Less Than Jake + Fishbone + The Suicide Machine + Bite Me Bambi @ The Masquerade, June 7th 2025
- Chris Collett
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Less Than Jake rolled into The Masquerade’s Heaven stage on Sunday night with a lineup built for ska punk glory. Backed by Bite Me Bambi, The Suicide Machines, and Fishbone, the Summer Circus Tour lived up to its name with nonstop energy, crowd surfers, and brass fueled chaos.
Bite Me Bambi kicked things off with bright colors, upbeat ska pop, and a whole lot of charm. Their energy was instantly contagious, with songs like “Hot Lava” getting the early crowd bouncing. Tahlena Chikami’s playful stage presence set the tone and kept things fun from start to finish. One of the standout moments came when they busted out a ska cover of The Offspring’s “Want You Bad,” which hit perfectly with the early crowd and brought a wave of singing along and dancing.
The Suicide Machines hit next and immediately cranked things up. Their blend of punk speed and ska breaks was relentless. Jay Navarro didn’t hold back, delivering tracks like “New Girl” with all the grit and fury you’d expect. The pit opened up fast and it felt like the floor was shaking by the end of their set.
Fishbone followed with a genre defying blast of funk, ska, and pure madness. From “Party at Ground Zero” to the chaos of “Ma and Pa,” they had the crowd locked in. Angelo Moore was a force, bouncing from sax to theremin to full throttle frontman. Even this deep into the night, the energy never dipped.
By the time Less Than Jake hit the stage, the crowd was ready and LTJ didn’t disappoint. They opened with “Gainesville Rock City” and never looked back. The band ripped through “Lie to Me,” “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts,” and “Walking Pipebomb” early, and kept it going with crowd favorites like “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” and “The Science of Selling Yourself Short.”
Clown wigs, toilet paper, and nonstop banter made it feel more like a backyard party than a concert. Roger Lima and Chris DeMakes were in classic form, trading vocals, jokes, and energy all night. The encore brought “Last One Out of Liberty City,” “The Rest of My Life,” and “Look What Happened” to close things out on a high note.
From openers to encore, the whole show felt like a celebration of everything fun, weird, and loud about ska punk. Less Than Jake still knows exactly how to throw a party and Atlanta was more than happy to skank through every second of it.
All Photos © Chris Collett
