ShareBowling For Soup with special guests Wheatus performing their A Hangover You Don’t Deserve Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Thursday 13th February 2025.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
American rock band Bowling For Soup were at the Motorpoint Arena on Thursday night to celebrate twenty years since the release of their fifth studio album, A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, and they delivered a set that brought hope, humour and some rock tinged classics to a sold out crowd.
But getting the crowd nicely warmed up was American rock band, Wheatus, a quintet of skilled and talented musicians who during a short set, showed their versatility. Opening with a cover of The Darkness’ Growing On Me and then straight into an absolutely epic cover of Erasure’s A Little Respect, front man and guitarist Brendan Brown hit all of the high notes.
Promoting the 25th anniversary of their eponymous debut album, there was Leroy, Mope and Hey, Mr Brown which went down a treat and when you are a band like Wheatus there is going to be a set full of nostalgia. The core band may not be original members with the exception of Brown, but they played the likes of Fourteen and Lemonade as if they were their own. Obviously they closed their set with the fabulous Teenage Dirtbag which had the crowd singing along.
It is easy to see why this isn’t the first or last time Wheatus have played with Bowling For Soup, as they worked the crowd and proved again that they are more than just one song.
When Bowling For Soup’s front man Jaret Reddick, drummer Gary Wiseman and bassist Rob Felicetti took to the stage and launched into Almost it was clear that they are a band who thrive from the live atmosphere and enjoy every second that they spend on stage to deliver a hilarious show.
It was noticeable that Chris Burney was missing from the line-up and this is their first jaunt to the UK since his retirement, but that did not deter them from playing the album in its entirety, that saw the crowd sing, dance and laugh in all the right places to their stage banter. Reddick in particular had some real laugh out loud one liners and made sure that everyone in the Arena was having fun.
One of the night’s highlights was an electrifying performance of Ohio (Come Back To Texas) which emphasised the timelessness of their music that brought together fans from all different generations. The vocal interplay during Last Call Casualty showcased the band’s strong dynamics, with Reddick and Felicetti’s harmonies blending seamlessly and a particularly touching moment came with their rendition of album closer Friends O’ Mine.
For the encore they were back to deliver three of their classics, and High School Never Ends got one of the biggest reactions of the night. The theme song to Phineas And Ferb was very well received but it was the life affirming rendition of Girl All The Bad Guys Want which saw the whole crowd in full voice for a final time and brought to an end a night filled with nostalgia that was both fresh and exhilarating.