NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
I’m not sure if I should have been surprised when Fitz & the Tantrums released their sixth studio album Man on the Moon last month. While they haven’t experienced the success of their first three albums, they have been pretty consistent in putting out new music and touring. I first caught them in 2013 whilst on their Bright Futures tour with Capital Cities. The party atmosphere of their incredible show really caught my attention. With vocalists Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs, bassist Joseph Karnes , keyboardist Jeremy Ruzumna, and James King on just about everything else, their high energy performances made every show a fun affair. The band is not new to the Buffalo area since they’ve played at Canalside and Thursdays at the Plaza since their early days. They even played ArtPark as recently as 2021!! Their new record is probably their best work since their self-titled album in 2016, making me look forward to seeing how they would interpret these songs live. In the midst of their North American tour in support of their new album, they stopped once again at ArtPark in Lewiston, NY on a muggy Tuesday night, August 12th.
Opening for Fitz and the Tantrums was singer/songwriter Neal Francis (aka Neal Francis O’Hara). With Kellen Boersma on guitar, Mike Starr on bass, Collin O’Brien on drums, and Francis on keys, they brought some 70s style rock and roll to ArtPark. Francis’s latest studio album Return to Zero was released back in March and half the setlist was comprised, appropriately, of songs from that record. It’s always great to see a band rock out to some old school rock and roll and this night was no exception.
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Before, Fitz and the Tantrums began their set, their talented multi-instrumentalist James King came out and introduced his son, Julian. For his first performance on stage, he played a wonderful written “Third Grade Rebels”, sending the crowd cheering!
Fitz and the Tantrums took the stage with little fanfare and immediately kicked off the show with “OCD” from their 2019 record All the Feels before playing a couple from their new record. It was cool watching James pull out the flute, not something you normally see at a pop show. At this point, even though the sun had mostly set, the sweltering heat and humidity was brutal, making it even more amazing to see Fitzpatrick and Scaggs bounding about the stage. They really haven’t lost a step, although they obviously couldn’t be the fashion mavens they’ve always seemed to be when on tour. You could see Scaggs covered in sweat and, at one point, Fitzpatrick had to find a towel!
The setlist’s main focus were songs from Man on the Moon and, although I had expected to hear more songs from their first three albums, they only played five, primarily hits: “Moneygrabber” from Pickin’ Up the Pieces, “Out of My League” and “The Walker” from More Than Just a Dream, and “Fool” and “Handclap” from Fitz and the Tantrums. Nevertheless, you could tell their diehard fans were out in force, singing along to songs old and new, and dancing the whole night! The biggest reaction from the crowd was definitely for “Out of My League” and the finale “Handclap”. It was great to see that after touring together for seventeen years, the band members are still having so much fun out there and giving the fans all they had. This is why Fitz and the Tantrums will always be a favorite performer here in Buffalo….and anywhere else they go! They keep touring through the end of August so catch them while you can!!
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