As a kid, I knew summer was on its way when I started seeing the Ringling Brothers commercials ontelevision. It was always a special moment in time when the spectacle and magic of the circus came to town. When Gainesville ska punk band Less Than Jake announced a Summer Circus Tour this summer, I immediately felt that same excitement and magic. But instead of elephants and acrobats and lion tamers, Less Than Jake assembled the best ska punk circus ever imagined. Opening up the show would be Bite Me Bambi or Catbite, depending on which leg of the tour you catch. After them, you’d see Detroit ska punk legends The Suicide Machines and the living legend that is Fishbone.
In my humble opinion, this was the perfect ska punk summer lineup.
The Summer Circus rolled into town in Michigan on a day that saw temperatures in the 90s (with heat index over 100). The show took place at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, and you could tell it was going to be toasty as soon as you enetered. The air conditioning had a little trouble keeping up with the body temperature and excitement from the 2,000 people in attendance. Before the first band even took the stage, I had sweated through my shirt to the point that it looked like I just took it out of the washing machine.
When it was all said and done, Sunday’s show was one of the three hottest shows I’ve ever been to, the first being an Andrew WK basement show, and the second being another Less Than Jake show I saw a year prior at a very small DIY bar in Hamtramck, MI. Congrats are in order to Less Than Jake for giving me two of the three hottest concert experiences in my life!
And it was all worth it.
Starting things off for the evening was Orange County’s Bite Me Bambi. When they first started out, they had OC ska sound down pat, but as they’ve grown as a band, the music has become more relatable and direct. Lead singer Tahlena Chikami and the gang have found a great balance between high-energy ska punk and a personal touch. When you watch the band perform live now, they seem happier and more engaged. Even though they opened up the show in such a large venue, Bite Me Bambi did an amazing job of making it feel intimate with plenty of banter with the audience and interaction with the entire room.
Writing more personal songs and not being afraid to show their true selves did wonders for the band, both musically and as performers. This was by far their best performance I’ve seen live to date. It’s amazing how freeing it is to make the decision to be yourself and let it all hang out for the crowd. I can’t wait to see them live again as soon as possible.
The next circus attraction up on stage was rock royalty, Fishbone.
I really hope the younger generation of fans in attendance for this show understand just how special it was to get to see Fishbone perform live. They’re pioneers, legends, and one of the reasons a lot of your favorite bands got into music. While they get lumped into ska most of the time, they’re a genre unto themselves. What kind of music does Fishbone play? Fishbone. They’re ska, punk, funk, alternative, metal, prog, soul, gospel, and the list goes on. They’ve been experimenting with their sound ever since they formed in 1979.
While the players aren’t the same as they were from the beginning, there’s no denying the band on stage performing was Fishbone. Flanking original members Angelo Moore and Chris Dowd is an amazing ensemble of musicians that have played with the likes of Parliament Funkadelic and Bad Brains. The most notable departure from Fishbone of late was bassist and founding member Norwood Fisher, but new bass player James Jones was amazing in his own right, noticeably having the time of his life.
It’s a shame Fishbone only had 35 minutes, but they made the time count. They mostly played the the hits, as well as a few tracks from their new album, Stockholm Syndrome (check June’s SPOJ for my review). Fishbone came to work, and if the amount of sweat dripping off Angelo Moore was any indication, he left it all out there for the appreciative crowd. The band looked like they were having the time of their lives out there.
Next up? The hometown heroes from The Suicide Machines.
As one of three bands that got me into ska (Less Than Jake and The Specials being the other two), I’ve been listening to The Suicide Machines and going to their shows since 1997. The Metro Detroit crowd was whipped up into a frenzy from the first note, something that band relished greatly. Lead singer Jay Navarro spent a lot of time on the barrier letting fans sing the hits with him. Bass player Rich Tschirhart made sure to ham it up and interact with the crowd as much as possible, too. Even the normally stoic guitar player Justin Malek cracked more jokes than usual.
The power of being in front of 2,000 of your closest friends makes you want to really give them a show. And give them a show they did. Even though they only had 35 minutes to play, they made it through 15 songs, including 40% of their hit album, Destruction By Definition.
It was the perfect time for the main event.
The crowd was properly riled up, exhausted, and slightly dehydrated by this point. Before going any further, I need to give major kudos to the security staff. Knowing how hot it was in the venue, when they weren’t catching crowd surfers, they were handing out water to the crowd. They must have gone through at least ten cases throughout the night, and I drank four bottles alone. There was also an EMS crew there available to help folks cool down and replenish their fluids, if needed. Bang up job by the entire crew in that building. They took care of everyone as much as they could during an unprecedented early summer Michigan heat wave.
Alright, back to the show. On a stage adorned with old-timey circus vibe, Less Than Jake opened the show with an absolute crowd-pleaser, “Gainesville Rock City.” It was off to the races from there. Less Than Jake is one of those bands that you need to experience live at least once. High energy, anthemic ska punk choruses, plenty of “whoa-ohs,” and lots of crowd interaction are the norm. Honestly, if you don’t have fun at a Less Than Jake show, I suggest you check your pulse to make sure your heart is still beating.
Less Than Jake changed their set list for this tour a lot.
Coming off a recent Hello Rockview anniversary tour, it made sense for that album to dominate the set, but what I didn’t expect was only having one song from Losing Streak. Some songs from other albums that don’t usually get much attention found their way to the show, including “Motown Never Sounded So Good.” For someone who has seen Less Than Jake just about as many times as I’ve seen The Suicide Machines, it was a pleasant surprise to hear some song variety. Leeping with the circus theme, clowns, beach balls, toilet paper guns, and a stage-diving juggler joined in on the fun as well.
Let me be frank: I’ll be 45 in a couple of weeks, so I had to tap out after The Suicide Machines and watch Less Than Jake from the cheap seats. I think I’ll blame the heat, though, not my status as an aging punk.
Even with the change of scenery for the main event, the Less Than Jake Summer Circus Tour was a night for the ages. It was the perfect lineup for the perfect time of year. I’m calling it now, when 2025 finally comes to an end, this tour package will be the most fun I’ve had all year. All killer, no filler.
