Few Australian bands have spent the past two decades expanding their own universe quite like Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Led by the ever-energetic Nicky Bomba, the ARIA Award-winning collective are set to take their cinematic latest chapter back on the road, announcing the Monte Loco Rides Again Tour for August, September and October 2026.
The extensive national run arrives alongside news of a forthcoming deluxe edition of 2025 album The Ballad Of Monte Loco, appropriately titled Monte Loco Rides Again. Expanding on the Western-inspired world introduced on the original record, the release will feature live recordings, unreleased material from the album sessions and alternate takes that further flesh out the band’s colourful mythology.
Beginning in Adelaide on August 7, the tour will see Melbourne Ska Orchestra bring their celebrated live show to audiences around the country, with stops including Fremantle, Hobart, Brisbane, Melbourne, Castlemaine, Sydney and Cairns. The Melbourne performance on October 2 will also feature Mexican ska outfit Out Of Control Army, marking the group’s first Australian appearances and a reunion following shared shows in Mexico in 2024.
Since forming in the early 2000s, Melbourne Ska Orchestra have become one of Australia’s most distinctive musical institutions. With a line-up that can swell to 26 members, encompassing horns, percussion, woodwind, keyboards and multiple vocalists, the ensemble has built a reputation for transforming the golden age of ska through a modern lens, earning two ARIA Awards, multiple nominations and a devoted international following in the process.
Last year’s The Ballad Of Monte Loco found the group venturing into new territory, blending reggae grooves, Latin rhythms and cinematic flourishes inspired as much by spaghetti western soundtracks as classic Jamaican ska. According to Bomba, the world of Monte Loco is far from finished.
“Think Ennio Morricone meets a Tijuana dance floor, with a little Melbourne dust kicked up in the process,” he explains. “It’s cinematic, it’s got swagger, it’s got heat. We’re bringing the full show: the costumes, the horns blazing, the rhythm section rattling the walls.”
Life on the road with more than 20 musicians may present its own logistical challenges, but Bomba says the collective spirit behind the project remains unchanged.
“We’re a bunch of musos who fell in love with ska, reggae and Latin music and just never stopped,” he says. “There’s no ego, just energy. When 20-odd people lock into a groove together and the room starts moving, that’s what we are.”
Ahead of the tour, Monte Loco Rides Again will revisit and expand the universe of its predecessor with what Bomba describes as the “director’s cut” of the project, adding new songs, live recordings and alternate versions to an already ambitious body of work.
With another chapter unfolding and one of Australia’s most exuberant live acts preparing to hit the road once more, Melbourne Ska Orchestra look set to ensure the story of Monte Loco is far from over.
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