Bowling For Soup - Torquay, Dec '22
Buckle up for an in-depth look at a night with the quirky fun-loving band Bowling For Soup....
An evening full of fun quips, chats between the band and crowd and just down right awesome songs, Bowling For Soup always put on one of the best shows you are ever likely to see. Often described as a gig that feels as though you are just at a very big gathering of friends, a BFS show is unlike any other in the best possible way with so much banter you will be leaving with an achy face and still not wanting the show to have ended. Set within the stunning South Devon coastline at the Riviera International Conference Centre, (previously the English Riviera Centre) that hosts a variety of events from music to conferences, as well as the pool and fitness areas too, this gig in particular is the bands first time in Torquay and marks a tour two years in the making, having been postponed twice.
The Thomas Nicholas Band begins the evening, just Thomas and his guitar providing hilarious and heartfelt stories on topics like taking 13 years for him to have reached this stage of his career and now working on songs with Jaret Reddick and sets the fun vibes rolling for the night. As December Falls then rock on to the stage, ramping up the crowd even more with their high-energy, engaging and warm demeanour. They get the crowd really involved, requiring their assistance on lyrics like 'no money' on the song of the same name, 'No Money' from their 2019 self-titled album. The bar set so high with these two support bands, BFS really know how to bring in an insane amount of talent that compliments them on every tour and this one is certainly no exception.
As BFS are welcomed with open arms to the stage as the crowd cheer at the bands theme tune, joining in with the chanting of "Bowling For Soup! Hey!" as Gary Wiseman, Rob Felicetti, Chris Burney & Jaret Reddick step out. Jaret quickly asks for the crowds help, asking how to correctly pronounce the name of the city, as he says "is it Tor-key as in a key?", the crowd reply with a very loud "Yeah!".
Jokes and stories are a dime-a-dozen throughout any BFS gig and this crowd lap up every word and every song, singing along with the band the whole night, along with what has become a staple on stage, the on-stage bar where you'll see the support bands hanging out during BFS' set. When Jaret stops things, "Wait! did they just close the bar?" mid-song, Rob jokes that they do it in-between songs but Jaret knows how to fix it, getting everyone to put their hands in the air and kicks straight back into the song 'Ohio' with Jaret getting the crowd to do jazz-hands. Although it's not long before the very same song takes another break when Chris gets the crowd to smell their fingers before once again jumping straight back into the song.
There is certainly no shortage of banter and entertainment with these chaps, as Jaret jests with Chris about trying to get guitar pics to their adoring fans and the fact that rather than throwing them to people, Jaret simply hands them to people. The band also thank their supports, jokingly thanking Thomas Nicholas for playing three of BFS' songs and for their new friends As December Falls.
The next song 'I wanna be Brad Pitt' is mentioned by Chris as not even being in their setlist, as Jaret does an introduction to the song, talking about the band being told that not a lot of bands pass though town, but BFS are here, "it took us two years to get here, because we ... walked!", joking about losing a few pounds and bands that do come through town always asking the crowd to sing along to a song that everyone in the room will know. In true BFS style, they say "we are not those bands" with Chris saying this next song isn't even on their setlist! They ask the crowd to sing a song that "96% of you don't even know exists", encouraging the crowd to repeat the lyrics 'I wanna be Brad Pitt' along with them.
A recent addition to the BFS tour setlist, it is the Bowling For Soup Comedy Jam, as the band checks in with the crowd to make sure everyone is still doing good and enjoying the show. Rob asks Jaret how it works, Jaret informs the crowd that each member of the band will tell one joke and that the crowds cheers will determine the winning joke. Now these are story based and include some punch lines that really land with the crowd and include some that well, we won't be retelling there here as they're best heard in the moment! Although Gary Wiseman to the rescue with a true crowd pleaser and most certainly the winning joke in the comedy jam on this tour date. The joke in question, "I've recently been diagnosed with being colour blind, to be honest the diagnosis came completely out of the orange!".
Heading straight into 'Get Happy', the next few minutes include the entire room entering the heavenly halls of Whamhalla as the band intentionally plays that wonderful Christmas song, 'Last Christmas', stopping the survival of anyone taking part in the annual Whamageddon challenge of going through the entire Christmas holiday period without hearing this one song by Wham. You feel the whole room laugh and sigh at the same time, thinking 'thanks guys!' as everyone gets Whammed at the same time.
As we go from laughs to a little bit of love, Jaret talks about interrupting the show for a very important reason and that its not something they normally do, as he introduces a nervously excited chap, Mark, who wants to bring Rachel, his girlfriend on stage. You guessed it! It's a proposal in Torquay, at a Bowling For Soup gig! And yes, Rachel said yes much to the relief of Mark and the buzz of the room. There are no dull moments in a BFS gig and jokes here there and everywhere, but this was a beautiful and welcome interruption during one of the most popular songs 'Punk Rock 101'.
The classic "one more song!" chant follows another popular song '1985', when Chris gets the crowd to chant other things back to the band, as he says to the crowd "everybody say...'hey-ey! we want some (lets leave this word to the imagination here)'" before moving on to getting the crowd to chant back to them "soup there it is!".
The band joke about taking the guess work out of encores as they pretend to have finished the show doing the classic walk off and back on before the encore, although in this case, BFS just go and sit down in full view of the crowd. Good one lads! Jaret thanks everyone no matter how long they've been a fan for, with each person means the world to them as the next six months mark their 29th band birthday, dedicating the next song to all the happy people, 'Shut up and smile'.
Leaving the crowd with one last song, the best song ever according to Jaret and surely fans certainly agreed, 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want', he once again thanks Thomas Nicholas and As December Falls and to the crowd "give it up for you guys for being here tonight, you've been an amazing audience" and of course to give it up to "us for being so goddam great" and to all of which is said, is greeted with massive cheers as the opening riffs of this one last song blast through the speakers.
Still not having yet left the stage despite the set being over, the whole band hands out guitar pics, drum sticks, waves and smiles to adoring fans. A band who genuinely love what they do and undoubtedly appreciate every fan old and new, Bowling For Soup put on the friendliest, down to earth, fun rocking show to sing and laugh along with them the entire time. Whilst there is always lots of talk and banter between bandmates and the crowd, it is one evening you can bet will include some down right awesome songs and you will be heading home wishing the evening didn't have to end. Here's to the next tour, hopefully we won't have to wait quite as long for this next one, but in the mean time, rock on! Oh and check out their fan-page on Facebook, a wonderfully welcoming page and group of people who are always up for a pre-gig chat and meet up too.
Check out the bands socials and website, plus streaming via the links below.
All images (c) SammielPix Photography, do not use without permission
