It’s the double-header tour they said would never happen! Or never said would happen, at least. Yep, the UK’s premier folk-punk motormouth Frank Turner and stalwart American pop-punk jesters Bowling For Soup are bussin’ across the UK this summer, with two Welsh dates on the itinerary. Emma Way spoke to Frank and BFS vocalist Jaret Reddick.
“He’s not as tall as he told me he was!” Frank Turner says of Bowling For Soup’s Jaret Reddick, when I quiz both of them on taking their friendship off social media and onto the road. The two artists initially formed a friendship online but are now tourmates, sharing inside jokes from their Australian co-headline tour. Now, they’re bringing that same tour across the pond to the UK, with two stops in Wales next month. What’s more, the Bowl My Bones tour feels like a symbolic oath to that mutual appreciation the two artists share for each other.
With the odds stacked against them, noting the universal struggle of turning plans with friends into reality, this tour feels like it may never have happened. Back in 2020, Turner and Bowling For Soup frontman Reddick hosted a weekly pandemic-era livestream, and when I catch up with them, there’s no shortage of praise on either side.
“I know I can win over any crowd!” Reddick tells me. “I know Frank can win over any crowd. But you hope for audiences like this, where it just makes sense.” This interview is the first time either frontman has seen each other since they were backstage in Perth, Australia. “I was such a fan of Frank. I discovered his music at a time when I really thought music as a whole was losing its lustre.”
Both projects come from different pockets of the punk scene, so the linkup may seem like an unlikely one. While Frank Turner – joined by his band The Sleeping Souls – are a folk-punk project, Bowling For Soup lies more in pop-punk territory. Stylistic differences aside, though, they’ve come from a similar starting place. Turner’s roots lie in the UK hardcore scene of the early 2000s, most notably as the frontman for the band Million Dead, while Bowling For Soup made a name for themselves playing bars across the US.
“You’re going to see inclusion – that’s the Bowling for Soup fan right there,” Reddick says of the band’s fanbase, “That’s what New York hardcore was, and that’s what made me love punk rock, in the beginning. Everybody is welcome; it didn’t matter what colour you were, what your sexual preference was, or any of that stuff.”
The topic of fanbases feels significant here, considering these communities often dictate whether a joint tour feels magical or awkward. “The hardcore scene that I was part of was entirely angry dudes in black tight jeans, aged between 17 and 25,” recalls Turner, who identifies himself as having been part of that demographic too. “Right at the beginning of playing the kind of music I play now, it was a point of pride for me to appeal beyond that demographic, but also to that demographic. There’s been a pretty diverse selection of people coming to my shows, and I think that’s super cool, because I think that music is a form of communication.”
Bowling For Soup also got a taste of that very same demographic growth when they headlined Wembley Arena last December. “For us to be able to get to that point, 31 years into our band, is just crazy!” reflects Reddick, who also remembers Turner’s first time selling out Wembley back in 2012. “We were able to have Wheatus out celebrating 25 years of Teenage Dirtbag,” he continues, “and then Punk Rock Factory, another band that I found on TikTok.” Hailing from Cwmbran, the four-piece Punk Rock Factory have gained a devoted following online – including the BFS frontman – for their pop punk-style covers of pop hits and TV themes.
Looking past the endless noise of social media, content creation and audience-building, though, it all comes down to the pure joy of a live performance for both Turner and Reddick. “The reality of punk rock that you encounter after falling in love with the concept is often a little disappointing,” Turner says, pondering cliqueiness and matters of authenticity and gatekeeping. “I think that both of us, in our own way, have attempted to build versions of that initial vision of a community which stick truer to what we thought punk rock was in the first place. It’s a place where you can have a good time with people who play music, but have a similar view of the world as you.”
Bowling For Soup + Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Llangollen Pavilion, Fri 3 July; Cardiff Castle, Sat 4
Tickets: £49.50. Info: Info: Llangollen / Cardiff
words EMMA WAY
