Dickies "Gigantor". As support, they wisely concentrated on the songs before the inter-song banter, although the quips (Jaret saying, "today is a very special day; it's my seventh birthday, yes, I'm 7 today!") and plectrum-juggling were in evidence. "Here's a song we stole off a goddamn Canadian," was the intro heralding their version of Bryan Adams' "Summer Of 69", which concluded a fine set.

Hung out with Rich and the Soupers during Spunge's set - ska-punk is so not my thing, particularly when they nick hooks from New Wave classic "Back Of My Hand" by the Jags and "Another Skunk Song" by Joyrider, and wilfully massacre Elvis Costello's classic "Oliver's Army". So we hit the road after their set, after Rich had spent ages saying goodbye to all the Soup and everyone connected with them. Just like Rachel and myself in Boston, really...

646 BOWLING FOR SOUP, Feable Weiner, Bristol Academy, Friday 8 October 2004

Old school punk rock with Stiff Little Fingers last night, new school punk tonight! This was also an early one - we arrived in a 2 car posse about 7.15, finding out the reason for the early curfew was due to the gig's "All Ages" label. Indeed, this was full of early teens and kids for da Soup - quite the opposite of last night when I felt positively young at the SLF show! Despite this (the crowd cheers occasionally as squeaky as a hockey international), this was nowhere near as bad as it could have been; the "kids" were positively well-behaved!

Feable Weiner, a spritely young So-Cal punky pop band, were already onstage and finishing off their well-received set as we got in. We got drinks in and sorted out a viewing spot. BFS-uberfan Rich suggested a mosh, but we'd probably have crushed the kids!

The Soup took the stage to a heroes reception at a ridiculously early 5 past 8 (!). Opening with "My Hometown", a raucous number from their upbeat, consistent and almost mature (relatively speaking for BFS, that is!) new "A Hangover You Don't Deserve" CD, they kicked into a supremely fun set of new millennial punk rock; shiny, well played and excellently harmonised, and still featuring the most entertaining between-song flippant banter this side of Julian Cope. "I can't believe how lovely you people are," complimented vocalist Jaret early in the set, and proceeded to berate guitarist Eric for not wanting to frolic(!). "This is a song about the time my ex-girlfriend's dad hit me in the face with a shovel," said Jaret to introduce "Running From Your Dad"; possibly the best intro this year? The excellent "Belgium" was another mid-set highlight before the big guns - splendid new American Hi-Fi-esque single "1985" (the kids already singing along!), "Girl All The Bad Guys Want", and a superb "Bitch Song" - climaxed another entertaining, plectrum juggling, sassy-gobbed, inflatable-finger-waving, fun fun fun set from the Soup!

This, despite being a 1 hour 15 minute set, only ended at 20 past 9, but we weren't done. The bouncers ushered the kids out, and we hung back in the upstairs bar, eventually meeting BFS bass-boy Eric and hanging out for an hour or so, thanks to Rich's "in" with the band and crew. We also got to hang out with the rest of the band outside, getting stuff signed for a work colleague's teenage kids (whose goldfish is called Jaret, allegedly!). So, a late homecoming in the end from an early gig, one of the most entertaining and plain old fun shows of the year so far!

683 BOWLING FOR SOUP, AMERICAN HI-FI, MC Lars, Cardiff University, Friday 21 October 2005

The gig pace continues, and after one of my most horrible days at work ever, leading to my being sent home to cool off, I really needed the healing power of rock'n'roll, so I thanked the Lord for the Hi-Fi, added to this bill after we'd gotten tix! Took 2 hours to get to Cardiff, though, thanks to rain, Friday night traffic and half-term holidaymakers. Found the venue easily enough, but finding our way in was another matter, through this rabbit warren!

Eventually we got in and hooked up with the Big Man, preferring the bar and good company to the horrible carcrash that was "punk rock rapper" MC Lars. We then took a wander into the main hall, and, noticing old Boston buddy, The Hi-Fi's Jamie Arentzen, hooking up onstage, we dived down the front. Good thing too, as seconds later the rest of the Hi-Fi joined him onstage, immediately breaking into a powerful version of "The Art Of Losing". By then we were down the front - unfortunately behind some obvious first time gig-goers, who insisted on elbowing and kicking us throughout the set - and as normal, we were spotted and greeted by Jamie during the first number, and by Stacy at the end!

American Hi-Fi were just what I needed - raw, visceral powerpop rock'n'roll played hard and heavy, and Rachel and I moshed like crazy, blowing away the cares of the day. A whole shedload of oldies were augmented with the more strident and rocking moments from new, mellower and poppier CD "Hearts On Parade", although "Another Perfect Day" and the brilliantly sing-along "Flavor Of The Weak" won the day for me. However, their entire set recalled their brilliant 2001 Reading Festival set - equally thrilling and timely!

After that, I'm afraid The Soup stood no chance really. In fact we missed half their set (and the chance to watch them from backstage, which the Big Man took) as we chose to chat and catch up with the Hi-Fi boys. Some brilliant moments here also - "introducing" myself to Stacy as he'd apparently drawn a blank on me when Rich had mentioned my name at the Bristol gig one week earlier; and Jamie commenting on my and Rachel's recent wedding by saying, "yeah, I remember when you used to come and stay at my place, and you were all like, "this is my friend"!". No fooling Mr. Arentzen! We also had a long chat with Drew, and introduced ourselves to new sticksman Jason Sutter, an old friend of Phil Hurley's who claimed to be the Gigolo Aunts' first ever drummer!

We did eventually watch some of Bowling For Soup's set, which featured the usual fun antics, banter, upbeat punky pop and good harmonies, and went down an absolute storm with this young crowd, but for us the rock behemoth that is American Hi-Fi won the night tonight! Bade our farewells and hit the road after BFS' set finished, enduring an appalling storm on the way home. But it was well worth it thanks to American Hi-Fi!

722 BOWLING FOR SOUP, Son Of Dork, Bristol Academy, Tuesday 6 February 2007

From the sublime to the ridiculous… this time it’s a 4-band tour, commissioned and headlined by Texan cartoon punksters Bowling For Soup, whose last set we’d ignored in favour of hob-nobbing with their support, our friends American Hi-Fi. So, no Hi-Fi this time – it’s payback time!
So on a cold evening we set off in our recently misbehaving car, parking up and meeting uber-Soup fan Rich and lady Amanda in the Hatchet Inn. Got grub while the Big Man sorted tix for himself and Amanda thanks to his connections! Chatted until 8.30 which meant missing the horrible queue, but also the first 2 bands on this "Get Happy" tour, Army Of Freshmen and Wheatus. No great loss really!

The place however was utterly heaving for this sell-out show, and with the Soup’s predominantly teen audience, decibel levels were approaching hockey international status, the high-pitched squeals sending neighbourhood dogs running for shelter! Got a spot on the bar stage left while support Son Of Dork were playing the type of identikit shiny Emo/ Orange County "punk" that All American Rejects do far better. One of them was apparently in boy band Busted – possibly the dorky Ben Kweller lookalike singer!

Rich headed for the mosh for the Soup, while we took advantage of a kindly steward lady who (thanks to Rach’s pregnancy!) let us stand on the steps, stage left, with an unimpeded aerial view. Result!

BFS kept us waiting but eventually appeared to the "Rocky" theme tune and a rapturous reception, all wearing quickly divested black tracksuits and performing an elaborate warm-up! Pure showbiz hokum, but what do you expect from this lot of raffish entertainers? Kicking off with "Almost", this was a "best of" run-through of their eminently catchy, hooky and melodic poppy punk rock, and also an object lesson in how to entertain. The in-between song banter was as scatological as ever, varying from big Chris talking about having 3 fingers up Jaret’s ass (!) to Jaret wanting to recruit backing singers with the reward of showering with the band! During-song breaks were also aplenty, for reasons varying from the boys telling the audience how pretty we all were, to a planned (and sound-tracked) mid-song drink break! Add in the usual pick-juggling and chanting, and the Soup had this young audience eating out of their hands.

Us oldies too! "1985" and "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" were our highlights – that is, until the encore, when an incredible "Into Your Arms" (yup, the Lemonheads song!) topped the lot, despite the crowd totally ignoring it! We didn’t, a point duly made to drummer Gary, who acknowledged us from onstage with a rock hand.

Quick out and home too afterwards; back at 12 after a totally entertaining set from Bowling For Soup!