Ska-punk Less Than Jake rocks Masquerade

Some of you may remember Technique covered the lesser-known ska outfit The Toasters earlier this semester. I went to that show with ska aficionado and friend Marky D, and we both left feeling robbed. He said he ' d take me to a real ska show some day. I ' m pretty sure that day was this past Friday.

Last week, Less Than Jake ' s tour made a stop in Atlanta at the Masquerade.

They are the face of ska-punk in so many ways. They are real band for the fans.

For those of you out of the loop, Less Than Jake has long claimed Pez candy as part of their identity. Their bassist, Roger Manganelli, has described it as " the perfect thing. "

This if nothing else is a goodreflection of the quirky-yet-accessible nature of this band.

The group hails from Gainesville, Fla., and got started a little before their college years. Manganelli found his influences from punk giants the Descendents to hard rock greats such as Iron Maiden.

Of his own cadre of memorable songs, Manganelli cites his personal favorite as " Gainesville, Rock City, " which is also a crowd favorite. He recalls the roots of the band and writing the song in his mom ' s backyard.

When it comes to categorizing the kind of songs Less Than Jake is known for, Manganelli was at a bit of an impasse. " A lot of it is very personal, " he said.

He then went on to talk about the band ' s multiple tours and reminisced about some of the good times. " There are so many funny stories they start blurring together, " he said.

As we got up and concluded the interview, I took note of a tattoo on his leg. He told me it was a Pez ad from the ' 40s and proceeded to show me a tattoo of Allroy (of Descendents fame) that was, for lack of any better description, Pez-ified.

The opening bands for Less Than Jake were Days Away, In Plain View and Allister. All of them were pretty well received by the crowd but any excitement that the openers drummed up was really just a build-up to the insanity that was evoked by the headline performance.

The frantic part of the crowd tore back about 15 rows, by far one of the most hectic shows I ' ve ever seen at the Masquerade. A few concert-goers provided some insight into the crowd ' s energy.Sanjay Deshmukh, a senior Computer Science major, said he was ready for a show " nothing short of spectacular. "

" Well, I ' m actually kind of hoping for more than Jake, but I ' d settle for Less Than Jake, " said Daniel Keeney, a second-year Computer Science major.

" When they toured with Linkin Park, that wasn ' t a real Less Than Jake show. I ' ve been waiting for two years [for this show], " said BJ Hicks, another concert-goer.

One of the crowd favorites was " Nervous In the Alley " from the band ' s 1998 release Hello Rockview. It was a little disappointing that they didn ' t play " All My Best Friends Are Metalheads, " but from a 13-year canon of songs, it was a long shot. Between songs they told scatological jokes much to the delight and amusement of their fans.

" Old Hotlanta ' s always been good to Less Than Jake, " Chris Demakes, the lead vocalist, said. He even gave a congratulations to all the high school graduates.

After a brief absence on the stage, the band returned for an encore with Demakes saying, " Whew, that cocaine was good. " They proceeded to bring the set to a conclusion with " Gainesville, Rock City. "

Free hot dogs were even being served in the venue. Less Than Jake fan Matt Hershaw commented that " the only show that rivaled this show was the last Less Than Jake show. "

Manganelli says that the band ' s plans for the future include more touring, hanging out and recording songs for their next album. Watch for their next record in June and a subsequent tour with John Mellencamp.