Florida’s Less Than Jake already popped through House of Blues Orlando with New Found Glory in October 2021 and it was an amazing show. The energy from the band and the audience made it a show to remember. So when they announced their Back For The Attack Tour with Bowling For Soup, I just knew this was going to be another amazing show that would be great fun and my site was approved to photo and review the show. It was a brutually hot Saturday, as the way this Summer has been and you could tell the heat was bearing on everyone at Disney Springs. When I reached House of Blues Orlando, apparently the times were moved up much sooner than I expected. I literally had minutes to spare after getting through security to set up my gear before the first band went on-stage. I was surprised how light it looked inside House of Blues but it didn’t take long before it was a truly packed venue at near capacity right before the first opener Doll Skin took the stage.
Doll Skin formed back in 2013 out of Phoenix, AZ and released their first EP In Your Face in 2016. They immediately made an impact on the music scene with great reviews from various media groups. Their debut album Manic Pixie Dream Girl was released in 2017 and they followed up in 2019 with Love Is Dead and We Killed Her. And they definitely are making an impact on the rock scene with their music. And it was no different that night at House of Blues.
They opened up with “Don’t Cross My Path” which got the crowd moving and grooving along with the band who bounced around on stage including throwing in a couple of high kicks. That was followed up by “Mark My Words” which continued the vibe with the crowd really getting into their set. They performed a cover from Fugazi titled “Waiting Room” which was a little different in tone, but still seem to fit the Doll Skin style. But, they really had the crowd engaged with the performance of their single “Eat Shit”. They taught the crowd the proper cadence to the chorus and then let it rip. The crowd immediately grabbed hold of the song and sang back the chorus when gestured and as loud as they could. It was a truly fun set from Doll Skin that evening.
You can find their music and merch at https://www.dollskinband.com/ Their set list that night was:
- Don’t Cross My Path
- Mark My Words
- Waiting Room
- Eat Shit
- Love Is Dead and We Killed Her
- Melancolia
- Control Freak
Next up was the band Cliffdiver from Tulsa, OK. The band recently released their debut album titled Excerise Your Demons via SideOneDummy Records. The record allowed the band to express themselves around mental health. I had not heard of them until that evening and when they came out on stage I was surprised because this is a big group of people! The seven band members includes Joey Duffy (vocals), Briana Wright (vocals), Matthew Ehler (guitar, vocals), Gilbert Erickson (guitar, vocals), Dony Nickles (saxophone), Tyler Rogers (bass), and Eliot Cooper (drums). And what they brought to the stage was very unexpected.
The band was energetic from the start with “Are You Still Seeing Graig, the Orthodontist?” For a group of seven members I was surprised how well they all moved around on stage without running into each other and how in sync they were. And they were fun! The crowd was engaged from the start with their music. They followed up with “Lost in IKEA”. I really enjoyed this song from Matthew and Gilbert’s guitar riffs that blended so well together. Joey’s vocals were great and fit right in line with the song. But, Briana, holy hell. Her vocals are amazing! She let loose some notes that will rival some of the best metal singers out there. Bring together the cool mix of Dony’s sax, Tyler’s great bass riffs, and Eliot banging away at the drums, Cliffdiver is seriously the complete package deal.
They had a lot of fun with the Orlando crowd doing a little Creed medley off “With Arms Wide Open”, “Higher”, and “One Last Breath”. And then played their hearts out on stage for the rest of the night. I loved how Joey spoke from the heart in between songs talking about how he started getting into singing at age 30 and he was on stage performing at 35 and if he could do it, anyone else who wants it bad enough can as well. I truly enjoyed their variety of punk they presented that night and their closer “Gas City” I found to be a great representation of their sound. I highly recommend checking them out if they’re passing through your city.
You can find their music and merch at https://cliffdiverok.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- Are You Still Seeing Graig, the Orthodontist?
- Lost In IKEA
- With Arms Wide Open/Higher/One Last Breath (Creed medley)
- Frankie Muniz Don’t Smoke No Mids
- IKEA Strikes Back
- Super Saiyan Al Pacino
- New Vegas Bomb
- Gas City
Next to the stage was Bowling For Soup the rock band out of Witchita Falls, TX. Their debut was a self-titled album released in 1994. They’d release two more albums before finding mainstream success in 2002 with Drunk Enough To Dance that hit the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers. The band has a total of 11 studio albums with their most recent released on April 22, 2022 titled Pop Drunk Snot Bread. Bowling For Soup is Jaret Reddick (vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar), Rob Felicetti (bass), and Gary Wiseman (drums).
Before the band came out on stage a track played through the speakers titled “Here Comes Bowling For Soup” and the crowd sang along with every word. As soon as the song wrapped up the band stepped onto the stage to a roaring crowd. The Bowling For Soup members were all smiles when they came out and started off with “High School Never Ends” from The Great Burrito Extortion Case from 2006. Immediately a catchy song that had the crowd singing along with the “oh oh oh oh oh oh” right during the chorus. I loved it. Great energy song to get the crowd moving right away. They followed with “Ohio (Come Back To Texas)” from A Hangover You Don’t Deserve from 2004. Another fun song and once again the crowd was singing along word for word. You can tell this crowd were Bowling For Soup fans. They followed that with “Almost” from the same album.
I will say I really enjoyed their set that night. Bowling For Soup music is great fun, party-style rock, but the band themselves are full of personality. Jaret was cracking jokes throughout the night. When they played the theme song from the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb “Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day” Jaret joked he got paid $1 for the song and Rob chimed in that he paid Jaret that dollar. And I will admit, it was totally awesome to hear them play that theme song live. They said how they’re from Texas and that they got the hell out of there as fast as they could. The band held a little Comedy Jam session where each of the band members told a joke and let the fans both which was best. And Chris was goofing around with things like putting his guitar on his head and some amazing tricks with flipping his pick outwards, hitting it up with his elbow, and then catching it in mid-air. Gary was playing hard on the drums all night and really killing it. Rob though is a crazed man on that stage. He was sliding onto his knees and throwing up horns to the fans and just so energetic.
I really enjoyed hearing them perform “I Wanna Be Brad Pitt” from their recent album Pop Drunk Snot Bread and “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” from Drunk Enough To Dance from 2002. Overall it was a really fun set from Bowling For Soup and look forward to them coming back to Orlando.
You can find their music and merch at https://www.bowlingforsoup.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- High School Never Ends
- Ohio (Come Back To Texas)
- Almost
- My Hometown
- Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day
- My Wena
- I Wanna Be Brad Pitt
- The Last Rock Show
- Punk Rock 101
- Girl All The Bad Guys Want
- 1985 (SR-71 Cover)
And then we arrived at the headliners ska band from Gainseville, FL, Less Than Jake. The band formed back in 1992 and 3 years later released their debut album Pezcore. They wasted no time getting out more music to their fans in 1996 with Losing Streak and then in 1998 with Hello Rockview. The band would crank out 6 more studio albums with Silver Linings as their last album released in 2020. Less Than Jake is Chris DeMakes (vocals, guitar), Roger Lima (vocals, bass), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter “JR” Wasilewski (saxophone).
The crowd absolutely erupted when Less Than Jake stepped onto the stage and they tore it up with “Automatic” from 1996’s Losing Streak. It’s a quick-paced song that immediately had the crowd singing along and moving with the band. They followed up with “Lie To Me” from their recent Silver Linings. The blend of sax and trombone from Buddy and Peter was excellent and Roger’s vocals were so good on this song. Following that was “Last One Out of Liberty City” from Hello Rockview. This is another really fast song that just whips right by you, but will get you moving as you’re listening. And that crowd was absolutely moving at this point, plus the band’s crew started shooting out toilet paper into the crowd. The fans in the front row were loving it.
This night was a great setlist of classic Less Than Jake tunes. They performed “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts” and “My Very Own Flag” from Pezcore. From Losing Streak they played “Sugar in Your Gas Tank”. And from Hello Rockview they also performed “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” and “History of a Boring Town”. It was such a great tribute to some of the wonderful old school tunes from them. And their performance was so good! You could feel all this positive energy from their music washing over the crowd. The more fun the band was having on stage, the more the fans were having fun. Chris was all smiles playing the guitar and having fun on the mic. Roger is a serious crowd pleaser and he just never stops smiling. Buddy was getting to animated into the songs, you just knew he was loving it. Peter was not only awesome on the sax, but his backing vocals sounded awesome too. And how Matt at the drums is fantastic with that rapid pace through the songs.
It was a great night from Less Than Jake and they were so appreciative of the fans. They were the hometown heroes of the evening.
You can find their music and merch over at https://lessthanjake.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- Automatic
- Lie To Me
- Last One Out of Liberty City
- Gainesville Rock City
- Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts
- Plastic Cup Politics
- History of a Boring Town
- The High Cost of Low Living
- Look What Happened
- The Science of Selling Yourself Short
- Sugar In Your Gas Tank
- Magnetic North
- The Ghosts of Me and You
Encore:
- My Very Own Flag
- All My Best Friends Are Metalheads
Overall, The Back For The Attack Tour was a fun, energetic, and very memorable evening. If this tour comes to your city, don’t miss it. And if these bands come to your city any time after this tour, definitely go see them. I promise you will not be disappointed.
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