Legendary pop-punk funny men Bowling For Soup have spent the year so far celebrating A Hangover You Don’t Deserve across the United States and the band’s own 30th anniversary of being loveable dudes. The A Hangover You Don’t Deserve 20th Anniversary Tour initially did not include any Southern California dates, but that would quickly change as the band made plans to stop through the heart of Disney, Anaheim, California.
Bowling For Soup has been in my own top 10 when it comes to the pop-punk genre, first discovering them through MySpace and the release of their album, The Great Burrito Extortion Case, an album I can never seem to find myself skipping a song. Sadly, however, I had never found the time to see these hilarious guys on stage. So, when the opportunity to see them live and to help celebrate such a crucial album within their discography, I knew now would be the perfect time.
So, I headed out to Anaheim, where I arrived decently early at the Gardenwalk, the home of the House of Blues, in which I would encounter various Bowling For Soup fans either playing songs from the band’s albums through their phone speakers or just talking memories from past shows. The night’s show was already becoming more of a family reunion rather than a regular concert experience.
It wouldn’t take long before the growing line outside of the House of Blues would begin heading within the venue’s main concert hall. It also wouldn’t take long before the night’s first band would rock their way onto the stage and completely captivate the hyped-up crowd.
Adam and the Metal Hawks would rush onto the stage and waste zero time getting the crowd singing along, dancing and just overall having an amazing and memorable time. Sporting tons of energy and outstanding stage presence mixed perfectly with fantastic vocal delivery, fast-paced and face-melting instrumentals, and just pure fun onstage banter is what you get from a party starting off with these high-flying rockers.
The obvious Jack Black similarities are there, but while they’re fun, this band brings their School of Rock style persona into their own which quickly sheds the fabulous mix of the two. I was pulled in with the performances of “Wrong Time of Day” and “Losing It,” while also losing my voice at the quality of the covers selected. Also, how could I not talk about the group’s fantastic short rendition of “Wheels on the Bus?” The best part of the night, clearly!
Unfortunately, thanks to the crowd’s “rock meter” being too off the charts, the House of Blues would begin to have technical issues with their sound system during the band’s rendition of the classic Jimmy Eat World banger, “The Middle,” which would in itself create a perfect acapella, crowd included, memory being unlocked. And with that, Adam and the Metal Hawks would take their energy off stage to make way for pop-punk champions, MAKEOUT.
Sadly, MAKEOUT would not get to shine as bright as I’m sure they would have been able to thanks to the continued sound system issues that would not give up ruining the vibe. The crowd however could be heard cheering for the members of MAKEOUT as they could be seen checking things out on the side stage while venue hands tried to work their magic.
Having the set times ahead of time, I knew with each minute that passed that MAKEOUT’s time would continue to be cut as the issues would persist. While the venue had hoped the issues were finally put to bed, MAKEOUT would finally come out and prepare to rock with about 10 to 15 minutes left on the time given to them. Again sadly, the issues would peek out once more as vocalist Kyle Dee would constantly ask the crowd if we could “hear anything?”
It was such an unfortunate turn of events, but the Bowling For Soup-fueled crowd would continue to give MAKEOUT some much-needed love and cheers as the band performed their only song of the set, which the crowd from where I was standing was enjoying it quite a bit. Before leaving the stage, MAKEOUT would mention their upcoming album and promise to visit Southern California again soon.
Due to the House of Blues’ ongoing technical issues, the tour crew and MAKEOUT would quickly remove their gear to make way for Bowling For Soup to completely conquer the stage entirely. It wouldn’t be long before the hall lights would cut out and the band’s Parry Gripp “Here Comes Bowling For Soup” theme song would begin to play with the crowd singing along, chanting, and shaking off their feet.
Quickly jumping into “Almost” and “Trucker Hat,” frontman Jaret Reddick would demand appreciation for doing what most bands don’t do, which is perform two songs in a row. This very early-on joke would set the tone for us firstcomers into the Bowling For Soup live universe, which itself is like living in an amazing joke that never gets old or boring.
The energy between each member of Bowling For Soup is fantastic and certainly felt like a bunch of friends just having fun with even more friends, us the crowd, further creating the family reunion vibe I mentioned early on. Not wasting any surprises, Bowling For Soup would of course perform their hit SR-71 cover, “1985,” making the joke itself that this would be the earliest and most sober we all would ever hear this song performed.
Onto the surprise portion, the band would bring out Rookie of the Year and American Pie star, Thomas Ian Nicholas to perform the star’s cover of the song, “1999,” which the actor/musician released mid-2022. It was a fun surprise that had the crowd going at it even more.
Bowling For Soup would continue to laugh with the crowd from making Something Corporate-style jokes to calling out fans wearing onesies based on the animated character Parry the Platypus, stating they would be extra excited later during the set.
The band’s song, “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)” is easily one of my top 3 pop-punk songs of all time, so you can only expect how excited I was when it was quickly time for the song to be performed, which matched all expectations I had set on the band ahead of time. The crowd interaction was phenomenal as no hands were left unswayed and no voice was unheard.
MAKEOUT would also come out to help perform the track in which afterward Jaret Reddick would mention how the band was given a crappy deal with the sound issues earlier and would announce that the band was to perform a song while they chilled and drank beer on stage, providing the pop-punk band with much needed moral support.
Bowling For Soup would continue to power through their set, which of course contained all 17 tracks featured on the album, with a few other fan favorites thrown in towards the end of the set which in this show’s case, a fan brought on stage would get to spin a wheel in which the band’s song “My Wena” would be picked to be performed as a small break from the full album play through.
Tons of hilarious dad jokes aside, Bowling For Soup cemented me even further as a lifelong fan, and I can’t wait to see them perform live every time they come through Southern California from now on! Also, of course, shout out to Tony Lovato of MEST and his incredibly adorable daughter who constantly throughout Bowling For Soup’s set would make the stage her playground having the time of her life. Further showcasing the family vibes that a Bowling For Soup show provides.
Bowling For Soup would take part in the traditional technique of the “fake encore,” while staying on stage the entire time, joking about thinking the crowd had all left due to the lights being off before jumping right into “High School Never Ends,” which had me quickly needing an anniversary tour for The Great Burrito Extortion Case when its time comes around.
Now, for the band’s final surprise before ending things with “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” Bowling For Soup would be joined on stage by the members of Adam and the Metal Hawks in which both bands would summon the evil genius himself, the voice of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, the very talented Dan Povenmire, also known as a co-creator of the Disney hit show, Phineas and Ferb, with Jeff “Swampy” Marsh in attendance as well.
The band would jump right into their performance of the hit theme song, “Today is Gonna be a Great Day,” with the help of Adam and the Metal Hawks’ frontman Adam Ezegelian creating a flurry of excitement and emotion within the packed crowd. Overall, helping to put a cap on an amazing night of laughs, music, and pure joy.
Bowling For Soup’s A Hangover You Don’t Deserve 20th Anniversary Tour was everything and more, I left with a plethora of new memories, and excitement of finally seeing one of my favorite bands live, and the sadness of wanting to relive the night all over again.
The band is going to be taking a quick break before jumping right into their international performances in Australia and the United Kingdom in 2025. So, if you’re still on the fence about whether you want to attend any of their upcoming shows, I highly advise you decide to go because you’ll be leaving so much fun into the void and regret your decision later on.
Keep up with Bowling For Soup: Instagram | Threads | TikTok | X | Facebook
Keep up with MAKEOUT: Instagram | Threads | TikTok | X | Facebook
Keep up with Adam and the Metal Hawks: Instagram | Threads | TikTok | X | Facebook
