Bowling For Soup / Dollyrots, One Big Happy Tour – Newcastle O2 Academy, UK – 14th October 2012
One Big Happy Tour – Newcastle O2 Academy – 14th October 2012
The evening of October the 14th 2012 will be one to remember for the 1160 people who attended the opening night of the One Big Happy tour at the O2 Academy in Newcastle featuring Patent Pending, The Dollyrots and the one and only Bowling For Soup. Yes folks the Americans came to town, they saw, they rocked, and the crowd went wild. Opening up were Patent Pending who’s perchance for getting the crowd to do jazz hands had us all warmed up nicely in no time from the chill autumn night, as did the balloons they gave to the crowd to play with. Next to take to the stage were The Dollyrots, a trio whose pop punk performance was truly fantastic. I have to be honest here; their lead singer’s image is still slightly too much bubble-gum Americana for my tastes but I can’t fault her vocals live, singing some of the songs featured on their own self-titled album as well as some of the songs they featured in Bowling For Soups latest release‘One Big Happy’, she was note perfect and put so much fun and energy into the numbers I simply can’t fault her. We were also treated to a very special version of ‘Combine Harvester’ originally by the Wurzels… oh yes they did, and we all joined in too!
All too soon The Dollyrots were done and so taking their leave the trio departed the stage to thunderous applause and we waited for the headliners to appear, and waited, and waited a little more which gave me the opportunity for a little light banter with the security by the stage until we were told off by a supervisor. Apparently ‘the pit’ was off limits until the band came on who would have figured I could get into so much bother from one little footstep? Truthfully though it can’t have been much fun for the pit security with so many people all trying to get to the front and it was so hot. They did a sterling job of handing out plastic cups of water to the crowd and keeping a close eye on everyone to make sure we were all ok. So with the time dragging the question we were all asking is where is the band? People shuffled obviously torn between their front row position and getting a quick drink at the bar and nipping to the loo but before they could decide the lights dimmed and here they came! At last Bowling For Soup made it to the stage full of apologies for their late appearance due to an unforeseen issue involving a pizza, a waitress, and an slightly irate manager…. Yes they were off to a flying start in the North East delving fully into Newcastle’s unique culture with the gusto only Americans can summon with ease. They eased us into the set with some of their new songs including bringing their supporting acts to the onstage bar to enjoy the show as they played ‘Let’s Go To the Pub’. Quickly followed by ‘Punk Rock 101’ and just as the crowd warmed up they suddenly stopped with the loud cry of ‘Picture Opportunity!’ they paraded and posed to Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ , including the occasional token hop, before picking up where they left off in the song. We sang until our throats hurt and bounced along to classics such as ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’, ‘Stacey’s Mom’, ‘Ohio’, ‘High School Never Ends’, and their own irreverent version of Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby One more Time’. When they played ‘Turbulence’we swayed and I had to resist the urge to pull out my lighter and hold it up high, and I wasn’t the only one, such was the emotion running through the venue.
With banter between each song giving the whole gig the feel of being in a small pub watching a friend play instead of an arena packed with over 1100 people. At one point they even handed over to Patent Pending to finish a song or two as they refilled their drinks it was a truly fantastic gig. By the end we were flagging it had been one huge adrenaline rush of a show but we managed one last herculanean effort to raise the roof a final time as they played us out to ‘1985’ and with the immortal final words ‘Where the fuck did everyone go?’ ringing in our ears they left us as suddenly as they had come no doubt in search of that missing Pizza and some more of the culture they had enjoyed so much upon arriving in Newcastle. 9/10
Helen Todner