This familiarity, this joviality is something many bands today simply don’t indulge in. Once they are on stage, the spotlight is on them – and that’s fine. But Bowling for Soup’s generosity provided the fans with some of that attention, as well; constant hand waving and chats with the audience made it feel like you were seeing your friends have fun.
Jaret wasn’t ignorant of his hugely privileged circumstances, though. For Turbulence, he slowed things down with an acoustic guitar, but not before confirming with his fans that mental health was a powerful foe. “I’m the happiest guy on the planet,” he said. “But when depression and anxiety came knocking it kicked the door down.”
Giving his friends and fans a solemn plea to look after one another, Jaret gave one final thank you before launching back into the show at hand.
Bowling for Soup’s show had it all. Fun, comedy, heart, and – most importantly – incredible music that has stood the test of time.
Thank goodness Bowling for Soup got back together.
Listen to Bowling for Soup here.
I can’t overstate it enough: Reddick and the rest of the band were extremely funny throughout the show, engaging fans in audience participation, stopping songs to hold a photo opportunity, and even giving away a guitar on stage.
Bowling for Soup seems to have learned that, not only can they perform music better than the average band, but they’re – frankly – far more interesting than many people hitting the stage these days, and simply dripping in charisma.
They’ve been through a lot, they’ve earned their stripes, and they deserve not only your attention but your respect as well.
As if to reiterate how casually brilliant Bowling for Soup are, they even had a bar on the stage where their roadies, techs, and other staff members hung out and drank beer throughout the concert while dancing. With this, it somehow felt like they were playing at their local pub, bantering with the patrons, dropping crude jokes about one another and pulling silly faces towards the crowd.
