On Friday the 26th, I attended the Bouncing Souls "True Believers" Tour in Chicago. On this tour they are playing with Madcap, One Man Army, Flogging Molly, and obviously Bouncing Souls. I got to the show late and missed both Madcap and One Man Army, sorry people, but I had to drive almost 4 hours to get to the show, and I thought it started later than it did. From what I heard both bands played awsome sets that were very energetic and fun. I was disappointed, I have heard some good things about both, but oh well.

I got there right as Flogging Molly took the stage. I am a big fan of celtic punk music, so I was looking forward to this set. They came out dressed in a mix of traditional Irish wear, and punk clothes, representing the 2 forces that are present in thier music. With Guiness in hand and lining the stage they began to play an awsome set. Throughout the entire set they had the whole crowd singing along and attempting to dance in a modified Irish jig, with some slam dancing. The singer for FM was really into the crowd, leading them in singalongs and chants. They played mostly their songs from Swagger, but also a few that aren't on the cd, not sure if they're new or not. My favorite was 'Daliha' which was their final song, a song about betrayal and loss of a lover.

This was definitely a set that would be hard to follow, but if any band could do it, the Bouncing Souls could. After a very short set up time the BS came onto the stage, with the lead singer slapping high fives to people in the audience, and a thunderous applause with chants of Ole' and Oi. The entire set consisted mainly off "Manical Laughter" and "How I Spent Summer Vacation." They also played some older ones here and there, and only a few off the other Epitaph releases. All of the songs were played with energy and passion. The day of the show was also a holiday for the band being that it was Johnny X's birthday. In the middle of the show, the singer for BS borrowed a cell phone from the an audience member and proceeded to call Johnny, who wasn't home, but he had the entire audience sing Happy Birthday to his machine. After he hung up, the band launched into "Ballad of Johnny X" one of my favorite BS songs. The rest of the set was typical BS, lots of jumping around and high fiving the audience. They left the stage, only to return to play "Here We Go" and a Cock Sparrer cover with the guitartist of One Man Army. Most of the older crowd members were going nuts for it. It was cool to see them paying homage to an older band that doesnt get alot of recognition. They played a few more songs and then left the stage for good. My only complaint for the show, besides getting there late, it seemed the singer was going through the motions on some songs, especially "Born to Lose." I remember him putting more into it at Warped Tour this summer. Other than that one small complaint, it was a good show, alot of fun.

After the lights came back on, members of the band came back out to meet fans and take pictures with people, or sign stuff, or just hang out. Which is pretty cool, I love when bands take the time to talk to people, even for a big band like BS it shows that they still have thier punk roots and don't consider themselves rock stars, just people who enjoy playing music, and are pretty good at it. Speaking of being cool and talking to people, after the show I went in the record store next to the Metro, the Clubhouse, and while I was looking at cds, my girlfriend looked up and pointed to the guy behind me, it was none other than the bassist for Bouncing Souls shopping for cds. I turned and told him I enjoyed the show, and he thanked me for coming. Also we were at the counter and I complemented him on his purchase (Dead Kennedys and Misfits) and we talked about DK and punk bands for awhile. He is really a cool guy, we just talked about bands like 2 fans of punk music.