Up-Load UK, Gigs News & reviews Three Quarters review 2

The show conquers Bristol

The second night of the tour in the Bristol Academy, went much smoother with less of the last minute frantic running around and more of a chilled out energised vibe. After arriving at the Academy at 4pm we were able to get in and get our interviews done that we did not get time to do in Manchester. I would like to say a big thanks to Emma Watson for all of her help over the last two days. We sat around and watched the stage being built and listened to the sound checks, determined that we would not miss the Army Of Freshmen set for a second night.

As the time ticked by there was a big arrival of security staff then the announcement “five minutes to doors” came over the loud hailer. We decided it was time to take our place in front of the stage, camera in hand.

Sure enough Army Of Freshmen did not dissapoint with even more energy and enthusiasm than the previous night they burst onto the stage to a huge cheer, water spraying and fans jumping it was an awesome site. If you thought the Manchester fans loved them the Bristol fans totally surpassed this, and joined in at every opportunity. Every track got the crowd jumping and by the time the set finished I know that everybody in the place was an Army Of Freshmen fan. You can see the appreciation that the guys have for their fans as they spent the rest of the night out with the crowd signing autographs and posing for pictures. If they are as popular on this tour as they have been in the last two shows (and I know they will) the future is looking very bright for the guys and I know it wont be long before I'm reviewing them on their own headlining tour. By the time the set finished with the anthem like 'Get Um Up' everybody in the place looked totally exhausted due to spending the last half an hour jumping up and down, punching their fists in the air and singing along with chris teaching them the words to some of their songs. I think they will be very welcome back in bristol again.

After a quick stage change it was the turn of Mc Lars to wow the crowd, and he did this with ease. With his unique brand of ‘Happy Music’ as we categorised in our interview later that night. Mc Lars was so much more energised tonight, infact all of the bands are, probably due to the fact that the first night glitches are now over. As ‘Hearts That Hate’ took to the stage to do a track called 'signing emo' with Mc Lars you could see the crowd looking at each other and wondering, when they realised it the guys from Bowling For Soup the crowd erupted, and all too quickly the set is over and you are standing their wanting to hear more. Mc Lars is a very talented and very friendly guy, he is great at what he does and the fans (of which I am now one) loved him.

American Hi-Fi erupted on to the stage with a lot more energy than they had on the previous nights show, and went straight into 'The Art Of Losing' the crowd were singing along through most of their set which included many songs from their first album which is a big favourite with the fans as well as playing songs from both their second and as yet unreleased in the UK third album. When they started to play 'When The Geeks Get The Girls' the audience had their hands above their heads clapping along and singing with the band. They finished their all too short set with 'Flavor Of The Weak' which is the song that the band are best known for, and this certainly showed as the crowd went wild, part way through the song Stacy put the microphone towards the crowd and they sang the song for him. There were certain people there that had never heard of American Hi Fi before let alone seen them live, after chatting to some of these people after the set it was clear from their reactions that they were blown away, and as one person commented "those guys have got something special in their sound, I think I'm going to have to go and buy their albums".

Bowling For Soup entered the stage to the biggest cheer of the night, and straight into the audience interaction with ‘Rock and Fucking Roll’. From comments about Eric’s new hair cut and Mc Lars getting a blowjob the night before to telling the crowd that American Hi Fi were offering free hugs in the foyer after the show, the comedy continued through the set. But don’t be fooled by all the humour, underneath the hilarity is a seriously talented group of guys, every song is performed with full on energy even if there may be a few breaks in the songs for a bit of audience banter. No sheep’s tonight though, but it is Wales tomorrow. Every track gets the crowd jumping and singing along. If Bowling For Soup’s management thought they did not have an fans in the UK then they have definately been proved wrong, we have the photos to prove it. With the gig at full capacity there was a smile on every face. The one thing I don’t agree with though is their greatest bands ever. I think everybody in the place would agree with me in saying, Bowling For Soup are defiantely the number one, with the Bristol crowd.