You have to be a popular band to fill an arena. You can be a good band and fill an arena. However, not every good band is popular and therefore can’t fill an arena and not every popular band is good but can still fill an arena (did someone say Sleep Token?). Thankfully, Bowling For Soup are both popular and good. Also, you have to be an exceptional band for me to even consider visiting London for an evening. Their tour at the start of the year, which was my first time seeing them since 2018, focused on A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, was a reminder of how you leave a Bowling For Soup show with a massive grin. So this wasn’t a hard sell for me. And it seemed like that for the thousands of others in attendance to make the biggest Bowling For Soup show ever.
As the rapidly filling arena is full of expectant energy, Jon Mahon is back on the decks to play all the belters you can imagine from now until the headliners strike their first chord. Much like his involvement earlier this year, it feels redundant. Like I said last time, Mahon seems like a nice guy and he knows how to work a crowd but he’s playing the same songs that would be coming through the PA without his involvement. DJs and comperes have always felt a little bit unnecessary and, more often than not, kills the momentum of the previous band.
So by the time Punk Rock Factory come on stage, to the strains of The Vengaboys’ “We Like to Party”, that expectant energy is ready to boil over. And that intro tells you everything you need to know about this lot. Covering a whole load of songs, not every one an obvious choice, they’re here to kick Saturday night off in earnest. There’s plenty of banter between the songs and given how they’ve transformed them into sounding like they’re two decades old, this is a band who have understood the assignment. With an early appearance of Abba’s “Mamma Mia”, they’ve also shown that you can, in fact, polish a turd. And after that, there’s not a song that’s unrecognisable between “Under the Sea”, the theme tunes to Spongebob Squarepants and Power Rangers (the latter featuring on-stage appearances from PR:UK). It’s a full-on pop punk affair but they do flirt with hints of ska a bit to faithfully work the songs. However, their original song, “Slay the Bells” is a cut of prime Blink-182, cannily slotting it in at the halfway point but they do revisit Christmas (well, it is the season) with their closing song of “Fairytale of New York”. It’s a fun set performed by competent musicians who lock in well as a unit. It’s a lesson on how to open a show, especially one as monumental as this.
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Much like Jon Mahon, Wheatus are back for the ride for the main support slot, just like the start of 2025. While they sadly don’t open with The Darkness’ “Growing On Me” which, honestly, I was hoping they’d do, they remain as fun as they were at the start of the year. They still dig out their cover of “A Little Respect” with Brendan B. Brown nailing the high notes within his own register. It may be Bowling For Soup’s show but they still manage to bring out some of their own guests for what is, in their own right, a massive show for them. Having just finished a tour promoting the 25th anniversary of their debut album, this feels like a victory lap with much of the set, unsurprisingly, comprised of it. Jaret Reddick gatecrashes the set in his humble manner to place a bucket hat on Brown and, yeah, now he looks right. There’s a great chemistry in the band, and just like that February show, one of the backing singers (wearing a pink jumpsuit), looks like they’re having the time of their life. And of course, we finish with that song. Because how could you not? Brown may as well not approach the microphone for this number but he guides everyone along. Much like last time, I’m in awe of just how good and fun Wheatus are as a live act and next time they come over, I’d definitely consider catching them.
Now, for the men of the moment. Once Jaret Reddick, Gary Wiseman and Rob Felicetti make their presence known and launch into “The Bitch Song”, any trouble in your mind doesn’t get shoved out the way, rather, it evaporates. And over the course of the next ninety minutes or so, your attention is focused firmly on Bowling For Soup as both the band and audience have the time of their lives. It’s not long before the jokes fly thick and fast with Rick Allen the subject of the first one (it was ‘armless, honest). And that’s what’s great about going to see this band because the banter between the three of them, or even just Reddick addressing the crowd, is what elevates their shows to become an even more entertaining evening than if it was just three guys playing awesome pop punk songs.
As for the setlist, it’s pretty much the ultimate Bowling For Soup set spread across fifteen songs. Sure, the actual ultimate setlist would more than likely be double that, but there’d be a lot less laughs between songs and then the heart of the show would be gone. As discussed with Reddick a few weeks prior, whilst they’ve put some money into the production, it’s all been done to keep the essence of their show. There’s bit of pyro and smoke and some fancy screens are utilised throughout, but other than that, it’s fairly bare bones, save for the seats on-stage comprising of the band’s nearest and dearest to ensure they have the best seats in the house.
While, for the most part, it’s an upbeat affair, Reddick takes time to speak about mental health, including his own and although it doesn’t bring the mood down, it does add a little poignancy to the evening, leading into “Turbulence”. And without even asking, hundreds of people dig out their phones and shine their lights, a moment punctuated by relating to or empathising with Reddick’s intro and the song itself. Levity is restored by introducing someone called Alex who won a raffle to shave Wheatus’ Brendan B. Brown’s hair with the raffle proceeds of over £1000 going to Uprawr, a mental health charity. So there’s not a total whiplash back into light-hearted antics. Likewise, a raffle for a guitar also finds a home at the start of the encore.
It’s still a weird sight for Bowling For Soup to be a trio but everything else is still the same, including the opportunity to take a picture of the band. Now, last time they did this at this time of year, in 2018, they played Wham’s “Last Christmas” but it was in November so I was safe. And as someone who takes the great game of Whamageddon seriously (almost too seriously), I was scared. But the second I heard that first chord, I breathed a sigh of relief and grinned because “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” is a timeless classic.
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With such a massive captive audience, there’s an airing of “Holding onto That Hate”, a track which will feature on their next album. It’s everything you’d expect from Bowling For Soup and feels just as much of a classic as every other song they’ve played tonight, albeit, it’s likely been written in their new configuration, rather than reworking their back catalogue to compensate for Chris Burney’s absence – who has been mentioned tonight with great, and well-deserved, reverence. As “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” is the conclusion to the evening, it’s the earlier airing of “1985” which closes the main event where Reddick takes time to acknowledge everything the band has been through the past decade or so. For a band who basically became adopted Brits to then pack it all up, their return has only seen their popularity surge and it’s fair to say that tonight is a triumph.
This was always going to be a show worth going to. Any Bowling For Soup tour is but tonight is special. They didn’t just play Wembley, they conquered it. The best Bowling For Soup gig I’ve witnessed.
Photos by Katie Frost Photography
