Pop Punk Legends Pack Stir Cove!

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Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

One of the closest things to Warped Tour we'll see this year came to Council Bluffs on Wednesday (8.20.25). The package included 2000s staples Simple Plan, Bowling For Soup, 3OH3!, and new-comer LOLO. The house was absolutely packed for this throwback line-up. With the temperature in the high 80s it was a hot show, figuratively and literally.

The night started off with the young LOLO. She did a good job getting things started with some pop punk jams that threw in bits of classic pop songs like "Mr. Brightside". Her set was fine. No offense to bands that use backing tracks, but as soon as I hear a track it's a little bit of a turn-off for me. The coolest part of LOLO's set was the "Lost In Space" robot sitting on the stage. It was an awesome prop. LOLO has a collaboration with the band Letdown who will be coming to the B-Side Bar in just a couple weeks. Give her a look if you like "mall pop punk".

Next up were the band of the night for me. In a strange twist, Simple Plan declined photos, so Bowling For Soup was going to be the highlight of my evening. I've seen Bowling For Soup a good handful of times now and they're always a hoot and a half! They're one of those bands you just have to see live. They have hits for days and their stage banter is top-tier.

The band kicked things off with their hit "The Girl All The Bad Guys Want" followed by an introduction from lead singer Jarret Reddick. "We are Bowling For Soup from Texas and we're the greatest band in the world!" A lot of hype to follow, but Bowling For Soup is always up for the challenge. They smashed through all their hits including a song about Texas called "Ohio". It's one of my favorites of the set as it mentions both Willie Nelson and Pantera!

The bass player mentioned the last time they played Council Bluffs with the Spin Doctors and Tonic. He said it felt like a crazy dream "You were there, and you were there" well I was there and it was awesome! Jarret joked about their drummer auditioning for Bowling For Soup when he was playing with the Spin Doctors. It was a little hard to follow, but I distinctly remember from that show when they played with the Spin Doctors, Bowling For Soup's drummer played the fill from the Spin Doctor's biggest hit "Two Princes" and Jarret kept saying how their drummer could fill in for the Spin Doctors. Who knows, bunch of crazy drummers!

Bowling For Soup really is one of the best bands of all time. They know how to work the crowd and they don't take themselves too seriously. They make sure everyone at the show leaves with a smile. I definitely did.

I stuck around for 3OH3! because I never caught them during the Warped Tour days. They had good energy and kept the party going! I hadn't really followed them much but I recall a few of their hits. They're one of those bands that has a deeper catalog than you realize. During the set I found myself thinking "Oh I know this one" a lot more than I anticipated.

For everyone who came out the nostalgia was cranked up to 11 for sure, but with the world in the state that it's in, a little nostalgia might be just what we need.

Thanks to Stir Cove for their great hospitality and setting up photo access.

Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!