More than three decades after forming in Texas, Bowling for Soup are still finding fresh ways to make the road feel exciting, frontman Jaret Reddick tells us in a new interview.
Speaking to Tone Deaf ahead of Bowling for Soup’s co-headline tour with Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Reddick took a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the band’s very first show, played on a flatbed trailer at a hometown Fourth of July celebration in 1994.
It was windy and chaotic, he recalls, and far from polished, but the debut still delivered a few unexpected wins: media attention, a supportive hometown crowd and a first taste of the buzz that would keep the band chasing stages for decades.
That longevity is something Reddick doesn’t take lightly. And comparing that first show to Bowling for Soup’s most recent – stepping out in front of 22,000 people at California’s Innings Festival – sparked a broader conversation about what, if anything, has changed after three decades onstage.
Here, Reddick looks back on where it all began, what keeps the spark alive, and why the stage is where he and the band belong.
Bowling for Soup’s Jaret Reddick’s Trip Down Memory Lane
Our very first live show actually happened almost a month after we had started our band. We started June 4th, 1994, and our first show was July 3rd, 1994. And for those that don’t know, July 4th over here in America is a big celebration of our independence, it’s fireworks and that whole thing. We were playing a citywide fireworks display in a huge stadium where they were gonna do the fireworks and stuff. And it’s where I used to play football when I was a kid, American football.
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For that show, I was on the same field where I used to be as a little kid playing sports and stuff. And it was a very, very windy day. We all still had long hair, my hair was almost down to my waist, but we were already wearing the early gas station uniforms that we wore in the first two years or so. And you know what? We got up there and we had fun. It was not the best show I think we’ve ever played, but my parents were there and my grandma was there, everybody! But it’s really interesting because the news channel was there. So we got TV time, our very first show, and the newspaper wrote about us. And that’s about as successful as we ever were in our hometown!
It’s interesting comparing our most recent show to that first show actually, our last show was in February this year and it was at a thing called Innings Festival. We played at a minor league baseball stadium and we walked out to 22,000 people there in the sun, just hanging onto every word. It was very much like Good Things Festival, it was one of those kinds of things where there’s a lot of bands and there’s a lot of people there partying all day.
And I’ll tell you, the juxtaposition of that first show to that…it’s just something that you really never get used to. I’ve always said that we can’t take those things for granted because you really never know when it’s going to end, and you also don’t know when you’re not gonna want to do it anymore.
I can’t imagine not wanting to do it anymore, but I certainly understand that there’s a chance that we could get there because I’ve seen other people do it. But walking out there to everybody chanting your name is a far cry from us walking out onto a stage that first time.
In fact, our first show was actually just a trailer. It was what we call a flatbed trailer here. That’s what they do in the country, they just set bands on that, it’s just that as the stage. And not a lot of people were there watching us. Then you flash forward 32 years and they’re singing every word to every song. It’s pretty magical!
The thing with performing is: it’s never going to feel like it did the first time. Nothing is like that and that’s unfortunate. But I’ll tell you, it feels damn good still. When people ask, ‘What does it feel like to walk out in front of that many people and play those songs?’, there’s a thing I always say, it’s a gambling reference. I always say, ‘The best feeling in the world is being on the craps table and hitting a parlayed Hard Six. Second place is walking out on stage in front of those people. And this analogy also includes sex. That is what it feels like’. And that is the thing that never gets old, and you truly never get used to it.
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It’s funny, there’s shows where you’re hungover and hot and you’re just tired and there’s a thousand reasons you want to be at home or whatever, or you might be sick. There’s just a lot of things that can go on, and that’s another thing that I try to tell people when somebody’s like, ‘Oh, I met this guy, he’s an asshole’. And I’m like, ‘Was he an asshole? Or maybe you don’t know what that guy’s day has been like’.
You have no idea what the news from home was that day or how he felt, or whether or not he’s having problems at home. Or maybe his foot hurts! You just don’t know. But no matter what it is, there is something that happens when you get out there and there’s this adrenaline and there’s this rush. And that’s hard to top.
I will say, one time I was so hungover that I couldn’t really bounce back. I made it through the show, but it was tough. It was one time in the entire time I’ve been doing this. And I drink a lot. Actually, two things may qualify, but the specific time I’m thinking of actually wasn’t that long ago.
It was about nine months ago or so because it was during the last American football season and we were playing at a college. We had stayed up drinking the whole night because we were driving down there. I woke up and I felt like I was dying, and it was so hot outside. Making it through that show was rough. I was having to skip lines and Rob [Felicetti] would just have to feel it and start singing. I barely made it, but I did make it. And the good thing about being in my band is you can just be honest with the audience. I just was like, ‘I’m really hungover. I don’t know if I’m going to make it!’. They expect that!
For complete tour and ticket information, see here.
FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS AND BOWLING FOR SOUP CO-HEADLINE TOUR AUSTRALIA 2026
Friday, May 1st
Blackflag Brewing, Coolum QLD (New Venue)
Saturday, May 2nd
The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
Sunday, May 3rd
Roundhouse, Sydney NSW
Tuesday, May 5th
Bar on the Hill, Newcastle NSW
Thursday, May 7th
The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Friday, May 8th
Pier Bandroom, Frankston VIC
Saturday, May 9th
Hindley St Music Hall, Adelaide SA
Monday, May 11th
Metropolis, Fremantle WA
