Christmas 2004: I’m nine years old probably entering one of the most awkward phases of my life. With pretty crooked front teeth, glasses that didn’t fit my face right, and the heinous middle part that average girls can’t pull off, I screamed pre-teen. As I tore through my presents I come across a small square one from my dad. The content: Bowling For Soup’s 2004 album A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. And while the title of the album and the content of the songs were probably way too mature for a nine year old, it was my first CD that wasn’t a Disney one. I played it on repeat for probably a year. Flash forward to June 23, 2015. I’m now 19 years old, with perfect teeth (without braces some how), fresh contact lenses, a hairstyle that better suits me, and I’m considerably less awkward. I’m standing in a crowd of people at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge that range from 17 to 45 and we all have one thing in common, we’re anxiously waiting for Bowling for Soup to play.
The opener for Bowling for Soup was the Dollyrots. The Dollyrots are an American pop punk band composed of Kelly Ogden, the lead vocalist and bass guitar player, and Luis Cabezas, the lead guitar player. You might have heard their song “Because I’m Awesome” if you watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the ABC Family television series Greek, or just television in general as the song was featured in a back-to-school Kohl’s commercial that played on repeat in 2007. Even though I hadn’t really heard of the Dollyrots, I throughly enjoyed their set and thought they had great stage presence. Kelly, Luis, and their drummer Mickey were even nice enough to let me take a photo with them afterwards.
The Dollyrots opened with “My Best Friend’s Hot” and closed with “Because I’m Awesome”. If you’re looking for the rest of their setlist here it is: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-dollyrots/2015/house-of-blues-dallas-tx-73c9ea8d.html
Bowling for Soup is made up of leader singer and guitarist Jaret Reddick, guitarist Chris Burney, bassist Erik Chandler, and drummer Gary Wiseman. These four are best friends, all from northern Texas. Janet and Chris went to high school together and met Erik and Gary soon after. When they opened with “Almost”, the crowd went wild. They followed their opener with “Trucker Hat” and “High School Never Ends” which kept the crowd’s energy high. I absolutely loved their performance. During moments where there would usually be a lull, Jaret, Chris, and Eric made jokes that cracked the crowd up, keeping the crowd’s energy high. During their performance, Bowling for Soup delighted the crowd with covers of “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne, “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band, “Jump Around” by House of Pain (my favorite cover of the night), and a Tom Waits version “I’m a Little Teapot”. They even threw in the Phineas and Ferb theme song, which was great for me since I watched the show as a kid. Bowling for Soup closed with their classic song “1985” which gave me serious flashbacks to when I was nine years old and was the perfect song to close with. If you’re looking for the rest of their setlist here it is: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bowling-for-soup/2015/irving-plaza-new-york-ny-63c90a83.html
Overall, the performances were great. I had a lot of fun. And I can probably attribute some of that to the fact that I used PlaylistHQ before the concert and listened to a kick ass Bowling for Soup and Dollyrot playlist.
Liz Byrom (PlaylistHQ Intern)
PlaylistHQ 