Bowling for Soup, My New Fave - The Dollyrots - and Neglected Superhero

I’ve only had a few celebrity sightings in my life, and one was three years ago in the Las Vegas airport during a layover. I was admiring the many slot machines and stretching my legs between flights when I looked to my left and spotted them. I did a double take and investigative detour before approaching Jaret Reddick and Chris Burney of Bowling for Soup. I walked up, told them I’d seen them in 2003 in Portland, OR and said “You guys rock.” Jaret responded “Aww, Thanks! Have a safe flight, and we’ll see ya later!”

So, when I saw that Bowling for Soup was headlining at the Orpheum on February 28, 2010, I figured that “see ya later” was that Sunday. Rarely is a band, especially a pop-punk band, better live than on disc but BFS is that kind of band. They are truly laugh-out-loud, high energy, crazy musicians who love to make a scene and put on a great show. With Cheap Trick and Steve
Martin as their inspirations, you can expect the unexpected with these guys.

In attempt to ready fans for a great show, BFS amped up the Orpheum audience with two great opening acts. Neglected Superhero was up first with an amateur Lagwagon-ish sound. They had great energy, sang fun songs to dance around to and bounced all over that stage. Their three-chord rocking progressions started the head-banging and warmed up the audience quite well.
I realize I’ve overused the phrase “random array” for a crowd description, but seriously! There were forty something women throwing themselves at the men of BFS, mothers and their children ready to watch show, punks, Goths, and everything in between. Among them were some hardcore fans for both the Dollyrots and Bowling for Soup, but it was nothing in the “ordinary.”

The Dollyrots came out during a loud, “Family Guy” satirical intro complete with “Giggity, giggity” being proclaimed. The adorable, blonde bass player and lead singer took the stage captivating the crowd with her babydoll voice and deep bass grooves. The Dollyrots had a harsher kind of “Letters to Cleo” sound; very punky. Push together Jenny Lewis and Joan Jett and you get front-woman, Kelly Ogden. With male guitarist, Luis Cabezas, and drummer, Chris Black, behind her, the Dollyrots rocked it.

“In heaven there is no beer, that’s why we drink it here,” said Ogden. Girl bass players are always a win but this one raised the bar. With witty lyrics, bouncy beats and punk-rock undertones, what’s not to like? The Dollyrots appeased their faithful followers and gained some new ones throughout their set, especially when they brought up Jaret and Eric of BFS to sing the theme to “Cheers.” The Dollyrots ended on a high note with a cover of “Bad Reputation” and rushed to the merchandise area to meet the masses while the road crew for BFS readied the stage.

Originally skeptical, my husband was not sure about seeing Bowling for Soup live, but I assured him they would be entertaining and make this particular Sunday a great start to the week. During a pre-recorded intro for Bowling for Soup the band emerged and high-fived fans as they sifted through the audience to take their places onstage. Jaret prefaced the show saying he’d been drinking since 3pm that day so, “If I sing into my beer or try to drink my mic, you all know why.”

They opened with “The B**** Song” and then claimed, “We just happen to be the best rock band that ever lived.” They followed with “Almost” then explained that they forgot to play it the past two shows and “almost” did again. They launched into funny faces, silly guitar tricks, animated moves and motions when they played the innuendo-filled hit, “My Wena.”

With many “Wooooooo!’s” in the crowd, Jaret thanked the fans saying “We do not do shows, we go fishing for Wooooo’s” explaining what their “job” entails. The crowd participation was amazing, with people singing and dancing all over, and constantly screaming requests. No one looked slightly disappointed. Tunes like “Belgium” and “Ohio” were sung at high volume and with an intoxicating excitement from BFS.

With a Journey montage of “Don’t Stop Believing,” a few long-winded tales from the road and ridiculous stage antics like an “Enhanced beverage break with the accompaniment of the Dollyrots,” as they called it, the show was non-stop laughs. Playing “Punk-Rock 101” somehow warranted a “Photo-Op” break with the Dollyrots about 20 minutes after the beverage break and allowed for some crazy poses to take place with flashing cameras everywhere.

The two-hour-ish set continued to rock with a cover of Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” too-soon killer whale jokes, their newest single “No Hablo Ingles,” and a few jabs at themselves and their fans with comments like “It’s funny that they know our songs and we don’t.” Pushing the limits more and more, they played until practically kicked off the stage finishing with some older hits, “High School Never Ends,” “The Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” threw in a “Ring of Fire” Johnny Cash cover, and a finale of “1985.”

They rushed the stage for a quick Encore right before curfew at 11pm with “A Really Cool Dance Song” and ended the night with a bang. They even cracked my cynical husband into saying the show made for a really great time. Bowling for Soup fully satisfied the crowd. Their cleverly, sharp lyrics, ironic tales and ridiculous stories makes Bowling for Soup’s music worth listening to. Their live stage act makes them a noteworthy band, and keeps their songs stuck in your head. As silly as they may get, Bowling for Soup was totally a great band to spend a Sunday night with, and would be over and over again!