Less Than Jake Show Review

Less Than Jake
08.06.07
at the Great Saltair
with Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, Against All Authority

Going to ska-punk shows does two things to me: 1. They make me feel old and 2. They make me feel relatively attractive. Ska-punk is an inherently dorky genre of music, and sad though it may be, the dorky tend to be less attractive than the non-dorky. Now I'm not saying that I'm a prime cut of 100% American Male myself, but goddamn those ugly kids sure made me feel good about myself (operative word being "kids"). The average age of the crowd had to be around 17, and even though that's not a whole lot younger than me, I still felt a bit out of place. And because I'm older than 17, I work all goddamn day, and because I work all goddamn day, I didn't get out to Saltair until about 7:30, so I missed Against All Authority. Damn.


Less Than Jake (courtesy of myspace.com/lessthanjake)

I got into the venue about halfway through Streetlight Manifesto's set, and I trudged through the throng of trolls, CHUDs and gargoyles to get closer to the stage. Streetlight is one of the better ska-punk bands out there today, and they put on a really good live show. Their song structures owe a lot to classical music, especially the awesome horn arrangements, and their lyrics go far beyond the typically goofy subject matter usually tackled by other ska-punk bands. After only one song, I was covered in sweat (though it mostly belonged to other people) and was having a pretty good time. They busted out an awesome version of "Point/Counterpoint" that transformed into the Catch 22 (former band of several Streetlight members) classic "Keasby Nights", and the crowd went crazy. They closed off the set with the horn-tastic, high-energy "Here's to Life" and the crowd dispersed. I went outside to take in the dank and stinky scenery of the Great Salt Lake before Reel Big Fish took the stage.

I make no bones about the fact that I fucking despise Reel Big Fish. I was too mature for their brand of hyperactive, juvenile bullshit by the time I was 15, and every time I've seen the band play, it only gives me more and more reason to dislike them. Still, I figured that I'd go back inside and at least catch some of their set. They opened with "Sell Out", the song responsible for the ska explosion of the late '90s and the near-death of ska in the early 2000s. Pretty catchy song, though. Then they started delving into their crappier songs, such as the predictably crappy "Another F.U. Song", and "She Has a Girlfriend Now", which contains the poignant and startlingly deep lyric of "I'd even cut my penis off for you." Classy. When they busted into their clever and inspired version of Metallica's "Enter Sandman", I'd decided that I had enough. I went back outside and waited for Less Than Jake to start.

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