Bad Religion / Bouncing Souls

Bad Religion / Bouncing Souls: live in Denverlive in Denver (2010)
live show

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

Contributed by: thepopeofchili-townthepopeofchili-town
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on November 19th 2010The Filllmore on Colfax Avenue in Denver is a big venue, holding over 3,000 people. Bad Religion and the Bouncing Souls are big bands, so this setting made sense. There's nothing that can replace the feel of a small, intimate punk rock show, with the bands two inches away from you, screaming the lyr.

The Filllmore on Colfax Avenue in Denver is a big venue, holding over 3,000 people. Bad Religion and the Bouncing Souls are big bands, so this setting made sense. There's nothing that can replace the feel of a small, intimate punk rock show, with the bands two inches away from you, screaming the lyrics straight to your face, but larger-scale shows such as these have a charm of their own. It feels like a special event. It feels like you're a part of something. Something big.

Off with Their Heads opened the night. I couldn't have asked for a better opener. I've seen them a few times in the past couple years, and they always put on a great show. However, this was the first time I'd seen them not headlining, so it felt kind of weird not having everyone go crazy while they played, but they killed it anyway. At the end of a shitty week, an OwTH show is just good for the soul. Ryan was smiling pretty much the whole time and joking around with the crowd, which was kind of odd, but cool to see. They didn't play "Die Today" or "Fuck This, I'm Out," which was kind of a bummer, but oh well.

Set list (from memory, probably not complete or in exact order):

All I Can Do
I Am You
For the Four
1612 Havenhurst
Drive
Trying to Breathe
ZZYZX
The Eyes of Death
Terrorist Attack?
S.O.S.
Janie
Clear the Air

The Bouncing Souls played next. They were solid, and put on a fun show, even if they did seem to be just going through the motions at times. The crowd didn't seem to mind, though. As soon as the first notes of "Highway Kings" rang out, the place exploded. For the entire time they were on stage, it felt like a Bouncing Souls headlining show. Greg Attonito coming down into the crowd for "Lean on Sheena" and later the closing 1-2 punch of "True Believers" and "Here We Go" elicited some of the biggest sing-alongs of the night. I'm not familiar enough with their entire catalog to give a complete set list, but they definitely played "Highway Kings," "Private Radio," "Sing Along Forever," "No Rules," "East Cost Fuck You!", "Gasoline," "Gone," "True Believers" and "Here We Go."

After a 30-minute set change, Bad Religion came out and proceeded to absolutely fucking kill it for 90 minutes. Best live band in punk rock. Against Me!, Social Distortion and Green Day are the only bands I can think of who come close. You can disagree, but you'll be wrong. These gentlemen know how to put on a show. The set list was a little heavy on their new album, The Dissent of Man, which I'll admit I haven't really sunken my teeth into yet, but it appeared that the rest of the crowd had. Nearly everyone sang along with every word. It was also a nice surprise to hear "21st Century Digital Boy" right in the middle of the set, instead of saving it for the end. Credit where credit is due--he might not be the most energetic frontman in the world (understandable, since he's been at it for 30 years), but Dr. Greg Graffin knows how to work a crowd. He got the 3,000+ punks in the room going absolutely crazy. I know because I was in front of them, smashed against the barricade all night. It's already been a few days and I'm still sore. Totally worth it.

With Bad Religion celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, and the Souls their 20th last year, it's inspiring to see these guys still going at it after all these years, and realizing that punk has affected a lot of people for a very long time. Any of these bands are worth paying to see separately, but together, this is not a show to be missed.

Set list:

Do What You Want
Overture/Sinister Rouge
We're Only Gonna Die
Recipe for Hate
Flat Earth Society
Before You Die
The Resist Stance
I Want to Conquer the World
21st Century Digital Boy
New Dark Ages
The Devil in Stitches
Hear It
Let Them Eat War
Only Rain
10 in 2010
You
Avalon
Anesthesia
Atomic Garden
Wrong Way Kids
No Control
Infected
Los Angeles is Burning
American Jesus
Encore:
Generator
Sorrow
Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

bastardized (November 22, 2010)

they are good live, but only 13 songs from the classic pre-major label era... weak.

joeg (November 19, 2010)

i saw bad religion for 3 straight nights in nyc play songs dedicated to each decade. over the course, i heard slaves, 10 in 2010, anasthesia, sanity, a song off into the unknown, latch key kids, gray race, the defense, epiphany, big bang, come join us, a walk, flat earth society, and supersonic just to name a handful. i don't know about BEST LIVE BAND TODAY but they kicked my ass so no complaints here, just good fucking times.

Problematiclogic (November 19, 2010)

BR played 'Hear It'? I would kill to have heard them play that when I seen them!

MN_DrNick (November 19, 2010)

That's way to high of a rating.

germburn (November 19, 2010)

The set in Eugene was exactly the same except replace Think Before You Die with Dearly Beloved. This show seemed kinda short. The last time I saw them they played way longer than this. They did over 40 songs. But this show still kicked so much fucking ass, the Souls ruled and BR was perfect as always, I missed OWTH though.. sad.

ashtraymonument (November 19, 2010)

fuck the fillmore, fuck parking around the fillmore, fuck me missing OWTH

nothing but love for the souls and bad religion. they played fantastic. Jay had the gnarliest beard

incomplicit (November 19, 2010)

I never saw bad religion until like a two years ago in LA, but just saw them again at FFFun fest in Austin, and I have to say, sooo stoked that they played Anesthesia at both shows. I would have never thought of it as a fan favorite, but it has always been one of my favorites. Also, kind of a bummer that no Dearly Beloved at either FFFun fest or the above-reviewed show (but they played it when I saw them in LA). That one also kills.

Incredible set list, though, and these guys are great live. Not the best, as the reviewer said, but maybe the most on point/tightest. AVAIL was/will be the best. That is all.

maverick (November 19, 2010)

I saw them at Riot Fest and then a few days later in Cleveland, and they were spot-on both times (although it was an identical setlist both times, too). This setlist looks a bit different, though; we definitely didn't get "10 In 2010."

-Scott