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Biography
The seeds of what would blossom into the band Bowling for Soup were sewn when lead singer and principal songwriter Jaret Reddick met guitarist Chris Burney in their small town high school. The two friends grew up in the 80s listening to glam ridden metal acts like Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, and Ratt; however the two also reserved a certain respect for straightforward punk groups like the Ramones and Greenday.
Before forming Bowling for Soup, Burney operated a local coffee shop called the Refuge that housed a concert stage on which his band The Persecuted would often play. Future bandmates of Bowling For Soup, bassist Erik Chandler and drummer Gary Wiseman frequented the Refuge and eventually formed a friendship with Burney and Reddick. All the members where in different bands at the time such as the Folkadots, Gary & the Wiseman, Slaw, Terminal Seasons, and coolfork!.
It was not until the formation of Rubberneck that the initial stages of Bowling for Soup would really take form. Rubberneck consisted of Reddick, Burney, Chandler, and Lance Morrill. In 1994 the quartet changed their name to Bowling for Soup (a reference to a Steve Martin comedy sketch) and released their debut self-titled album on their personal record label Que-So Records. The band kept busy producing material, releasing a split album with the V.I.M.S. in 1996, a 2nd studio album “Rock on Honorable Ones” in 1997 and the E.P. “Tell Me When to Whoa” in 1998. The same year the band’s drummer Lance Morrill left the band on amicable terms and was replaced by a mutual friend of the band Gary Wiseman. 1998 was also the year in which the band moved from Wichita Falls to Denton, Texas.
The band’s career really started picking up in the early 2000s when they joined major record label Jive. On 16 May 2000 they released their album “Let’s Do It for Johnny!” (a reference to Francis Ford Coppola’s movie the Outsiders) and caught a glimpse of fame with their hit “The Bitch Song”. The band was on an upward slope to success after this release and with the output of their 5th studio album “Drunk Enough to Dance” they saw two of their singles become hit records “Emily” and “Girl All the Bad Guys Want”. The latter song was also a critical success and was nominated in the 2003 Grammy Awards for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”. The band’s cover of Flock of Seagulls “I Ran (So Far Away)” was adopted as the theme song for the Japanese anime “Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac”.
The band went back to the studios in Atlanta with acclaimed producer Butch Walker to record their follow up album “A Hangover You Deserve”. This album went on to be the most successful release for Bowling for Soup generating three singles “Almost”, “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)” and “1985”. “1985” is considered to be the band’s greatest achievement. It was played incessantly on the radio, charting to No. 5 on Billboard’s Adult 40 chart and was nominated for a Grammy.
The band released “Bowling For Soup Goes to the Movies” the following year, which consisted of an assortment of originals and cover songs that were featured in movies such as “Sky High” and “Cursed”. Bowling for Soup further intertwined themselves in the media by recording the song “Greatest Day” for the movie “Max Keeble’s Big Move” and the theme song for “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”.
The band launched their next studio album “The Great Burrito Extortion Case” with the uptempo single “High School Never Ends” and took 3 years before releasing their follow up “Sorry for Partyin’”. This marked the band’s longest gap of time between releasing studio albums; however, during this time frame they released a live album and capped of the year with a Christmas album. The band went on to release their second Christmas album “Merry Flippin’ Christmas, Vol.2” the same year as the completion of their “Fishin’ for Woos” album.
Not long after this release the band decided to take a break from touring Europe citing personal and financial strains as reasons. The group announced a 2013 Farewell UK Tour that consisted of 14 dates and put out their 12th studio album “Lunch. Drunk. Love” that year.
Live reviews
Bowling for Soup starts the show by joking about the song “Stacy's Mom” by Fountains of Wayne. “People always think we did it” Jarret jokes before saying they have recorded their own version and will be covering it for our pleasure.
Laughing and joking their way through the cover, then switching to “Girl all the Bad Guys want” the laughing continues as more outdated references are brought forward.
They are having so much fun performing and it's hard not to be drawn into their fun. Leading into another cover “Circle” from their newest album the boys rock the club with an intensity completely modern yet a sound from the 90's.
The convergence of the modern and historical makes for a strange atmosphere and the gear on stage almost appears cluttered. Much like the music it's a controlled chaos helping to ensnare the senses and further endear the band to me. Jarret slows the set and jokes with the audience while proclaiming his love for all the fans and reminding us that their last album has been completely fan funded. With this he leads us into song insisting that everyone sing along to “High School Never Ends.”
As he says, Bowling for soup will never end. In this moment I believe him and hope that is true.
It is pretty clear as to why pop punk outfit Bowling For Soup have achieved such a cult-like following throughout their career when experiencing their live show. The Texan quartet really do hold their fans in high esteem and with each tour they know there will be fans who have attended many times before so they greet them warmly, as if addressing old friends. Jaret Reddick has a brilliant mannerism in his ability to laugh, joke and interact with the room as a whole and it all feels incredibly natural and easygoing.
They have always had a momentously loyal following in the UK and it is due to this dedication that the band often play a setlist of over 25 tracks when visiting the isles. They understand that with a discography that stands at twelve albums, the fans will all have particular favourites so everybody is catered for tonight. There is universal roars of appeal for 'Girl All the Bad Guys Want' and 'I Don't Wanna Rock' as well as a jovial cover of Britney Spears' '...Baby One More Time'. There is no doubt that Bowling for Soup still have a mass underground appeal and it does not seem to be depleting anytime soon.
sean-ward
As such a dedicated Bowling for Soup fan, it seems incredible to me that they first began their musical journey in the year I was born. Perhaps it is because their music seems so young, so wonderfully old school American high school-esque, that it transcends all time: each new generation feels a connection to the band through the eternal youth to their sound. Bowling for Soup, despite having a distinctly early noughties style, nonetheless never go out of fashion. Their music is so brilliant, so catchy, the lyrics so relevant, the band so quintessentially American, that they could never go out of style. Classic hits such as ‘1985’ and ‘High School Never Ends’ brought the house down and had everybody singing along. Even though the band members are a little past their heyday, they will eternally possess that youthful energy and rock edge that brings their music to life. When the chords were struck for ‘Girl All the Bad Guys Want’, the crowd erupted into an ear deafening scream and started screaming along to the lyrics.
sabraziz
After a great warm up from the support bands, not ur girlfrenz and simple plan the crowd including myself were hyped. Unfortunately after around half an hour of bowling for soup (bfs) arriving onstage, they had played perhaps three songs (at double speed) to make time for vacuous self-important waffle that left the audience disenchanted and most importantly bored. It's a shame as I saw bfs around ten years ago and we had a great time. Overall if they stopped trying to be a stand up comedy act and went back to playing the music the audience actually want to see then they would have been far more enjoyable. Don't bother going to see them. I won't again.
Shannibeth
Unfortunately the band were far more interested in endless mindless conversation than they were in singing their songs. What few songs they bothered singing were two or three times faster than they normally are to get back to the endless wittering. That’s if they bothered to finish them at all. I have seen this band before when they performed properly. I won’t be bothering again and nor should you. Enjoy the songs from streaming on Spotify and save yourself from wasting £50. Luckily the support bands were excellent. Thank you to Not Ur Girlfrenz and Simple Plan for their first class performances
karenrowe3
Seen twice once in Preston UK and Once in blackpool, UK.
Both times the support acts knocked it out of the park only for BFS to come onstage and kill the hype.
Songs were played at double speed, interrupted for terrible skits. (In Blackpool they even did the same skit twice in the same show).
The band seems to now know the difference between people coming to see them (play music) and coming to see them (look at them)
Nixxus
The supporting acts put me in a rubbish mood so I am glad Bowling for Soup made up for it. Still as lively as ever, it was such a nostalgic ride. However, I was disappointed that they felt like they had to do covers but they were fun nevertheless. Would see them again if they came back but maybe not if their chums "The Dollyrots" and "Lacey" turn up.
beth-clode
The most fun that I've ever had at a show! On top of the band being nearly studio flawless in sound, they have small breaks where they'll joke and banter with each other.
Don't even contemplate going to see Bowling for Soup. Just do it and thank yourself afterwards!
Ploxzz
I can't count how many times I've seen Bowling for Soup live and they never disappoint. Watching Drunk enough to Dance all the way through was brilliant, if a bit traumatic realising how old the album is. With BfS you get comedy & music and the most fun experience!
clare-wood-1
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