Shout It Loud Tour, July 7, 2007, Royal Oak Music Theater, Royal Oak, MI

It was definitely a bad sign when we arrived at the venue a full hour after doors had opened only to see a line that still wrapped around the block. As we debated waiting in line, a thunderstorm quickly blew in. My photographer had no desire to see her camera get soaked, and I had no desire to go to the show soaked either, so we ducked into a bar across the street.

As it poured, the door staff went into the theater, leaving the line trudging slowly up the sidewalk in the rain. A full hour later, two hours after doors had opened, the line was finally wrapping up, and we paid our tab and walked into the venue.

Due to the inexplicably slow way that the concertgoers were admitted, the first two bands had finished by the time the line was wrapped up, leaving some understandably agitated kids in front of us, who had really wanted to se Streetlight Manifesto. At least they were in (as were we) for the co-headliners.

Reel Big Fish opened with a surprise. "Sell Out", which arguably their biggest hit and one usually saved for encores. It was a bold move, one that essentially said that the band was daring themselves to top their set out of pure energy, as they had started by playing the song that most fans knew best.

They then proceeded to hammer through a few songs fast with none of their joking with the crowd, including some old classics ("I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend Too", "You Don't Know", "Ban The Tube Top") and "Another F.U. Song", a new one that was really well-received even though the album hadn't been released.

With a few songs under their belt, RBF settled down a bit, going into the comedy-rich, banter-heavy style of chatty set they are known for, playing a raunchy "She has a Girlfriend Now", a sped-up cover of "Enter Sandman" with a dead-on Hetfield impersonation, and a ton more classic crowd favorites, like "Everything Sucks" and "In The Pit", which was especially appropriate with the suburban crowd (a fixture at shows outside of downtown Detroit, this particular brand of suburban concertgoer is rarely seen at shows within the city limits), even though they didn't realize it.

We were also treated to an extended take on "Suburban Rhythm", with the band hammering it out in a medly of styles, ranging from disco to death metal to country to emo. That version was one of the best tracks on last year's live album, and it was cool to finally take it in. After "Beer" and RBF's cover of "Take On Me", that was the set, and they called it a night.

Less Than Jake is a band I've seen numerous times (always at Warped Tours, where they are often on the bill), and they never fail to entertain. They write some of the best songs and lyrics going right now, with a high singalong and dancealong quality.

Their set was awesome; a full-blown <i>Price Is Right</i> recreation, complete with the big wheel and the Plinko setup. They did the full <i>Price Is Right</i> intro, and took the stage with full Bob Barker fanfare. After playing a few songs, including "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" and their DIY anthem, "Johnny Quest (Thinks We're Sellouts), they began to continue the <i>Price Is Right</i> motif.

After calling out some fan names to "come on down" to the stage, they played a few more songs, and then began the hijinks that resulted in one contestant playing Plinko to determine which album would be the album the set came from. I was pretty disappointed that it was <i>Borders and Boundaries</i>, which is pretty much the one LTJ album I'm not a fan of, and apparently I wasn't alone. While a lot of the young crowd got into it, I watched more than a few older showgoers leave.

I was glad I stuck it out, because we weren't doomed to a full set of <i>Borders and Boundaries</i>, and another contestant spun the big wheel, landing on <i>Losing Streak</i>, one LTJ's best records, and the set got drastically better from then on, including "Sugar In Your Gas Tank", "Shindo", "Never Going Back To New Jersey" and "Dopeman".

The band kept up the goofiness of the <i>Price Is Right</i> theme for the rest of the night, with a final showcase showdown, consisting of band trivia, and the winner going home with a cereal box full of... drop me an email if you'd like to know, it's not fit for polite company... before playing a solid closer with "Look What Happened", "Plastic Cup Politics" and "Gainesville Rock City".

These two bands throw out such solid sets that guarantee a good time, that despite not even catching the openers the Shout Loud Tour was a definite contender for best package this summer, rivalling the Warped Tour. Granted, Warped has 50 times the number of bands, but when you pack this much great music in two sets, some sort of math comes into play that swings averages all over the place. I'm not a huge fan of math, so I'll simply say it was a great show, and leave it at that.