Snow More Delays

After being postponed a month and a half, the Bouncing Souls finally found themselves in a snow free Asbury Park last week and were able to commence with their Home for the Holidays (this year, with the subtitle Snowout Blowout) shows at the legendary Stone Pony. Because of the change in timing, several of the original opening acts were unable to play, and depending on your tastes and point of view, that could be fortunate or unfortunate.

For Mrs. Squeamish and myself, we were positively tickled pink (insert commie pun here) that the first show of the four night stand, which we would be attending, would be supported by none other than Pittsburgh's political punk machine, Anti-Flag. Taking the stage to "Die for the Government" from their first full length, these guys were in top form. Chris #2 was still only long enough to sing his half of the vocals, and in their half hour set, they laid down excellent renditions of the strongest material from each of their albums: "Turncoat," "Press Corpse," "Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington DC," "Drink, Drank, Punk." Souls bassist Bryan Keilen sang some impromptu backing vocals on "That's Youth," the song Bouncing Souls covered on their BYO split with Anti-Flag. "Power to the Peaceful" finished the evening, with drummer Pat Thetic once again hauling his skins over the barricade to play in the middle of the floor.

Coming out to the Rocky theme and a boxing style announcement that they would be playing the Good, the Bad and the Argyle in full, the Bouncing Souls finally took over for their annual celebration. For some Souls fans, this was probably a dream come true; for myself, not so much. Sure their debut album is a classic, but there are just as many misses on it as hits. However, we did get to hear "I Like your Mom" and "Quotes from our Favorite 80's Movies," and "Neurotic" and those were fun. After a brief intermission, the ring announcer and card girl were back to announce Maniacal Laughter in its entirety. This made the night. Solid front to back, Laughter is the pinnacle of the Bouncing Soul's early career, and it had been quite some time since I had listened to it straight through. "The Freaks, the Nerds and the Romantics" featured Chris #2 and Justin Sane doing backing vocals, the track they covered on the BYO split. Just before "the Ballad of Johnny X," singer Greg Antonito announced that there would be no encore, but as a special treat, the man himself, Mr. Johnny X, would come out and sing his own tune. That was more than a fair trade.

The Bouncing Souls held court at the Pony for three more nights, each one continuing through their discography. Thursday, the second night would have been my favorite, with the Souls crashing through their self-titled record and Hopeless Romantic. Two Philly bands made appearances with the Menzingers opening Thursday night and the Loved Ones being the main support Saturday, the conclusion of the four night stand. Hats off the Souls, who continue to tour endlessly. They looked exhausted Wednesday night, but still brought the party and gave fans another chance to see them more intimate venue than normal.