BOWLING FOR SOUP
BETWEEN the fat jokes and the beer breaks, Texas rock band Bowling for Soup managed to dish up a hot, fast concert Thursday night at Irving Plaza.
Considering the players named their band after the frat-boy euphemism for drink-induced vomiting, their live-to-party attitude took a sticky back seat to the music.
That was apparent in both a cover of Britney Spears’ “(Hit Me Baby) . . . One More Time” that was so Souped-up, it was barely recognizable, and in their own radio hit “1985,” chronicling that year’s hit music makers.
Spiky-haired frontman Jaret Reddick delivered vocals that were very close to the quality he laid down for the band’s latest disc, “A Hangover You Don’t Deserve.”
This is a band with notoriously bad equipment.
Midshow, Reddick’s guitar fizzed out, and while he waited for a replacement, he told bassist Erik Chandler to entertain the fans. But the bassist isn’t used to life center stage, and so he offered a girly-man rendition of “I’m a Little Teapot,” complete with pantomime.
The other non-musical amusement of the night was when rotund guitarist Chris Burney’s lead stepped on Reddick’s vocals, and the singer flipped a guitar pick at him. It sailed across the stage and hit Burney between the eyes, then stuck with sweat to his forehead.
Delighted with the shot, Reddick tried to prove the flip wasn’t a fluke by flying more picks at his Bowling teammate.
This was a nuts ‘n’ bolts rock show that didn’t try to teach, preach or reach for higher ground. Instead, it partied hard – beer, belches and all.