Tour Update!

Hey everyone!

The end of summer is upon us. What a summer it has been.

I know the biggest concern on everyone’s mind is Chris Burney. His health. Touring status. And just all-around well wishes for the legend that is Chris!

To recap:

At the end of May/ first of June, we celebrated 30 years of Bowling for Soup and 20 years of A Hangover You Don’t Deserve over an epic BFS BDAY weekend at Lava Cantina. The shows were both very special. I think it’s safe to say that all of us enjoyed the retrospective, 30 years of BFS, the most. That was the Friday night. But Saturday was a blast as well, and a preview to where we are now touring wise…But back to June.

After a little break, we got on a plane to Italy for the Firenze Rocks festival.

Travel was rough. Very long couple of days. All of us were tired, but Chris was definitely feeling it the most. When we woke up on the day of the festival, we had a message that Chris wanted to talk to the band and Dave as soon as we got a chance. This conversation happened in the dressing room as soon as we arrived at the festival. In order to keep all of the information on Chris’ terms and respect his privacy, I will simply say that we helped Chris make the decision to seek medical attention for some things that needed to be addressed.

Now, it is important to understand, that BFS has NEVER played a full band show without Chris. So after he left that day, the other three of us mustered up everything we could and made that show happen! And it was fun. Walking back from that stage, we all realized at the same time, that getting a sub for Chris for any shows he would miss was not what we wanted to do.

Chris is a legend. He puts on a show that is unique to him. Also, what he adds to the banter in the show can not be duplicated. Again….He is HIM! So adding another person on stage…Another personality…It just didn’t/doesn’t make sense. So full steam ahead we went!

Our second show ever, as a 3 piece, was Download Festival in the UK. We have played there before. But always with Chris Burney. We played the main stage. We have played it before. But, again, always with Chris Burney.

It was a very interesting experience for me personally. I wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t worried about how we would sound. I was fired up. I was tired from sitting in a bus for two days and traipsing through the mud at Download…But I wasn’t intimidated, or sad, or anything really. I just knew I had to do what we do. And I knew I needed a big moment! Luckily, I got two!

We were set to announce our February 2025 tour with Wheatus and Magnolia Park. Brenden from Wheatus had stuck around Download and was two buses away from us when it hit me. We need to bring him out for “Teenage Dirtbag” and announce the tour that way! Ok…I didn’t know the song on guitar, but I learn quickly. Rob verbally told me the chords. We talked about the bit and how it would go down…And that is it! No rehearsal…Just like it should be! This is how magic happens! Come up with an idea and fuck it! The worst thing that can happen is it goes wrong…and then…well…It's a BFS show! Either way, it’s gonna rule! And it did!

The second big moment is bigger for me personally than for our set itself. Our photographer, Dave Kai-Piper, had let my son Everett run around with a camera and shoot some photos. Not sure I could have afforded to replace that camera if he had dropped it in the mud, but alas, he didn’t! In fact, Everett, wearing his snuggie that made him look like a huge tortilla, ran the stage like a pro and got some great shots! Next thing I know, he is on the festival screens and 100K people are chanting TOR-TEE-YA TOR-TEE-YA!!!! If that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will. Man...

Our week continued with two shows in Dublin and finally a sold-out show in Belfast. It was in Belfast, I guess the adrenaline ran its course. Everything came crashing in on all of us at once. Huge show. Amazing crowd. But Chris wasn’t there. Gary says he teared up during "Turbulence". For me, it was an emotional last 30-40 minutes of the show. Like I had given it everything I possibly could and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. It felt good. Like a release. Like we had accomplished something great…together…but still…no Chris.

We are on leg 1 into a tour that will take us to at least 3 countries. Playing these songs from an album that changed our lives. Our hope is that Chris will be back sooner or later, but that is up to him and his doctor.

Until then, we have settled into touring this way, and honestly, I think you will all love the show. You will for sure miss the pick tricks and the banter…Maybe the guitar on the head bit…But we are filling the gaps as best we can and it is an awesome night!

See ya’ll on leg 2 in a few weeks!

JR