Melbourne Ska Orchestra are dusting off their spurs and we're giving away two double passes to celebrate.
Melbourne Ska Orchestra are heading on a 14-date national tour they’ve named Monte Loco Rides Again.
The ensemble, led by Nicky Bomba, are touring behind a deluxe reworking of their 2025 record The Ballad Of Monte Loco. The run rolls through August, September and October, calling in at six states.
Bomba, a John Butler Trio alumnus, has led the collective since the early 2000s. Onstage the band can swell to 26 members, stacking horns, keys, percussion and woodwind into a modern take on ska and reggae.
Melbourne Ska Orchestra
- 7 August, The Gov, Adelaide SA
- 8 August, Port Beach Brewery, Fremantle WA
- 21 August, Eureka Hotel, Geelong VIC
- 4 September, York on Lilydale, Mt Evelyn VIC
- 11 September, Altar, Hobart TAS
- 12 September, Forth Pub, Forth TAS
- 17 September, Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra QLD
- 18 September, Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Heads NSW
- 19 September, Crowbar, Brisbane QLD
- 2 October, Northcote Theatre, Melbourne VIC (with Out Of Control Army)
- 9 October, Theatre Royal, Castlemaine VIC
- 10 October, Westernport Hotel, San Remo VIC
- 16 October, Crowbar, Sydney NSW
- 24 October, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns QLD
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
The Melbourne date at Northcote Theatre on 2 October carries an extra draw, with Mexico City’s Out Of Control Army joining the bill for their first Australian shows. The two acts last shared stages together in Mexico back in 2024.
Out Of Control Army fold ska, latin rhythms and punk into a high-octane live show. Both camps have framed the Australian dates as a cultural exchange between Mexico’s ska community and Melbourne’s, rather than a standard support billing.
The 2025 album leans on a spaghetti-western concept: desert swoon, saloon-ready brass and border swagger built around a drifter called Monte Loco. The deluxe edition digs deeper into that character, padding out the world with extra material.
Titled Monte Loco Rides Again, that deluxe reworking of The Ballad Of Monte Loco adds unreleased session tracks, live recordings from the 2025 run and a few honky tonk piano takes on older cuts. A release date is yet to be confirmed.
A self-titled debut sparked sold-out national tours and international festival slots, and the group has since banked two ARIA Awards, a swag of nominations and millions of streams. Wrangling a 20-plus-piece band, it says, is like moving a small village.
Tickets on sale now. The tour signs off at Cairns’ Tanks Arts Centre on 24 October.
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