Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls w/ Bowling For Soup@ TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall, Halifax - 30/06/26

The Bowl My Bones UK tour brings floods of pop-punk punters to Halifax’s esteemed Piece Hall. 

The Piece Hall in Halifax is a venue dripping with history. It’s the only remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world. Most of the year, the Grade 1 listed building is filled with independent traders and tourists discovering the importance of the cloth trade in Yorkshire, but in the Summer evenings, the courtyard transforms into a slightly different kind of cultural epicentre.

As Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls enter the stage, the sky almost immediately baptises the crowd with a deluge only Yorkshire can provide. Did that hinder the circle pits? Absolutely not. Frank commanded the horde, acoustic guitar in hand, kicking off with ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘Try This at Home’. At one point he conducted a ‘wall of hugs’, a play on the classic metal ‘wall of death’, citing punk rock shows such as this as a safe place where people can be themselves and let go of fears and anxieties.

Frank's message of ‘this is a safe space’ seemed to resonate with a lot of people. As the show progressed through songs such as ‘The Ballad of me and my friends’ and ‘recovery’, more and more people on the fringes of the crowd seemed to be inspired to let loose and boogie, or at least dad dance along, despite the soggy onslaught from above. Turner revealed he hadn’t played Halifax since 2006 and it seemed like he was making up for lost time, diving into the crowd.

As the moist crowd eagerly awaits the arrival of this summer evenings’ brothy Texan headliners, the clouds finally start to run out of steam. Cameras roam the courtyard projecting fans onto a giant screen before cutting to Jaret and Rob looking extremely confused, beers in hand, side of stage.

Bowling for Soup launched into ‘Almost’ followed by sing along classic ‘High School Never Ends’, with sparks quite literally flying on stage and every lyric being screamed back by the crowd, spirits clearly not dampened. “Did you hear that? We just played 2 songs in a row” Jaret quipped with a guitar pick stuck to his forehead.

Mental health, particularly men's mental health, seemed to be a theme carrying through from Frank Turner's set into Bowling for Soup. “I’m one of the happiest guys I know, and I still get depressed,” Jaret admitted. 

This band is clearly very well practiced having been around for over 30 years. The comedic interludes between songs add an extra layer of entertainment to an already fun show.  ‘Punk Rock 101’ followed by a cover of ‘Stacy’s mom’ precede the Phineas and Ferb theme song ‘Today is Gonna Be a Great Day’ which unlocked some Disney flavoured nostalgia in my brain.

Though the weather tried its best (did I mention it was raining?), the flame of pop punk refused to be extinguished. Sheltered by the iconic walls of The Piece Hall and fueled by some of the best to do it, Bowling for Soup demonstrate exactly how to turn a puddle into a party!

There are still plenty of massive shows coming up this Summer at The Piece Hall, hopefully with better weather. You can see the full list of upcoming shows here: https://www.thepiecehall.co.uk/culture/