Bowling For Soup

Thursday, October 22^nd 2009

O₂ Academy, Birmingham

Review by Deb

Several things surprised me tonight, and none of them had anything to do with the band.  This was my first visit to the new Birmingham Academy, and I was struck immediately by the absence of sticky carpets and eau de vomit.  Not spacious by any means, but much less of a health hazard than the old Academy, so it gets the Planet Thrash seal of approval.  Then there was the diversity and age range of the fans in attendance – I saw kids as young as 8, older people in their 60’s, mothers with daughters, teenage emos and leather clad, 40-something rock fans – which goes a long way in demonstrating how wide Bowling For Soup’s appeal stretches.  The last surprise was the cheek of the Welsh – you know who you are…….

Bowling For Soup, on the other hand, did not surprise me at all, putting on a top class performance as expected - full of double entendres, hilarious onstage antics and vodka.  Lots and lots of vodka.  Jaret and Co are consummate professionals and know just how to please their fans – all the old favourites were there, such as ‘The Bitch Song’, ‘1985’, ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’, ‘Punk Rock 101’, ‘I’m Gay’ and ‘High School Never Ends’, and aimed at the die hard amongst us.  For the newly introduced member to the Texan quartets fan club, they did several songs from the new album ‘Sorry For Partyin’’, including the latest single ‘My Wena’, ‘No Hablo Ingles’ and my personal favourite ‘The Really Cool Dance Song’, which went down a storm, particularly when the band were joined on stage by all 3 support acts who proceeded to sing along and dance with much exaggerated silliness.  I have to admit that stopping half way through a song to take a vodka break got a little tedious, and I was also more than a little bemused when they did a cover of Katy Perry’s ‘Hot ‘n’ Cold’, but the crowd loved every second because this is what Bowling For Soup do – they entertain.  A bit of a row broke out at one point between Eric and Chris because all of the half naked women were on Chris’s side of the room, which I believe was solved by having another vodka after Jaret asked the crowd to take a vote - it appears that Chris has a fan club made up of both women and men – good job there’s a whole lot of him to go around…..

Well worth every sweaty second.

Papa Roach

Tuesday October 6^th, 2009

Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Review by Deb

I have followed Papa Roach as a band for over 8 years – almost the entire span of their career – and I’ve seen them live several times before, so I knew what to expect from this lot and consider them to be the best live band I have ever seen, bar none. I have to admit to being a little apprehensive this time around because the band had a new drummer, and I was used to seeing them with drummer Dave Buckner – would this affect the quality of their live performance, and would I notice if I shut my eyes during a pre ‘Metamorphosis’ track ?

It turns out I had nothing to worry about.  Tony Palermo is not only a true professional as far as drumming goes, but slots nicely in with the rest of the lunatics in the band, and I couldn’t fault him.

Now – on to the show.  The Civic Hall is rammed, it’s fucking hot and the crowd is pumped after watching support band Madina Lake.  Tony, Tobin and Jerry take their positions and then Jacoby Shaddix launches himself on stage, dripping from head to foot in sweat, oozing energy and hyped to the point of detonation.  After shaking himself vigorously and dousing the front row in sweat, the band launch into an hour and twenty five minutes of the most phenomenal set I have seen to date.  I see a lot of live bands, many of them twice, and Papa Roach are one of the only bands whose performance improves every time I see them – the stage show is energetic, ballsy, a little orgasmic in places, but positive emotional on so many different levels.  Jacoby Shaddix once said that he wanted fans to come to a show and experience a wide range of emotions, from anger to eroticism, and this is exactly what you do.  I listened to at least one track from each of the last five albums they have released – ‘Last Resort’, ‘She Loves Me Not’, Getting Away With Murder’, ‘Time Is Running Out’ and lots of good stuff from the latest album, ‘Metamorphosis’ – ‘State Of Emergency’, ‘Hollywood Whore’ and ‘I Almost Told You That I Loved You…’ to name a few.  Mr Shaddix didn’t let up once, bouncing around like a cracked out Energiser bunny, wide eyed and fuelled by a captivated crowd.  At one point, he got on to the top of a pile of speakers and edged his way along the front of the balcony, sending the crowd wild and the security into chaos – they might not have been impressed at following him around, but the lucky members of the crowd who got touched by the hand of Shaddix will never forget that moment.

If you didn’t catch Papa Roach this time around, then pre-book for next time – you won’t find a better band for giving a live performance.  If you did see them, then you don’t need to read this review – you know how good it was……

The Levellers

Friday 1st May, 2009

Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

Review by Lilly-Sue and Mambo Mark

Let me start by saying that getting to Wolverhampton is no easy feat, but once there, the venue is actually quiet a nice place which makes you chillax and forget the arsehole of a journey – small, but grand.

On tonight were the Levellers, on their ‘Letters from the Underground’ tour - two decades of fantastic music and energy and they are still going.  Supporting them were Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs, a three piece skiffle band, comedy/ folk/ rockabilly, who like to play what they call skunk and Pama International, a ska/ dub/ reggae band (according to them anyway – I thought it was more 80's lounge music, but hey…..)

So on with the show - Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs bound on to the stage and immediately interact with the crowd - " How we all doin’ then? " which was returned with an inaudible roar (which generally means "great"). Full of energy and wit, we had 30 minutes with these charming lads singing along and bouncing to their colourful, yet enjoyable performance.
Whilst the Junkyard Dogs were playing, they introduced us all to an up and coming roadie who had written a song about them in his own style of skiffling – I suggest you all check out this young fellow as he made the Wulfrun jump and tap to his merry tune.

They didn’t just warm up the crowd but fired them up with catchy feet, tapping tunes and funny antics, breaking violins, playing washboards, making a double bass from a piece of string, a stick and a tub, these guys really are something new and different - guaranteed to get your feet a tapping.

Check them out on www.myspace.com/junkyarddogs

Next on were Pama International - not exactly what it says on the tin as they reminded me more of an 80’s lounge act than ska/ dub/ reggae. Luke warm reception, as the audience didn’t seem to take to this group - mind you, it was that loud that you couldn’t hear anything and they were shouting. Unfortunately, the Wulfrun doesn’t like bass.

Remember guys - just cuz it’s louder doesn’t make it better.

Good but not memorable - I think it should have been Pama, Hobo and the Levellers, not other way round.

Now, on to the reason for being here - the Levellers, two decades on and still going strong even if their bodies aren't……..

Fun, energetic, and politically abusive - just the way I like it. Playing a good mix of old and new, these fellows had us bouncing and jumping from start to finish, flashy lights changing to depict the mood and a multi-coloured aboriginal Scotsman playing the didgeree doo.

‘Letters from the Underground’ is better live than on CD, so I suggest next time the Levellers are about, you go and have a beautiful day.

Kerrang! Relentless Energy Tour

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

O2 Academy, Birmingham
 
In Case of Fire
Black Tide
Dir En Gray
Bring Me The Horizon
Mindless Self Indulgence

Review by Lilly-Sue
 
 
We got there for 6.45, for what we thought was a 7 start and were made to join the back of a queue whilst people who already had their tickets poured in next to us........
 
I could hear a band playing, but waiting outside till 7.15, had no idea the dull sounds barely audible were actually In Case of Fire, who unfortunately must have started at around 6 or 6.30, and so were playing to a mostly empty room.
 
As we got through the doors into the sticky open plan building, known lovingly now as the O2 Academy (was the Carling), there was no sign of it being a tour, let alone the Kerrang! tour,  apart from a few signs tied to the balconies and 2 big TV screens which repeated the advert aired on Kerrang! TV all week.  And as for Relentless Energy - one sign at the back of the stage and cans in the fridges behind the bar.....
 
Shouldn't have bothered really - it was like a normal gig.....
 
Black Tide were on -  I could tell from their over the top, anthemia tunes which personally don't grab me, and from the feel of the crowd, they only grabbed a select few who paid £17.00 just to come and see about 20 minutes from them and leave.  Although the band seemed to be thinking they were playing to a screaming orgy of metal fans at Bloodstock or something. the crowd were rather sombre and still, nodding heads and throwing the horns at the end of songs.  Circling long hair and crotch playing guitar with chanted lyrics, Black Tide sounded as good live as they do on CD, and to cap it all, when Black Tide finished, 89% of the people filling the front half of the dance floor left.  Well played and enjoyable performance from them -  just not too many people or for very long.
 
Between each band was a 10 minute equipment set up where the predominantly 13-17 age group that filled the place were allowed to go for a cigarette.
 
Next was a band I'd never heard of called Dir En Gray - metal with a Japanese twist. It was quiet interesting and funny as, throughout their 20 minutes, the lead singer stood slap bang in the middle of the stage at the front and did some weird twisty thing with his hand as he sang??????  Strangely enough, the place was heaving when this band came on - downstairs was filled to the edges and upstairs was 3 deep .
 
Whilst they were playing, we decided to check out the merch stands as my accomplice is majorly in to Bring Me The Horizon and wanted a shirt.  Wow - £17 pounds a shirt, and no mention of Kerrang or Relentless.....I thought this was a tour ???  Dir En Gray were offering to sign their album after their set but there was no sign of Emma Scott or any other Kerrang presenter.
 
After another ciggy break, Bring Me The Horizon were on, and so was the spirit of the gig - everyone was jumping, singing and loving the atmosphere.  Ollie Sykes interacted with the crowd, shouting lyrics, and lyrics were shouted back -  apparently this band are known for dropping their set for the littlest of things, but tonight he played his full set with enthusiasm.  My accomplice was more than happy, swooning and joining in just like all the other emo kids in attendance - 20 minutes again but a good set nonetheless.
 
Finishing this rip of a 'night of entertainment' that Kerrang will probably boast about were MSI - the band they had boasted about all week, and immense is all I can say, although I do think the gig was poorly monitored and, like my accomplice, a lot of other people will have left with an injury from the jump pit.  We pushed to the front for them, got about half way in and stood squashed in like sardines waiting eagerly.  At this point, I turned and said we were gonna die and sure enough MSI started.  The pit went crazy, surging forward and jumping about like salmon jumping their way up stream - by the third song, the sheer pressure on my body and bruises from my feet to my shins made me try and escape this idiocy......
 
This turned out to be harder than I expected as we tried to escape, finding the only way out was sideways, working with the flow of the insanity.  Finally, we found safety out the left hand side, bruised, hobbling and one of us missing a shoe............
 
Final Note - the Kerrang Relentless tour was the biggest rip off known to man and I suggest you go see the bands separately for a more enjoyable night.