Rating: ★★★★★
O2 Academy Edinburgh Rating: ★★★★★
Where I stayed: Travelodge Edinburgh Central
SETLIST:
- Almost
- Trucker Hat
- 1985 (SR-71 cover)
- Get Happy
- Ohio (Come Back to Texas)
- Ridiculous
- Shut-Up And Smile
- Last Call Casualty
- Next Ex-Girlfriend
- A-Hole
- My Hometown
- The Rock Show (Blink-182 cover) (Live debut)
- Smoothie King
- Sad Sad Situation
- Punk Rock 101 (Fan pick)
- Really Might Be Gone
- Down For The Count
- Two-Seater
- Friends O’ Mine
- Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day
- Girl All The Bad Guys Want
I was really looking forward to my first concert of the year. I had never seen Bowling For Soup before but their songs are so full of life and I knew they would put on a fun show. It was Wheatus who first caught my eye on the tour poster, as I had seen them twice in 2023 and their shows were energetic and passionate. I was also excited to return to The O2 Academy (formerly The Corn Exchange) in Edinburgh, as I had a positive experience seeing Keane there last August. I remembered people complained about the heat inside and it was no different this time around, though staff members constantly handed out cups of water and were very attentive when people needed help. Edinburgh was Bowling For Soup’s second stop on their ten date UK tour, after Blackpool the night before. Most of the shows had completely sold out, which the band proudly pointed out on social media. Hundreds of people had reached the venue a full hour before doors were due to open at 7pm. There were two queues to separate fans with O2 Priority and general admission. I bought my ticket using the O2 Priority app on my mum’s phone but I couldn’t figure out how to get the fast-track code to appear. From what I can make out, the perks don’t have many obvious benefits. Everyone (aside from VIP fans) was let in at the same time, regardless. The security check was stricter than I am used to, with several steps to the process. It’s better to err on the safe side, as sometimes the bag checks are too lax and make me feel uneasy. Fortunately, I ended up close to the stage. The DJ was playing ‘I Don’t Wanna Be In Love’ by Good Charlotte when I walked into the arena, which happens to be one of my favourite songs. I was worn out from travelling all day and it instantly perked me up. He soon introduced himself as Jon Mahon and said he’d be treating us to ‘The Punk Rock Factory’ between sets, where he adds dance tracks to popular Emo songs from the early 2000’s, which was my era. I don’t know if the younger people in the venue were familiar with the songs but I thought having a DJ was a nice touch and took the boredom out of waiting between acts. He hosts his own show on Kerrang! Radio and shared his own single, ‘You Got This’, which he’d played in front of an audience only once before, the previous evening. It is inspiring to see new artists breaking through.
The first opening act was Magnolia Park. They have gained a lot of popularity since their formation in Orlando, Florida, back in 2018. Although they are classed as pop-punk, I found their music to be on the heavier side. They started the night off with a bang, though the crowd was reluctant to open mosh pits when Tristan Torres (guitar and backing vocals) asked for them. They treated us to their unreleased song ‘Crave’, which features PINKNOISE on their highly anticipated upcoming album, ‘VAMP’. Their modern rendition of ‘I2I’ from Disney’s 1995 animated feature ‘A Goofy Movie’ gave me goosebumps. I forgot they had recorded it for last year’s ‘A Whole New Sound’, a compilation of Disney songs featuring artists such as Simple Plan, New Found Glory, We The Kings and Bowling For Soup themselves. Joshua Roberts’ voice is absolutely stunning and I would have liked to have heard even more of it. He looked ecstatic to be touring and talked about how their early song ‘10 For 10’ helped shape who the band have become. The night was full of memorable moments and the crowd were persuaded to live out their crowd-surfing dreams by the end of their set. Wheatus came onstage a mere fifteen minutes later whilst I was editing photos, which caught me off guard. I overheard people saying their songs are much more light-hearted than Magnolia Park’s. They opened with ‘Growing On Me’ by The Darkness, which softened the transition. Brendan B. Brown (lead singer) joked he hopes The Darkness will see a video of them performing the song and invite them on tour. Matthew Milligan (bass) barely stood still and had everyone in the room on his side, laughing and cheering him on. Most of their songs are quirky and never fail to put me in a happy mood. They did Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect’ next, which was the cover which made me fall in love with the band in the first place. BBB is always enthusiastic to share stories behind the songs, telling us ‘Lemonade’ is a true story and ‘Mope’ is based on his real teenage years, instead of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, which he admits is a fantasy. There was a real sense of camaraderie between all three bands. Wheatus and BFS work well together and will be doing a show at OVO Wembley Arena in December, which has been a dream of theirs. Magnolia Park was an odd choice to accompany them both on tour but, along with the unexpected DJ, added welcome variety to the night. They saved the instantly recognisable ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ for last, drawing it out as much as possible to please the crowd.
BFS came onstage after a loading screen counted up to one hundred. They didn’t waste any time diving into the songs from their 2004 album ‘A Hangover You Don’t Deserve’, bragging not many bands can play two songs in quick succession these days. Rob Felicetti (bass) said Sum 41 certainly can’t do the same, now they have retired. Jaret Reddick (frontman) responded to the inevitable booing in the arena, stating it’s never too soon to make controversial jokes at a BFS concert. He said ‘A Hangover You Don’t Deserve’ changed their lives for the better, propelling them into stardom. RF insisted the album was performed in order for this anniversary tour, although it is eighteen songs long and there is a lot packed into the first twenty minutes. JR acknowledged there may be a “lull” in the latter half for fans only familiar with the hits. They interspersed a few other songs to break it up. A boisterous fan asked them to play ‘The Rock Show’, their recently released Blink-182 cover. They easily gave in to the request and performed it live for the very first time, which was one of my favourite moments from the night. Their good friend John James Ryan Jr. from the band Keep Flying played saxophone during ‘A-Hole’ and MM (Wheatus) joined them on keyboards for ‘Shut-Up And Smile’. MM brought a BrewDog beer with him until the crowd persuaded him to switch to Guinness, like BFS were drinking. I found that interesting, as Americans probably wouldn’t expect UK beers to be so divisive. A VIP fan (Lachy Hogg) spun a wheel to decide which song they would play next. Once JR deciphered what he was saying, he said Lachy Hogg would be a great name for a band. Funnily enough, LH had a band t-shirt representing one he was starting up. It landed on “Your Pick” and he went with one of their biggest songs, ‘Punk Rock 101’. I was relieved, as I knew it better than the others on the wheel. JR later discussed mental health and how he was struck by depression at the age of forty, when he had everything he wanted in life. He didn’t want anyone in the venue to feel alone and realises music is important as it brings people together. One of their core members, Chris Burney (guitar), left the band two weeks ago for health reasons. ‘Friend O’ Mine’ was fittingly dedicated to him, with a montage of photos from all the years they toured together. They told us their most famous song is only a minute and a half long, which I knew would be the ‘Phineas and Ferb’ theme tune, ‘Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day’. It really lifted the mood and made me feel nostalgic, even though I was already a teenager by the time the cartoon aired. They laughed about never leaving the stage before the encore, as there are stairs involved. I related to their pain, after walking around Edinburgh all day. ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’, my favourite song of theirs, was kept for last. I tried to soak it in as much as possible, even though time was ticking on and I was worried about running for a train. A second confetti explosion brought the night to a close and various items (setlists, guitar picks etc.) were thrown out to lucky fans.
My nerves disappeared when I saw the train was big enough to carry all of us concert-goers back to the centre of Edinburgh. I didn’t want to wait an extra hour for the next one, as it was cold and no shops were open. Of course, my last resort would have been a taxi or Uber. I relaxed once I got a seat and reflected back, seeing three extremely fun bands in one night. I would say this was one of the strongest line-ups of all the gigs I have been to and I would happily see each of the bands again. I hope I get the opportunity to do so. If you missed BFS this time around, I definitely recommend snatching up a ticket for their Wembley show at the end of the year. Wheatus also hinted at an upcoming anniversary tour of their own, which could either be for ‘Wheatus’ (2000) or ‘Too Soon Monsoon’ (2005). It is most likely to be in honour of their self-titled album, which has their major hits on it, ‘A Little Respect’ and ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. It would be lovely to see ‘Too Soon Monsoon’ get shown some much-deserved love too. Tickets aren’t on sale yet but I’m confident I set up an e-mail alert for their shows in the past. Thinking back, I felt confused about the contest advertised on the big screen before any of the bands performed. I scanned a QR code to answer a poll and have the chance to be selected to watch the show from the side of the stage. I jumped at the chance, as I knew the experience would give me excellent content for the blog. However, nothing seemed to come of it. I didn’t receive an e-mail or see any other fans being contacted or pulled up onstage. I glanced sideways in both directions but could only see numerous crew members. The poll asked who I would most like to tell a joke on the night and I picked JR. There were a lot of jokes told, though none seemed to be triggered by the poll. The crowd was pleasant and nobody appeared to be antagonising others, which was also a bonus. I think I’ll go listen to ‘A Hangover You Don’t Deserve’ again now, as there were a lot of songs which had inexplicably escaped my memory. I really loved being reminded of them all again.
GALLERY
Magnolia Park
The first crowd surfer of the night
Wheatus
Full band shot
‘Teenage Dirtbag’
Jon Mahon entertaining us between each band
Waiting for Bowling For Soup
The countdown
BFS take to the stage!
Confetti
Chatting to the crowd
JM and Jaret Reddick
Hands in the air
Guinness is OK
Matthew Milligan (Wheatus) joining BFS for ‘Shut-Up And Smile’
Rob Felicetti
John James Ryan Jr. joining the band for ‘A-Hole’
‘The Rock Show’
Spinning the wheel
Tribute to Chris Burney
The ‘Phineas and Ferb’ theme tune
More confetti
Leaving the venue
Hii, I’m leaving a comment following your post in the twenty one pilots facebook group, re. the HMV signing giveaway in Glasgow 🙂 I’m travelling to Scotland all the way from AUS for the Glasgow concert, and would love to have the opportunity to meet them at the signing!
The story I’ll share is about TØP because really, there hasn’t been another band I’ve connected with as much as I have with these guys. It might be kind of a strange or personal story but it’s the first thing that comes to mind.
It’s about the time they released their song ‘Next Semester’. I hadn’t listened to twenty one pilots in a really long time, not since Blurryface. I sort of tuned into Trench but wasn’t really present for it. I am not sure what motivated me to type up their name that day and see what they were up to. I had been having a hard time, and I think I was re-visiting music that resonated with me in the past. So I searched for them on Apple Music and saw they were releasing a new album, for which they had released two new singles. I clicked on their latest release, and when I first heard ‘Next Semester’ I was like, uh, okay. This is not what I remember twenty one pilots’ music sounding like. And I didn’t think much of it, at first. But it was so weird because I listened to it a second time, then a third time, then again and again and again, and then I was just crying. It was so unexpected, I had never had a song do that to me! I was like, ‘music can do this? Is this what people talk about when they say a song or a piece of media is life-changing?’ I am not a huge believer in fate but it really felt like that song, and these lyrics, just came to me at a time when I needed it. I was having a really, really hard time, and something about it was helping. I would wake up every morning and listen to it first thing, for a week straight, which i have NEVER done before. Really, i owe this band, and that song in particular, so much.
It was absolutely the gateway song that re-kindled my love for twenty one pilots. I am not sure if this was the right story to tell, or if this is what other people are sharing, or if this is too long, haha. But it’s the first and most important one that comes to mind. I am so proud and happy to be a fan, I use their music every day. But this song is important to me.
Can’t wait to see them in concert. I appreciate your post and what you’re doing, thank you 🙂
Fin