|
Bowling For Soup Thursday, October 22nd 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 6th, 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 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 Review by
Lilly-Sue |