This is supposed to be the Punk O Rama Tour, but with two bands not playing this date it's essentially the Bouncing Souls plus support. Hailing from London, Mouthwash play that ska/reggae style of punk along the lines of every other ska/reggae/punk band around at the moment. Despite having a real growly bass sound and a singer who's a bit of a geezer, I'm not sure what else they have different enough to make them special.
New Yorkers the Bouncing Souls have a style all their own, which has gradually become more solidly catchy with every album release. Tonight they start us off with 'Here We Go' quickly followed by 'Say Anything' before addressing the horrific events of earlier today in the USA and in particular, in their native New York. There are a few heartfelt words from singer Greg and a song is dedicated to those back home, it is 'Hopeless Romantic'. The rest of the set follows on and is compiled of roughly equal measures of the best from their last four albums, covering most of my favourites and everyone else's too, judging by the crowd's reaction. All delivered in that cool, laid-back, yet rocking Bouncing Souls manner. Greg with his strange fixed stare and surprisingly solid vocals considering he looks as if he's just mumbling along, interspersed with bouts of activity as he runs along the barrier reaching out to the front rows. Bryan with his tattoos, bondage style trousers and attitude to match,
is much more animated on backing vocals and still manages to play those booming bass lines in spite of a bandaged hand that covers a skateboarding injury; drawn to our attention by The Pete, when he wasn't doing his guitar thing of jigging around whilst still making a better sound than some bands with two guitarists. And new drummer Michael? Well, he seems to be fitting right in. Recent songs 'True Believers' and 'Private Radio' are joined by old favorites 'Argyle' and 'The Ballad of Johnny X'. Bryan dedicates 'Kid' to all the kids "Even if you're 31!" and to his "beloved home town" the one and only 'East Coast! Fuck You!'. They also play a version of 'Blue Moon' that slips easily into 'Born To Lose' before finishing with an encore of Billy Idol's 'White Wedding' and the requested 'Lamar Vannoy'.
