My wife and I saw the Bouncing Souls this last Friday and Sunday, the 10th and the 12th respectively. They did a four night stand at Reggies Rock Club on the south side where they did two albums a night in chronological order. The two nights we went to were the Self Titled and Hopeless Romantic on Friday, and The Gold Record and Ghosts on the Boardwalk.
Firstly, Friday night. We arrived late on purpose, just making the second band on the bill The Arrivals first song. Not really impressed, the drummer was pretty good though. The Bouncing Souls are a pretty tough act to open for though, so take it for what it is worth. We take a seat on the upper deck with the rest of the old people and chilled out. The neighborhood around Reggies is notably better this year, we got parking and there were no random pockets of junkies chillaxing around. Its actually becoming a hipster area I guess. Not sure which is worse, though hispters rarely ask me for change. Though junkies are still less annoying in general. Food for thought.
Finally, the Bouncing Souls come to the stage, playing the first song on the Self Titled album right away. I am not a huge fan of the ST album, though we crammed as much of the cd as possible.
At this point I was itching like a fiend for Hopeless Romantic, which is easily my favorite Souls album as well as being on my top ten list. Once they ripped into Romantic, Reggies patrons blew up. Apparently, I am not the only one who loves this album. Greg Attonito, the bands singer, wore a white suit with a white tie that had "two" written on it in tape. They play all the songs extremely well and are amazingly energetic, much better than the other times I have seen them. They had a few guests on stage, the most notable of which was the singer they chose for the duet on their song "Wish Me Well (You Can Go to Hell)". If you don't know, this song is a duet between a man and a woman. What we got tonight was a dude with a blonde wig. Hilarity ensues.
Unfortunately, we make if for the opening band on Sunday, who starts pretty late. I think they were called Reagonomics and they were pretty meh, but the worst part was their inane onstage banter. For instance, "This song is about Ed Hardy. You know we all have one of those in our closet." No sir, can't say that I do.
The next band played their first song and it was disappointing, so the wife and I decided to go to the only fast food joint in the area- White Castle. Oh boy, do Sliders and PBR not mix well. Thankfully, we managed to not be sick until we got home and could nurse it properly.
We arrive just in time for the Bouncing Souls to take the stage for their final show, the Gold Record and Ghosts on the Boardwalk. The Gold Record is another album I am not particualrly fond of, though I like the songs in general and really like "Lean on Sheena" a bunch. The album is just kind of bland for my tastes.
By the time they come back onstage for Ghost on the Boardwalk, we have gotten a pretty sweet view through Reggie's rafters. Attonito's tie says "four" this time. They bring out cue cards for their song "Badass", which is basically a long list of stuff they think is bad ass, such as nunchuks, Slayer, and breaking the law sung into a fast punk song. Honestly I skip the track when I listen to the CD but now this memory will trigger when I listen to it. I spare you, "Badass".
I started to remember the one criticism I had of Ghosts- the songs are all about thirty seconds too long. Incessant jamming and drawing out songs are pet peeves of mine. They also skip the last song on the album "Like the Sun", and end instead with "We All Sing Along," which was a bummer because I like the outro track. Apparently, "We All Sing Along" is the opening music for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. I don't want to sound like a hippy or nothing, but I think that is pretty cool.
Overall, the weekend was a freaking blast all thanks to the Bouncing Souls. I love the show format and would definitely see my other favorite bands doing this. NOFX would be particularly cool, as would Screeching Weasel but I know thats a pipe dream.
