A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to The Bouncing Souls

My neighborhood is the last place in the world I’d expect to strike up a conversation on Punk Rock. So,

once I got past the initial shock on my Sunday evening walk when a neighbor I had never met before commented on my Descendents shirt, we did just that. There are a ton of great shows coming to the Tampa Bay area, so much so that I’ve had to prioritize spending! We spent a few minutes comparing notes on previous and upcoming shows.

My jaw dropped a bit when my new best friend neighbor asked If I was going to The Bouncing Souls show on Thursday. I had no idea they were playing, but I cut my walk short to see if tickets were still available.

I’ll take a $30 ticket at a 700-person venue over paying $300 for a stadium tour any day of the week. It’s just a better experience. On Thursday night at The Orpheum, The Bouncing Souls delivered my little slice of heaven. Recently relocated from Ybor City, The Orpheum wreaked classic dive bar vibes with an amazing outdoor courtyard/concert area. It was perfect.

Situated a couple of miles from the USF campus, there wasn’t college student to be found on Thursday night. This was a GenX show complete with seemingly slow-motion mosh pits and a few attempts at crowd surfing. With many of us are over 50 now, we're not giving up, but we don't want to break any hips either! A couple of other interesting observations. The lines for the bar and bathroom are much shorter than they used to be! We still want to puck out for a bit on a Thursday night, but we also have to work the next day!

This is my first time seeing Bouncing Souls live, but they have been a constant fixture at summer music festivals since the late 1980s. This tour is in support of their 12th studio album, Ten Stories High. The core lineup of Greg Attonito on vocals, Pete Steinkopf on Guitar, and Bryan Kienlen on bass are all original members. George Rebelo has been on drums for the last decade.

The Bouncing Souls ripped through a 24-song set list in about 90 minutes in classic punk fashion, fast paced two and a half miniute songs. They kicked off the set with the crowd favorite Hopeless Romantic, which got everyone bouncing up and down and included three songs –Back to Better, Ten Stories, and Higher Ground—from thei new album.

The Bouncing Souls tilt more toward Skate or Oi! Punk versus everything in the world sucks, angry punk. Other favorites that kept the capacity crowd in a frenzy included That Song, The Gold Song, East Coast! Fuck You, Lean on Sheena, Manthem, Gone, True Believers, Kate is Great, and Night on Earth. About midway through the set, they asked the crowd to vote on the next couple of songs to play. Bullying at the Jukebox and Quick Check Girl were the winning songs.

Near the end of the show, Greg played an excellent acoustic version of Ghosts on the Boardwalk.

One very minor disappointment is that they didn’t include Ole on the set list, which I expected them to either open or close with. In retrospect it was a minor omission from an otherwise great setlist, which is included below.

A few more dates are left on the spring portion of this tour before it picks up again in the Fall. I would encourage anyone who knows anything about the Bouncing Souls to catch them if they pass through your town. After all, the ticket cost about the same as parking at stadiums or amphitheater shows, there won’t a bad view in the house, and they want you to have a good time.

It’s also the type of tour where members of the opening acts hang out with the crowd for a few beers after completing their set. On Thursday, that included Samiam, who delivered a crowd-pleasing performance, and $wining Utter$, who I wished more people were there to see.

Here’s the full setlist:

Hopeless Romantic

That Song

Sing Along Forever

Say Anything

The Something Special

Ten Stories High

The Ballad of Johnny X

Private Radio

Back To Better

The Gold Song

East Coast! Fuck You!

Shark Attack

Here We Go

Higher Ground

Bullying the Jukebox

Quick Chek Girl

Lean on Sheena

Manthem

Kids and Heroes

Gone

True Believers

Ghosts on the Boardwalk

Kate Is Great

Night on Earth