Live review: Less Than Jake, Fishbone, The Suicide Machines, and Bite Me Bambi – at The Ritz

Raleigh NC – 11 June 2025

The Summer Circus Tour comes to town

I’ve been into Fishbone for quite some time and consider them one of the greatest ska-punk bands of all time, but somehow, I had never seen them live. A variety of circumstances always keep me from witnessing what I have consistently been told is one of the best live bands you can see. They were on my bucket list of bands to see and, actually, they were the only band left on that list. And I really wanted to cross them off.

I recently saw they were about to go on tour and to my dismay the closest they were coming to me was in Raleigh, which is over 2.5 hours away, and it was on a Wednesday night, and they were not even headlining. At first, I thought once again I’ll have to miss them and wait for the next time as that is a bit far to go on a weeknight. After taking a look of who else was on the bill, suddenly a weekday road trip to Raleigh didn’t seem out of the question. When I brought it up with my wife, my 9 year daughter overheard and said, “I want to see Fishbone!”. That sealed the deal for me, if she was interested enough in Fishbone to spend over 5 hours in the car traveling to and from the venue, then we were going to the show.

First up was Bite Me Bambi, an upbeat, poppy Ska band out of Orange County California. I have been listening to them for a few years now and even did a review of their Eat This album that came out earlier this year. They did exactly what you want from the first band on a stacked bill. They got the crowd warmed up, started to turn the energy level knob up, but didn’t take it over the top, just enough to get you ready for more. Luckily both me and my daughter knew most of the songs as they are all sing-along tunes and lead singer Tahlena worked to get the fans chanting back.

If Bite Me Bambi was too chill and colorful for you, The Suicide Machines took the stage next. Although I haven’t kept up with the Detroit ska-punk group, I have been listening to their 1996 release Destruction by Definition since I got the CD from Best Buy shortly after it came out. To my delight they played a few tracks off this record as well as a few more I was familiar with. You could feel the intensity level rise as the raw mix of hardcore and ska charged up the crowed even more. Frontman Jay Navarro wasted no time jumping into pit and pointing the microphone at the fans in the front screaming “SOS” at the top of their lungs. My daughter said on the ride home she felt they were the craziest and most exciting band of the night, even though she didn’t know any of their songs.

For me, my excitement level was about to be a race car in the red, and when Fishbone took the stage it was a Superfly TNT explosion of ska-punk-funk-soul that never stopped. They came in hot starting the set with their 1985 classic hit “Skankin’ to the Beat”. Joining Angelo on stage and assisting with the vocals was his daughter Cheyenne Moore who had that same spirit and energy you have come to expect from anyone holding the mic at a Fishbone show.

The group played eight songs including more classic hits like “Ma and Pa” and new tracks from their upcoming new LP called Stockholm Syndrome with one dedicated to someone I don’t even have to name called “Racist Piece of Shit”. They ended their time on stage with a mosh-up tribute to Sly Stone combining “Everyday Sunshine” and “Dance to the Music” that was both classy and amazing.

As great as this was, I would believe this number replaced ending the set with “Party at Ground Zero” which was a slight disappointment for both me and my daughter but that just leaves something to look forward to seeing them again. My only other real complaint is the set flew by and felt like it was over before it even started. I guess when you bring that kind of heat, the time burns up quick, we just really wanted one more song.

I could have ended my evening right there and left fully fulfilled but we still had Less Than Jake to come. Just like The Suicide Machines, I love Less Than Jake’s 1995 debut LP Pezcore, but for whatever reason, I didn’t keep up with the group over the years. I have also never been a big fan of the circus or clowns, aside from Bozo and maybe Krusty. So that being said, as the stage was getting set up with circus theme backdrops and inflatable arm waving tube people I kept an open mind. After hitting the rev limiter with both Fishbone and The Suicide Machines, if I’m being honest the first song or two by Less Than Jake felt like the excitement level knob was dialed back a few numbers.

As the show went on, so did the circus shenanigans, with toilet paper streamers, balloons, inflatable hammers, clown wigs, monkey costumes, they didn’t hold back one bit. Apparently, they had a VIP meet and greet before the show and selected two of the participants to dress up like clowns and be on stage as part of the show which was very cool, other than having to dress up like a clown. My daughter who didn’t know most of their songs either loved the circus celebration and was on a mission to bat one of the balloons flying through the air. As they moved through the set I got more and more into it and felt the energy dial turning back up. A big part of the credit has to go to Trombone player Buddy Schaub, holy shit that guy has more energy than that pink drum playing battery powered bunny! By the end of the set, I wasn’t ready for the door, but I was wanting more, and they came back out for a three-song encore. I only knew about three to four of the songs they played so I can’t tell you the full set list, but from the banter between songs it seemed the set spanned over several records. If you are a hardcore Less Than Jake fan, and you like the circus, I feel you would have left the venue thinking it was a perfect night. As someone who came to see Fishbone, and is a casual fan of Less Than Jake, I left impressed of the groups ageless sound devotion to their ska-punk craft.