Bad Copy

Not only is it exciting to see The Bouncing Souls kick off their big East Coast Fuck You tour not too far from where I live in Detroit, but we also get a new single (UNITED) and big news they’ll be back at Riot Fest later this year. This has been a band I’ve enjoyed listening to and held near and dear to me for many years. They are definitely up there as a band I’ve seen quite often, in a variety of different venue sizes and festivals. I still remember how much fun they were at Bonnaroo in 2014, even with the dusty miserable 95+ degree weather during that afternoon they were on.

I had a bit of a late start getting out the door thanks to neighbors being a bit careless with their parking and blocking me in, but thankfully Saint Andrews was not far from where I lived in Detroit. It was also a very fitting venue for this show and the opening bands because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a handful of them there many times before. I rushed my way there and got in to catch the later half of School Drugs, who definitely brought the chaos and kicked off some great energy for the rest of the night.

After their set, I made my way downstairs below the venue to The Shelter, where they set up as a lounge/merch/bar area for the people and bands to relax and meet. I ran into the usual and awesome photo crews of Ami, Sam, Chris (Sherburt), and also finally met Jacob whom I’ve been following great concert coverage from as well for a while and had yet to cross paths. We had some fun talking and catching up about shows and life in general then made our way up for the next band.

Next up was Dave Hause & The Mermaid! Back in my heavy Gaslight Anthem listening days, The Loved Ones was another band I enjoyed on repeat in those mix CDs and playlists I’d make. I’ve enjoyed Dave’s music for a long time, and it was my first time to finally be able to see him live. Everyone up there looked like they were having a great time, and they really got the energy of the crowd going along with it! Towards the end of their set we made out way back down to The Shelter to rest up for a sec and switch up some of the gear knowing the chaos and craziness we’d be coming back up to for the next band.

We got ready and in place in the photo pit, and H2O had Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” playing while they were getting ready to come out. You better believe it felt like a good portion of that room screamed to the “Born and raised in South Detroit” part when it came on in the song… even though technically “South Detroit” is Wyndsor, Ontario? Anyway H2O cut the track, and brought the hardcore noise. The energy of the crowd erupted and the circle pits were huge, but also saw plenty of people looking out for each other in them. After we shot our 3 song, Jacob, Sam and I went to the upper balcony to enjoy more of their set. At one point it legit looked like a third of the crowd got pulled into that pit!

Finally The Bouncing Souls came out, and put on another solid performance to remember. They of course opened with ECFU, and followed with quite a variety of at least one song from each of their albums. When they played Fest last October it was specific album play-throughs (which was such a great time), so it was nice to hear some jams I hadn’t heard live in a while.

Check out photos of the night below: