Less Than Jake @ Summit Music Hall
by Tim Wenger
Photo Credit: Max Giffin
Less Than Jake is not like milk. Even after 20+ years on the ska/punk circuit, they are not yet soured and curdled, and their music can still be used to cool you off a bit when life gets too hot. At the Denver stop of their 20-year anniversary tour, LTJ proved that oldies can still be goodies by rocking the ears off Summit Music Hall with a set that consisted largely of songs from their albums Losing Streak, Hello Rockview and Anthem.
Some might say that they are like fine wine, growing better with age, but the truth is that they still played a lot of the songs that I fell in love with when I was in 8th grade, spending my lunch money and the little I made doing chores around the house, on ska records through mail-order catalogues. Their live show has always been one of the most entertaining and humorous in the ska/punk world, and that still stands true. The best description I can give to this Gainesville, FL, five-piece is that they are consistently unswerving in their delivery of the greatest style of music to come out of the ‘90s. I have seen them at least a dozen times now, and I still can’t stay out of the pit when they play songs like “All My Best Friends are Metalheads.”
“As for new stuff, it usually takes people a few years before they deem something ‘classic’ enough to want to hear,” says Chris Demakes, vocalist and guitarist. The band, always known for their humorous stage show led largely by Demakes and bassist Roger Manganelli, has traveled the world of music for nearly two decades. “[Tour life] is better now than ever,” says Demakes. “Still playing to lots of people all over the world, we ‘hit’ as many new towns and cougars as we can.”
The band featured a large backdrop looking like a twenty-dollar bill for this tour, replacing former President Andrew Jackson’s head with their own character, to signify the band’s twenty-year history. The capacity crowd at Summit Music Hall wasted no time getting into the music–the first song featured a large circle pit with an impressive amount of water and empty beer cups flying overhead.
The butt of more than one of their jokes on this particular evening was the infamous Tim Tebow, who spent his college days in LTJ’s hometown of Gainesville. Always known for a distinctive stage show, Demakes and the gang have spent their fair share of time over the years coming up with ways to interact with the crowd. “[It comes from] a combination of boredom mixed with the fact that we aren’t exactly wooing audiences with our boyish looks,” says Demakes. “We have to do something, otherwise we would be staring at our shoes like 95% of the bands out there.”
They played a solid hour of oldies mixed with a couple of recent albums, and one brand new song before walking off stage, only to return and close the night with “Look What Happened” and an enormous eruption from the crowd.
These guys always put on a show worth seeing, and I, for one, can’t wait until they come back around. Fortunately for us, they have no plans of stopping anytime soon. “The motivation lies with the fact that we still love doing this,” Demakes says. “We haven’t played a nursing home yet. That one is on the bucket list for sure.”
Hopefully my kids will be smart enough to put me in that nursing home.
Category: Planet Buzz
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