Last night, Bowling For Soup performed the last show of their “Bowling For Soup is Finally Legal” tour at the Mercury Ballroom. Along with Ivory Tribes and the Dollyrots, Bowling For Soup put on a show that would make any punk rocker leave satisfied.
Ivory Tribes started out the show. For as young as they are, some having just graduated high school, the band seemed very professional. They didn’t goof off onstage like I would’ve expected a young band to do. They performed, and they performed well. Their keyboard player was outstanding, and their indie rock sound was very solid and well rehearsed. My personal favorite of theirs was a song called “Whoop Whoop.” Check out their website here.
The Dollyrots played next. I’m not personally a fan of “bubblegum punk,” but their set was pretty good. They performed a cover of “Brand New Key” by Melanie that was fun and energetic. My favorite songs of theirs included “Come and Get It” and “Because I’m Awesome.” Their website can be found here.
Bowling For Soup performed last. They started their set with “Almost,” one of their more popular songs, to get the crowd excited. For a band mostly known for one song, “1985,” I had forgotten how many songs of theirs I knew and liked. “High School Never Ends” and “Trucker Hat” were songs I hadn’t thought of in many years. The band was funny and goofy; they joked about being old and on the last leg of their tour. They made a lot of inappropriate jokes too. I don’t know why I expected anything less from the guys who wrote “Girl All the Bad Guys Want.” I just really hope no one brought their kids because of Phineas and Ferb! The funniest part of their show was when the lead singer asked, “Who’s excited to hear Stacy’s Mom?” Stacy’s Mom is often confused as a Bowling for Soup song, but is actually sung by Fountains of Wayne. He continued by saying that the band has been getting credit for that song for 9 years, so why not play it? And they did!
All in all, it was a fun show, even though the band and the fans are all older now. I highly recommend the Mercury Ballroom. Most of the venue is standing room only, but for a small upgrade fee, you can have a seat upstairs. There’s a lot of space and the stage is high so visibility is great no matter where you stand.
For more information about Bowling For Soup, click here. To find out more about shows at the Mercury Ballroom, visit www.mercuryballroom.com.
