“If you see Mary Poppins, tell her I said hi!”

Review: By Jen

Never have I seen an American band seem so genuinely pleased to be back and touring in the UK. Bowling for Soup stormed London's Astoria last night in an event which resembled a mini festival; transplanting the suburbs of the USA and embedding them firmly into our hearts.

First up were The Army of Freshmen, their vigorous bounding about the stage echoed by the crowd and I think, an army of Freshmen fans was born. Next up was perhaps the highlight of the evening for me MC Lars and his post-punk laptop rap. A real show stealer, he was joined on the stage by both the Army of Freshmen and Bowling for Soup for songs that made you feel like you were an American teen.

Highlights included one about the Rap Queen of Suburbia, a song for anybody who liked somebody who didn't like them back, My Generation and a masterpiece faintly reminiscent of cry.on.my.console with its Nintendo-esque backing track. MC Lars: one man, his laptop and a homemade banner; the epitome of post-punk geek-boy cool.

American Hi-Fi were next up and a pleasant surprise. Their new tracks were exuberant and the crowd were hyped but Flavour of the Weak still stands out as their best track to date by far. It's good to have them back in the UK and I think they are well worth trying to catch at the Garage, Highbury & Islington, on the 25th October.
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