A bad day to be a giant inflatable sheep...
The rain had continued to relentlessly pour until the very moment that Texan punk rockers Bowling For Soup took to the main stage. The reason for this fortunate coincidence, offered by frontman Jaret Reddick, was that, "Bowling For Soup are God's favourite band". An outrageously silly sense of humour? Of course! Deadly serious? Definitely not! As long as you learn to take everything that this band says with a pinch of salt, you are guaranteed to enjoy their set...
...that is as long as you are not an inflatable sheep. The two giant inflatable sheep that made their Download Festival debut on stage in 2007 returned to flank guitarist Chris Burney and bassist Erik Chandler on either side of the prestigious stage. Unfortunately for the female sheep (distinguished by the feminine bow on its head) this year, an oversized inflatable penis was spotted amongst the bustling crowd and the temptation was obviously too much for Reddick to bear as he eagerly requested that the item be passed up to the stage. As one may have gathered, a Bowling For Soup show is not always focussed on the music. From this moment on, it was destined that people would eventually be leaving the Donington site asking fellow festival-goers if they had witnessed the Bowling For Soup set. Not because of the music, but because of the unforgettable sight of guitarist Chris Burney attempting to anally penetrate a huge inflatable sheep with a large inflatable penis. Did he succeed? Yes. Yes he did.
Despite being notably hungover (admittedly, a regular occurrence), Bowling For Soup were musically on-form. They may well limit themselves to chugging power chords and surprisingly simple chord progressions, but in a live scenario, their material sounds great. Clearly aided by the acoustic performances that the duo continue to share together, Reddick and Chandler possess a superb vocal understanding, which is clearly evident as their lines gracefully gel together to produce effective harmonies. The addition of 'Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day', the theme tune to the ever-popular Disney cartoon 'Phineas & Ferb', may have been lost on some of the older attendees, but the crowd-pleasing hits 'Punk Rock 101' and '1985' were soon to follow, offering perfect sing-along opportunities. Concluding with grammy-nominated hit 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want', Bowling For Soup left behind a sea of smiles, freshly planted on crowd members who may have been initially doubting their reasoning for leaving their cosy, sheltered tents.
Download Festival, although primarily a rock and metal festival, prides itself on the musical diversity that it has to offer. Regardless of whether the music of Bowling For Soup is of personal appeal, the American quartet have quite rightly earned the status of being a 'must-see' band at any festival, mostly due to the heavily comedic nature of their sets. Those in attendance may have been sodden and miserable, but after forty minutes of fun, it was impossible not to come away with a smile on your face... the only exception being the poor inflatable female sheep who will most likely want to put the day behind her (no pun intended).