Bowling for Soup and Less Than Jake Bring the Party to London’s Eventim Apollo [Show Review]

Saturday February 24th, 2024 marked the end of the road for Bowling for Soup and Less Than Jake, at least for this tour and what an end it was! With Texas natives and alternative country rockers, the Vandoliers, along for the ride this show was a punk rock fans wet dream to say the least.

The Vandoliers hit the stage as fans started to trickle through the doors but even though they seem an unusual choice (at least on the surface) they went down like a smooth whiskey on a warm summer’s night. Some forget that the Bowling for Soup frontman, Jaret Reddick, is not only a fan of country music, but also where his heart lies, he is proud of his Texas heritage, and he has even released his own solo records delving into country, so the Vandoliers fit the bill perfectly. Warming up the crowd and getting the party started seemed to sit very well with the six-piece. Even folk not familiar with them found themselves singing along, or at least trying too due to a handicap of not actually knowing the words (the couple sat to my left, I’m talking to you).

Next up was the almighty Less Than Jake. As they took to the stage I had a personal revelation; it has been 5+ years since I have seen one of my favourite live bands and in this moment the joy of simply being at a live show was sent into overdrive as they blasted straight into “Last One Out of Liberty City” with the momentum of a freight train as cheers from the audience contrasted the ska-punk emanating from the stage.

Less Than Jake is well known for their interactions during their live shows with Chris Demakes and Roger Lima bouncing jokes of each other, leading the audience in claps, synchronised waves and sing-alongs masterfully.

At the moment the pre-recorded and well know intro of “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” began the crowd made their feelings well known as they celebrated the incoming 3 minute, 30 seconds of one of Less Than Jakes most popular songs. There was not a singular person in the venue that was unfamiliar with every lyric of this tune and as the song headed towards its conclusion, inflatable Jake tube men raised from the corners of the stage dancing along to the music.

After more interactions, a dedication to one of the UKs best chicken-based restaurants, Nando’s and more great tunes including “The High Cost of Low Living” and “Plastic Cup Politics” Lima announced that they had promised Bowling for Soup that they would play some old shit from the last contrary. Once again, the audience lost their collective shit as the into to “Automatic” played out signifying another big crowd pleaser which was swiftly followed by “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts” accompanied by the cartoon of the same name playing out in the screens behind the band.

After another few crowd-pleasing renditions of popular LTJ tunes, Demakes proudly announced that the next song was “different from all our other songs. All our songs sound the same, but not this one”. Demakes further highlighted that it reached number 9 in the Panamanian charts as they rolled into “The Science of Selling Yourself Short” with phone lights illuminating the Hammersmith venue.

Playing out their set with a bang, LTJ delivered the almighty “Gainesville Rock City”. It was a bittersweet moment as the crowd knew that this signified the end of the set, but it was their last chance to party with LTJ so as the lights flashed, sparks flew and the inflatable Jakes once again made their presence known, the band ended their set with a bang and masterfully left the crowd hungry for more and ready for Bowling for Soup.

It was now time! The stage was set, the bar by the drumkit was stocked and beer kegs were strategically placed around the stage. It was now time for Bowling for Soup to make their presence known and they did so to perfection. As a countdown timer ticked down accompanied by Mötley Crüe’s “Kick Start My Heart” the anticipation grew, and the crowd became louder with each second eventually counting down from 10 getting ever louder with each decrease in number. The timer hit zero, the band’s name adorned the screen at the back utilising the Stranger Things font and the quartets very own intro song played out alongside comedic animations of the band.

As the group appeared on stage and took their places, Reddick announced: “London, are you ready for the best night of your life? Well, that’s not gonna happen, so how about an outstanding night?” kicking proceedings off with “Emily” followed by “My Wena”. “We’ve just done the unheard off, we just played 2 songs in a row! That never happens!” announced Reddick.

BFS are well known for their banter with the crowd and as usual there was a lot of it to the point there is little point in providing a descriptive overview of everything that was said, it will be noted though, when the crowd were not signing, they were laughing BFS are two-parts musicians, one-part comedians! Whist some bands can overdo their audience interactions, BFS have perfected their ratio of music and jokes.

“This next song should have been a hit but wasn’t” announced Rob Felicetti. “It’s called “Girl All the Bad Guys Want”, but we’re not gonna play that yet as we’re a professional band and were saving the good shit for the end.” Felicetti teases before offering up “Out the Window” instead. This was followed by one of the groups (many) big hitters, “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)”. During said song, they expertly stopped midpoint and straight out of the blue to interact with the crowd driving participation and passing off to members of the Vadoliers to finish off the song. Reddick joked with the audience: “When you get to a certain age, you have to get skinny bands out and play for you or you could break a hip!”

As the show continued, fan favourite “Punk Rock 101” was accompanied by Reddick announcing it was now time for a BFS photo opp which was delivered in the comedic, non-self-indulgent way only BFS can pull off.

Of course, the show was not all jokes throughout and Reddick who has consistently been open about his struggles with metal health took the opportunity highlight to the audience no one is alone, and help is always out there before starting solo with “Turbulence” delivering an ever always emotional moment before the tune concluded with the rest of the band chiming in towards the end.

Tonight’s show also consisted of a guitar give away following “Almost”. A delighted fan not only one an awesome prize, but also got to hang out at the bar for the rest of the set. The show concluded with, as Felicetti promised, the bands most popular songs, “The Bitch Song” and “Girl all the Bad Guys Want”.

It was a Saturday night to remember with 2 of punk’s big hitters closing out their tour in style.

Bowling For Soup (w/ Less Than Jake, The Vandoliers) @ The Refectory (Leeds, UK) on February 18, 2024

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