Images: Reel Big Fish, Big D and the Kids Table, Suburban Legends, The Maxies July 27, 2012 at the House of Blues

The Maxies, all the way from “Greenland,” opened the July 27 Reel Big Fish show at the House of Blues, and with their masks and polar bear costumes, they were very reminiscent of the Aquabats.  Unfortunately absent from the Vegas stop of this tour were former Reel Big Fish label-mates Goldfinger, but the Maxies made it up to the crowd by playing a medley of Goldfinger songs: “Here In Your Bedroom,” “Superman,” and “99 Red Balloons.”

Next was ska band Suburban Legends whose high-energy and synchronized dancing delighted the crowd, which was especially receptive to their cover of The Lion King’s “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.”

Third up was Boston’s Big D and The Kids Table, whose set included several songs from How It Goes such as “My Girlfriend is on Drugs,” The Specials cover of “Little Bitch,” and ending with crowd (and personal) favorite “LAX.”

Finally, Reel Big Fish hit the stage, and quickly blasted through popular hits “Another F U Song” and “Everybody Sucks.”  Their set mostly consisted of songs from albums up to Cheer Up, but did include two new songs from their new album, Candy Coated Fury, which seemed to go over well.  Even though I’ve probably seen Reel Big Fish 10 times before, hearing “Beer” live never gets old, and Aaron Barrett’s ability to play and sing while being the only guitarist will never cease to amaze me.

-Aaron Mattern | https://www.flickr.com/photos/akmofoto/

Reel Big Fish setlist:

The Kids Don’t Like It
Thank You for Not Moshing
Another F.U. Song
Everything Sucks
I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend Too
Snoop Dogg, Baby
Good Thing
Don’t Stop Skankin’
Enter Sandman (Metallica cover)
The Set Up (You Need This)
The Fire
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison cover)
Ban the Tube Top
Punisher
Trendy
Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em)
Where Have You Been
S.R.
Beer

Encore:
Sell Out
She Has a Girlfriend Now
Take On Me (a-ha cover)