On a warm Cardiff evening, in a sea of bald caps, a beacon of pop-punk & elder emos shines at the castle.
This evening sees Bowling for Soup & Frank Turner play at Cardiff Castle play the penultimate show on their “Bowl My Bones” Summer tour.
American Hi-Fi
Supporting the artists on their tour has been state-side rockers American Hi-Fi, who have been around for about as long as Bowling for Soup, but sadly never reached the heady heights.
The band played through their 8-song set to a relatively sedate crowd, apart from some die-hards at the front. Things pick up though when they play more well-known songs such as “Another Perfect Day, The Art of Losing” and their biggest hit “Flavor of the Week”.
Overall, a solid opener and warm-up for things to come.
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
Some may say that Frank Turner’s style of Folk-Punk may not work with Bowling for Soup crowd, but you would be wrong.
Frank and the band rip through a colossal 18-song setlist, even finding time with some good crowd banter, revealing that he’s been a touring musician for 29 years.
Highlights of tonight’s set include a surprise appearance from Jaret for “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous,” and getting security and promoters nervous by opening the crowd up for a wall of… hugs!
Frank is a well-seasoned professional, and it really shows.
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup bring an absolutely polished show to Cardiff tonight, they’re a band who understand who they are and bring a special kind of comedy pop-punk to the Castle.
The band starts with their super-fun opening “Here comes Bowling for Soup” which features loads of audience cameras on the big LED screen, before launching into a 14 song setlist packed full of all the big hitters including “High School Never Ends, Emily, The Bitch Song and Punk Rock 101”, which even features a real life dragon!
The band end on “Girls all the Bad Guys Want” before finally coming back for an encore of, you guessed it, “1985”.
A perfect summer pop-punk band for some traditionally drizzly Welsh weather.
