CO HEADLINERS: BOWLING FOR SOUP / FRANK CARTER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS
OPENER: TALK HEAVY
DATE: MAY 2ND 2026
PHOTOGRAPHER: ANDREW TREADWELL PHOTOGRAPHY
The Bowl My Bones Tour is currently making its way around Australia. The unlikely but much needed pairing that was birthed at Good Things 2024, featured Bowling For Soup and Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls, and the absolute enormous line snaking down from Brisbane’s The Tivoli set the scene for what would become a jam packed fun filled night.
The openers Talk Heavy were the surprise packet for me, these young Brisbane locals delivered a short intense set filled with amazing musicianship and vocals. They are catchy, and exciting and have a big future ahead of them.
Frank Carter and The Sleeping Souls made sure Brisbane shared the love, asking for the Wall Of Death to be turned into the wall of hugs. The set was full of intensity, with no let up, Turner really engaged with all of the crowd and making sure his 2024 album Undefeated was well represented. As someone that believe it or not, had not seen Frank live, I was blown away with what I would call “Pirate Shanty Punk”. These tracks can be played at full tilt with a band or reimagined as singalongs around a piano at any given pub after any given amount of consumed beverages. Never Mind The Back Problems and The Ballad Of Me And My Friends were some of my faves of the set.
Bowling For Soup never disappoint, and they make sure you know as their intro tape rolls, They have maintained an amazing connection to their audience for decades and their power pop brilliance cannot be denied. The are loaded with good songs and the humour between themselves and the audience, is second to none, but also shine a light on serious issues like mental health as Jaret did with Turbulence. Of course you know the BFS set cannot be completed without 1985 and girl all the bad guys want. Stand outs for me were Ohio (Come Back To Texas) and Two Seater
Nearly half way through 2026 and we have been so lucky to see so many great bands on our shores, and with so many more to come, there will be a lot of contention to land in our top 10 shows for 26, but safe to say, this will be there.
