"People's faces are going to hurt from smiling": Bowling For Soup discuss first-ever Wembley headline show

Bowling For Soup are hitting the UK in a couple of weeks to celebrate the 20th birthday of their A Hangover You Don't Deserve album. But before they've even played a note, the band have announced their first-ever headline show at OVO Arena Wembley on December 13.

The announcement comes just days after the news that founding guitarist Chris Burney has retired from the band, having been absent since June while he focuses on his health.

Even a man down, it's going to be a riot. K! caught up with frontman Jaret Reddick to get excited about the shows, find out how Chris is doing, and look back at the past quarter of a century of BFS making the UK laugh...

At this stage in your career, it’s hard to believe you’ve not headlined Wembley before…
“Right? But we have played there, when we supported Steel Panther out on tour in 2016. That was a great night. But this will be [even better]: our triumphant first headline of Wembley Arena. It’s crazy that can come along 30 years into being a band. Twenty-five years after we first started coming to the UK on tour, we’ve finally built to this point. To quote Taylor Swift, we’re feeling very blessed!”

What are your memories of the last time you were there with Steel Panther?
“It was amazing. The crowd was great. It was the last night of that tour. It was pretty emotional because our tour manager was leaving to go to another band, our sound guy was headed to a corporate job and our guitar tech was moving on as well. We’re one big family. I’m hoping that this time round it will feel a little more triumphant and less like the end of an era!”

It's pretty cool that after three decades there are still these big things to achieve...
“It’s funny, I don’t really have a bucket list any more. It would be selfish after so many of my dreams already came true. But if I did have one, a Bowling For Soup headline at Wembley would be on it. It’s historic. You just say the name ‘Wembley’ and everyone in the UK knows what it means. Even in the U.S. they understand! I remember reading rock magazines as a kid and you’d see bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest at Wembley. As a kid it’s not even really on your radar. It’s like, ‘Of course, we’ll never get to that point.’ But here we are…”

Why do you think you’ve had such a surge in popularity at this point in your career?
“I think a good part of it is nostalgia. Pop-punk is at the front of people’s minds right now because there are so many bands coming back to celebrate big anniversaries for important records, like My Chemical Romance, blink-182, Yellowcard, Sum 41 doing their farewell tour. If you look back at old festival bills, we used to be the only pop-punk band that fit on there a lot of the time. But now you’re seeing blink and Fall Out Boy and all sorts of bands cropping up. And it’s not just the UK, it’s everywhere: the U.S., Germany, Italy, Australia. It’s a good time to be into pop-punk!”

Does being part of that nostalgic wave ever make you feel old?
“That doesn’t make me feel old. What makes me feel old is walking to the airport and up and down all those stairs over there in the UK. Having made it this far, there’s a sense of victory, a sense of accomplishment. What’s the saying? ‘You’re only as old as you feel’? Well, I never said that. But we’re still firing on all cylinders, we’re feeling good and we’re ready to kick some ass!”

You’re bringing some of your good friends along for the ride this time, too…
“Yeah! We’ll have Wheatus out with us. Those guys are celebrating 25 years of Teenage Dirtbag. Our good friends Punk Rock Factory will be there, too. They’ve made quite a splash since the pandemic – everything they do is just so great, and everyone has fallen in love. That’s a pretty great night right there: Punk Rock Factory, Wheatus and Bowling For Soup. People’s faces are going to hurt from smiling so much!”

The average Bowling For Soup show is already quite the spectacle. How do you make this bigger?
“Everything is just ideas for now. All I can say is that it’ll be unlike anything else we’ve done. But I’m focused on making the whole next tour bigger and better than anything we’ve ever done. Wembley and the UK shows are just the beginning!”

It feels like you’ve always had quite a special relationship with the UK. Do you remember the first time you came over?
“The first time we came over there was for Reading & Leeds in 2000. Steve Homer, who is now CEO of AEG Presents UK, and still our promoter, had seen us and took a chance on bringing us out. We had no idea what to expect. I remember that we were in a tent and it was just full of people stretching out as far as you could see. We didn’t have success like that in our own country yet. Not even in our own state of Texas. The next time we came over was because a band called Uncle Brian asked if we would, and told us that if we let them open up we could stay at their house! That really started the pattern of us being in the UK as much as we could. There were definitely a few years where Chris and I were in the UK as much as – if not more than – we were actually in the U.S.!”

Before that, you're touring the UK next month celebrating 20 years of A Hangover You Don't Deserve. Was it a given that you’d be here to celebrate that milestone?
“Originally, we’d just focused on doing these shows in the U.S., but we had so many people telling us that we needed to bring them to the UK, too. We moved some things around and were able to, and I’m so happy that we did because the excitement is palpable. We’ve already played the shows through summer and fall in the States, but I’m excited to be able to bring it to the UK, playing the biggest shows that we’ve ever done!”

How has it been dusting off some of those songs that you hadn’t played in a long time?
“I mean, there are certain songs that we’d never played – not since we were rehearsing them before we went in to record. We’re not big fans of doing rehearsals because we already play so much, and we can normally pick songs up in soundcheck. But this time we had about four or five rehearsals and pounded through about three songs each time. Then we went out there and just threw ourselves to the wolves. I think it’s sounding great!”

Have you been surprised at how some of the songs have gone down?
“The answer to that question is twofold. On one hand, there’s the reaction to the songs that I love. Like in Last Call Casualty, there’s a bit where I can stand back from the mic just to hear the crowd singing. I love that so much. But then the next song is Next Ex-Girlfriend, which is one I never really liked and only put on the record because everybody else did. But over the last summer of playing it every night, I’ve actually really grown fond of that one. It’s weird how your relationship with a song can change over time.”

You announced on Wednesday that Chris would be permanently retire from the band. First of all, how’s he doing?
“He’s as good as he can be. He’s got some health stuff going on that’s going to require some physical recovery. He keeps us as updated as he wants to, but it’s really not all he wants to talk about. We just try to give him space and be there. His attitude is good. As always, he’s got a joke for everything. And mentally, at least, he’s still firing away.”

Download 2024 was the second show you played without him. You could really feel the love from the crowd that day…
“He was actually with us when we flew over for the first show of that run in Italy, but then he started to feel unwell and had to go home. There was a lot of emotion, and a lot of wondering ‘How is this crowd going to react? Can we even do this?’ Honestly, I’m glad that it went the way it did because it really set the tone for the way that people were going to continue to show Chris and Bowling For Soup so much love. That’s continued through this tour. It’s like he’s up on stage with us. He and I started this band almost 31 years ago. There was a time when it felt like he was the face of the band. And we wouldn’t be where we are without him. He retires a legend. I think there’s something to be said for that.”

How has the experience of playing without him been so far?
“It was weird at first. Sometimes it still is. It means I’m the only guitar player. That can be a little scary. These days I can’t stop playing in the middle of a song to go drink a beer! And I still miss him all the time, not just onstage, but on the bus, in the dressing room, and those times late at night when we’d just be hanging out. I could always depend on him, or fall back on him for the LOLZ or whatever. He was my security blanket. There’s always going to be a hole there. But we’re going to keep going because it’s what he wants us to do, and what the fans want, too.”

What weighed into your decision to continue as a three-piece rather than finding a replacement?
“Firstly, we realised that we could still make it sound great! And given how much we talk to each other through the shows – how big a role banter plays – adding another personality into the mix probably isn’t the right move. We’ve given Gary [Wiseman, drums] a mic now, so he’s finally talking after all these years, so it feels in that way like we haven’t lost a beat. Plus, that spot belongs to Chris. It wouldn’t really feel right to have someone else just step in there. Chris is a force. He was someone that people came to watch. I think he wants to be remembered for, for the show that he put on for 30 years. And we wanted to leave that spot as his as a sign of respect. It’s the right thing to do.”

Finally, what message would you like to send the UK fans in advance of next month’s shows?
“I just want to than the UK fans for sticking with us for 30 years and being the most supportive country in the world. I love the UK’s relationship with music. I love that we’re part of that. We’ve got some amazing, amazing things planned. So stick with us, because it’s going to be a lot of fun!”

Bowling For Soup are on tour in the UK from February 5 – 15. They play the OVO Arena Wembley on December 13. Get your tickets now.

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