If ska is dead, then consider Less Than Jake Jesus, rising from the grave and rocking so hard that even hipster-laden Lawrence, Kansas was moving.
For almost two decades, Less Than Jake has toured fervently delivering its unmistakable ska-pop-punk sound to fans across the globe. Saturday night in Lawrence was no exception.
The crowd of a few hundred buzzed with high anticipation as the band hit the stage. Starting the night with “Shindo” off one of its earlier efforts “Losing Streak”, Less Than Jake set the stage for a night of classic favorites and newer tracks. The never-ending sing along continued with “Sugar in Your Gastank” and “Look What Happened”.
What would a Less Than Jake show be without the hilarious banter between Chris the singer/guitar player, Roger the bassist and Buddy the tromboner? Boring, that’s what. The band picked one lucky fan who hopped up on stage only to have his haircut dissed. All was good, however, when the band picked a (un?)lucky lady from the audience to join our bowl-cutted friend on stage to make out with him during the next song. As Chris said after making the love connection “We’re fucking faster than Craigslist with this shit”. When the unmistakable beginning to “Last One Out of Libery City” started, the couple made out hardcore on stage. It felt like watching underage softcore, awesome!
Rounding out the first set for Less Than Jake was “Plastic Cup Politics”, complete with confetti cannons. For the encore, the band rocked hits like “How’s My Driving, Doug Hastings” and “The Science of Selling Yourself Short”.
For a band that has been around 10 times longer than most, Less Than Jake still delivers what most would expect from a ska-punk show: Sing-alongs, skanking and the feeling, even if it’s only for one night, that you’re 19 again.
