I wish every night was Saturday night but the fact is some nights have to be Sunday nights but when those nights are spent in the company of Bowling For Soup and Orange County disco ska kings Suburban Legends then you can really have no complaints at all. With BFS knocking out a "singles" hit list with a special treat for Milf lovers and SL giving a masterclass in taking another band's crowd and making them your own, the night was full of explosive colour, good times and smiles all round.

Opening duties fell to pop/punk quartet Orange. Frontman Joe Dexter conjured up a stage presence somewhere between MCR's Gerard Way, The Libertines Pete Doherty and Michael Monroe if you can imagine such a thing. With a touch of Billie Joe Armstrong in the vocal department Joe walked a confident walk and certainly entertained with his theatrical visuals and interesting look but I can't say I could name anything in particular that they played. They weren't a band that ignited any genuine interest within me but they got a healthy reception from the crowd. A crowd who eagerly went along with JD when he called on everyone to make the "Orange Salute". The "Orange Salute" for me was the highlight of the set, the tip of the thumb and forefinger are placed together to create an O, this is then raised into the air and, ahem, pumped back and forth as you would the traditional \m/. The only problem with the Orange Salute is that it just looks like air wanking en masse, the crowd split between the youthfully naive partakers and the more dirty minded patrons (myself) laughing at the sight. Anyway with three albums under their belts and a fresh new EP, 'Dead Sexy', out now the David Dickinson foursome have got enough pleasant tunes to keep their tango-tinted troops happy and good luck to 'em, not my cup of tea but there's far worse bands out there.

Second up were one of my favourite Ska bands and, to be honest, the band I'd made the trip to Birmingham to see. Opening with the glorious 'Bright Spring Morning' from the fantastic 'Rump Shaker' album the instantly likeable party starting vibes of the Orange County legends quickly converted the uninitiated over to Team SL. Frontman Vince Walker bounced across the boards looking resplendent in a golden jacket and bow tie (Bow ties are cool!) reeling in the crowd further with the fresh paced 'My Friend' from the 'Going On Tour, Getting Down To Business' LP. Choreography plays a huge part in the infectious live shows that SL are renowned for and trombonist Brian Robertson and trumpeter Aaron Bertram seemed to hurl the brass about with almost reckless abandon in carefully laid routines with moves that could burn any disco down. If you've never seen a Suburban Legends performance then you're missing a truly great night, one of the most entertaining live acts I've ever seen. Their enthusiasm and professionalism stand them head and shoulders above so many other rock by numbers wannabe wonders. The only downside was that SL had just 30 minutes to play but that was still enough time to squeeze in the discotastic 'Come Back Home', a brassed up cover of Lion King classic 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' and the spectacular finale of 'High Fives' and 'We Are The Champions'. '...Champions' had every hand in the house up and swaying proving that SL's star in the UK is on the rise and they're a band that are certainly deserving of more attention. Make sure you check them out.

Suburban Legends may have been champions of the moment but the heavyweight kings of pop punk weren't going to just accept defeat without a fight and after a brief changeover Jaret, Gary, Erik and Chris were out of their corner and swinging into action with 'I'm Gay' quickly followed by the spot-on social commentary of 'High School Never Ends'. It was a matter of business as usual as the Texan rangers bantered their way through a set of glittering greatest hits seperating gems like 'Punk Rock 101', 'Almost', 'Emily' and 'Ohio (Come Back To Texas)' with audience participation and crowd chants of 'Fuck You Erik' and 'Suck On My Balls, Gary'. New song 'S-S-S-Saturday' from latest album 'Fishin' For Woos' lined up on stage alongside one of Bowling For Soups latest ideas, namely a bar on stage where specially invited guest fans could go up and sit and watch the show from the stage getting free drinks. Tonight's fan was a young lad who had his Dad with him. By the end of the show however the lad did look a little despondent, too young to enjoy the free alcohol Dad was enjoying so much he was stuck with soft drinks and a view of Jaret's butt while calls for "Naked Chris" sent a brief look of shock and fear across his face as Chris said if he got naked with the young boy on stage he'd probably get arrested.

Attention then turned to 'My Wena'. Rocking hard for a couple of minutes it was just too fast to last and soon the action was over. The entire crowd applauded 'My Wena' and even the BFS guys themselves had a look of approval on their faces at the reception 'My Wena' had received. Which made me think, sometimes the teenage humour found in many of the bands witty lyrics distracts the listener away from what truly great craftsmen the guys are at knocking out a tune. But when Jaret broke out an acoustic for some heart melting moments with the wondrous 'When We Die' and the spine tingling 'Turbulence' it really did highlight what underrated song writers and musicians they are when it comes to modelling a beautiful melody or catchy hook. 'Scope', 'Belgium', 'The Bitch Song' and 'No Hablo Ingles' plus the best Bowling For Soup song that never was (until now) 'Stacy's Mom' filled the Academy with happiness, humour, riffs and Milf love as Bowling For Soup continued to prove why after so long in the game they're still sitting pretty at the top of their genre.

Jaret called up a fan from the crowd who appeared on stage dragging his girlfriend behind him. With mic in hand and on bended knee said fan proposed to said girfriend who cried and said "Yes" amongst shouts of "DON'T DO IT!" from the crowd. Proposal over with the two newly engaged peeps also got to sit at the stage bar and get free drinks. Uber Rock would like to congratulate anyone who can blag free drinks in such a spectacular way \m/ \m/ Good on ya. On with the show and after the romantic break it was time to rewind to '1985' and then even further back to the 'Summer Of 69' before the lights finally fell dark and the show was over. Well, not quite, coming back for just one more song that they couldn't have left without playing it was only ever going to be the 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want' who could have topped the night off with even more style than 'Stacy's Mom'.

Respect!