Some of the supports however, made up for it. First up were The Leftovers, a band hailing from Portland who were included in the free downloads when buying tickets. Now, although the sound quality was pretty terrible throughout their set (admittedly this is not their fault), their enthusiasm and energy made up for it. Not to mention the fact that they aren't actually a bad band. They have a nice, happy sound which fit with the overall vibes of the gig. I think they need a year or two to grow a bit and improve their live performance but they will be good. 40/100. http://www.myspace.com/theleftovers
But wait, what is this? A rapper at Bowling For Soup? A rapper who starts mosh pits!?! Never. But apparently it did happen and you had to see it to believe it. Yes folks, 'self-proclaimed originator of post-punk laptop rap' MC Lars played a bloody brilliant set. A set which involved the craziest entrance I've seen before with a projected video of someone hacking up machines and everyone taking to the stage with their backs to the crowd, followed by a very creative performance involving more projected images of somewhat completely unrelated topics, like Charlie the unicorn. I don't even care that I couldn't understand what he was rapping about because whatever it was, it sounded good. Accompanied by a band, MC Lars fit in much more than he should. Different, creative and fun. That's what a good support band should be. 65/100. (And that's a GOOD mark considering I won't give over 70 to supports). http://www.myspace.com/mclars
So it would seem that (out of the three supports) everyone really wanted to see Zebrahead. I myself was excited about seeing them play live and so, in typical style, what happened? Well, obviously they were awful is what happened. The sound quality, if possible, got even worse. Guitars and bass were muted too much, so much so that I couldn't even feel the bass pounding in the floor. (Note: You should always feel the bass in the floor. It's practically an untold rule.) I'll admit they had stage presence, but it was the wrong kind; full of unnecessary swearing and a 'check us out, we're so cool' attitude. Therefore, to rebel, Laura and I took a break at the back of the venue on those previously mentioned 'dodgy seats'. Whilst there we witnessed something that I couldn't quite figure out. Amidst the crowd, fans were making hand gestures while the band shouted something that resembled a rather unpleasant word which would surely burn my hands if I typed it. Now, I'm not saying that they were saying this word but the awful sound quality implied it and so, because they were utter crap, Zebrahead get a 30/100. http://www.myspace.com/zebrahead. At the same time though, they don't sound that bad on Myspace... the power of editing of course.
And that just about brings us round to quite possibly one of the funniest bands in existence, Bowling For Soup. The fact that this tour is called the Party In Your Pants tour adds testament to this statement. Taking to the stage with The Bitch Song, they immediately get the crowd singing "You're a bitch but I love you anyway", not exactly something that appears in friendly conversation but still the crowd were singing it like it was a compliment. And so it seems only appropriate that one of the next songs to follow is named 'My Wena'. Such a crowd pleaser it was too and I'm being completely honest. The set list also included the BFS classics; High School Never Ends, Girl All The Bad Guys Want, Punk Rock 101, I'm Gay and When We Die as well as a superbly played Almost and new songs No Hablo Inglés (one of my favourites off Sorry For Partyin') and Hooray For Beer which really does include the lyrics "Hooray for beer, I'm really glad you're here'. The best song of the night however was rather unexpected I must say because it was A Really Cool Dance Song during which all the supports took to stage to dance with their beer and the crowd was told to 'shake what ya mamma gave ya' which they did. And of course, it would not be a BFS gig without any jokes being made between songs. Not only this but they even somehow managed to crack jokes left, right and centre IN songs. There also followed for the first time ever attempted in 'Marrrrrgate' a Bowling For Soup beverage break during which the band sat around the drum kit drinking beer and a photo shoot where all four members stood at the front of the stage posing for the crowd while everyone got their phones out to take photos. A really excellent set played by a band I've been waiting to see for a long time. 75/100. http://www.myspace.com/bowlingforsoup
NOTE; Gemma was not at this gig :(
Photos courtesy of LauraLoo. :)
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