Lawrence was originally going to hit the London show of the recent BFS tour purely to grab some snaps to go with my review of the Glasgow date. However, with the news of Gary Wiseman having to be shipped home and the gig structures changing it made sense to find out how Bowling For Soup – and their touring family – adapted to Gary’s absence… [Mosh]
Straight off the cuff I was interested to see how this concert was going to turn out as sadly Gary Wiseman (Bowling for soup’s drummer) had to be flown home after becoming very ill on Tuesday just before their show in Swansea. I was half expecting an acoustic set from the band but at this point only time would tell!
First up at the famous Brixton academy we had the The Dollyrots. This act absolutely rocked the house with an up tempo set with that typical high energy we know and love from punk rockers! It was also nice to see the lead singer/bassist, Kelly Ogden and her husband and guitarist, Luis Cabezas, bring out their son to the stage to play some guitar, which sounded great I must say.
Think that was enough to make it a family occasion? No? Then how about when you add Dolly-tot Number Two, their daughter, who played drums? You don’t see this kind of thing often but when you do it’s really heart-warming.
After a brief intermission, Orange County veterans, Lit, take to the stage. Keeping the energy high, these guys put on a fantastic performance for the people in attendance.
At this point I’d like to say this whole night is making me feel nostalgic. I remember hearing “My Own Worst Enemy” as a teen on Kerrang and this show just took me straight back there. Another great band and one I thought I’d never see so I was going home happy!
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Lastly, we have our headliners of the night, Bowling for soup. Around 9:20pm, Jaret Reddick took to the stage with an acoustic guitar. After an emotional few words regarding Gary and the unfortunate situation of him having to leave the tour early, Jaret dedicated an acoustic solo performance of “Turbulence” to him.
After a huge applause from the crowd, Jaret screamed “Let’s play a rock show!”, and play a rock show they bloody well did. The guy who was filling in for Gary did a fantastic job playing the majority of the set. I feel terrible I can’t remember his name!
Throughout the set the band had several change overs on drums, with even Jaret and bassist, Rob Felicetti, having a turn. Kelly Ogden returned to the stage to supply bass duties for that part. Midway through the show there was a highly entertaining joke competition between the band and Kelly (which Kelly won).
A thoroughly enjoyable night with a lot of the band’s biggest hits including “High School Never Ends”, “Punk Rock 101”, “Bitch Song”, “1985” and ending the night on “Girl All The Bad Guys Want”.
It’s very rare you see a gig like this and extremely admirable of the band to carry on the tour after Gary’s early departure earlier in the week. Hats off to these lads for putting on such a memorable show for the crowd and hopefully when Gary’s better we’ll see the whole line-up back over here soon!
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Photos by Lawrence Potter
Bowling For Soup: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
Lit: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube | musicglue
The Dollyrots: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube | myspace | bandcamp | spotify | myshopify
