BOWLING FOR SOUP | INTERVIEW
Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick warns Buzz that he’s feeling a bit fragile as he picks up from his home in Denton, Texas. “My wife and I had a little bit of a party last night,” he says, “so I apologise if I seem a little tired.” But although he may be feeling a little worse for wear, Jaret doesn’t let it show. In fact, when asked about his band’s upcoming UK tour, he even sounds outright excited.
“It’s gonna be awesome. Our stage set-up is crazy, it’s the biggest, craziest thing we’ve ever done. It’s also the fifteenth anniversary of Drunk Enough To Dance, so we’ll be playing that in its entirety, as well as some various other fun things.” Drunk Enough To Dance features some of Bowling For Soup’s most well-known hits, including Emily and Girl All The Bad Guys Want. But does Jaret ever get tired of playing the same songs?
“When I go to a show I want to hear all the hits, and I think most other people are the same. I’m sympathetic to that, so the new stuff doesn’t really get a lot of attention. I understand that people are paying money; they want to hear High School Never Ends and 1985 and Girl All The Bad Guys Want, so that’s what we play.”
The upcoming tour – titled the Get Happy Tour – sees Bowling For Soup play nine separate dates all across the UK, including Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. “The Cardiff venue we’re playing is actually the biggest on the whole tour,” says Jaret, “so I’m holding high hopes that everyone there brings their full-on rock-ready performance.”
But for all Jaret’s excitement for the tour, by the end of February it will have come to an end. So what are the band’s plans for the rest of the year. “We’ve got a lot of ideas, and we’re always listening to what the fans want. Some want us to do covers, some want the second half of our greatest hits, and some want a whole new album. So, we’re not sure which of those we’re going to do, but we’re definitely going to do something!”
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Fri 16 Feb. Tickets: from £25. Info: 02920 2022 4488 / www.motorpointarenacardiff.co.uk
words LIAM TURNER
photo WILL VON BOLTON