Jake rocks Masquerade
Photo by Matt Bishop/ STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Chris from Less Than Jake wails on his guitar during a show at the Masquerade last April much as he did on Wednesday night.
Wednesday night last week, the Less Than Jake tour made its round in Atlanta’s Masquerade. The show was held in the Heaven room safe from pouring rains that screwed us all over recently.
For those of you that don’t know of Less Than Jake, they are the face of ska-punk in many ways, a real band for the fans.
For those of you out of the loop, Less Than Jake has adopted Pez candy as part of their identity. Roger, their bassist, has described it as “the perfect thing.”
The group hails from Gainesville, Fla., but actually started a little earlier before their college years. Roger found his influences in bands ranging from punk giants like the Descendents to just plain giants such as Iron Maiden.
Of his own cadre of memorable songs, his favorite is “Gainesville, Rock City,” also a crowd favorite. He recalled writing the song in his mom’s backyard.
When asked, he was at a loss as to how to categorize their songs. “A lot of it is very personal,” he divulged. He continued about the band’s multiple tours and gave a word or two about the good times. “There are so many funny stories they start blurring together.”
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 a Pezified Allroy of Descendents fame. More people need to be this creative, but then again, he’s in the band.
Opening bands were pretty well received by the crowd. However, they all just built momentum for the headliner.
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.
Some concertgoers provided insight into the crowd’s energy.
Sanjay Deshmukh, a senior CS student here at Tech, was ready for “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 CS major.
“When they toured with Linkin Park, that wasn’t a real Less Than Jake show. I’ve been waiting for two years,” said B.J. Hicks.
One of the crowd favorites was “Nervous In the Alley” from 1998’s Hello Rockview. It was unfortunate they didn’t play “All My Best Friends are Metalheads,” but from a 13 year canon of songs, it was a longshot.
Between songs they told scatological jokes to continue catering to the fans. “Old Hotlanta’s always been good to Less Than Jake,” said Chris, the lead vocalist. He even congratulated all the high school graduates.
After a brief absence on the stage, the band returned for an encore with Chris saying, “Whew, that cocaine was good.” They proceeded to bring the set to a conclusion with “Gainesville, Rock City.”
The concert was packed with energy and skanking.
Before Less Than Jake started, they played a stunt video on a projector screen to keep the crowd occupied. During the show, they streamed toilet paper and shot confetti into the audience.
Free hot dogs were even being served in the venue. Fan Matt Hershaw shared that “the only show that rivaled this show was the last Less Than Jake show.”
Roger says he plans for his future to have touring, hanging out and recording songs.
Look out for another album in June and for an upcoming tour with John Mellencamp.
