Show Review: Less Than Jake at the House of Blues, Anaheim 2/21/11

Chris Demakes (Left) and Roger Manganelli (Right) of Less Than Jake

Before setting sail for the Soudwave tour in Australia, Gainesville Florida’s Less Than Jake made their second to last US tour stop at Anaheim’s House Of Blues in front of a jam-packed crowd full of old and new fans alike.

Supporting the release of their latest EP effort TV/EP and the reissues of ’90s punk ska classics Losing Streak and Hello Rockview, LTJ performed a slew of older material that surely pleased the longtime fan in the crowd, but leveled it out with some of their newer tunes. They opened up with “Shindo” and “Sugar in Your Gas Tank” off of Losing Streak and then into “Look What Happened” off of the 2000 release Borders and Boundaries.

For a Less Than Jake show, it was a pretty straightforward. Throughout the years, LTJ have featured some far-out gimmicks and on stage gags that made for a unique concert experience. No dancing Skullman. Chris (guitarist/vocalist) didn’t dress up in any costumes. No crazy stage set ups. The band was fully focused on playing the show, which was never a problem before. I just miss the old days of seeing what crazy gags the band could come up with (although there was a confetti drop during “Plastic Cup Politics”).

Most of the show consisted of songs from Hello Rockview and Losing Streak. I found it quite enjoyable to hear them play “Dopeman” and “Great American Sharpshooter,” as they don’t play these songs live that often. I personally got in the circle pit during “Help Save The Youth Of America For Exploding,” singing the song with fellow fans while mixing it up in the pit.

Musically, the band was on point. Being in the game for nearly 20 years, LTJ continues to pump out shows with the same amount of enthusiasm and musical excellence as they have all along. It’s clear to see that the band is driven by their fans who continue to show up and sing along to songs that still have holding power over a decade after they were originally written in some cases.

During the show, the band played a few cuts from their TV theme and commercial cover EP TV/EP, including the themes to “Spongebob Square Pants,” “Animaniacs,” “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” and “iCarly” (sung by the bassist Roger, in which Chris commented before playing the song, “If you see Roger on ‘To Catch A Predator’ anytime soon, you’ll know why”).

Per a request I personally made during an interview with Chris earlier in the day, they played “Pete Jackson is Getting Married” as a wedding gift to me, as I was only five days away from my wedding date. They told me they hadn’t played it in a long time, but would give it a good “college effort” to get it done. It came out great for not playing it for so long. Thanks again, guys!



An encore included a stripped down version of “Rest Of My Life” which featured Chris on vocals and guitar, JR on backing vocals, and Buddy on trombone. During this performance, they swapped out Vinnie’s bass drum, and it seems they missed the part of the song where the drums kick back in, as Chris appeared to have anticipated it about halfway into the song. At least, that’s how they’ve played this version of this song in the past live. They ended the show with “The Ghosts Of You And Me” off of Anthem.

From being a punk ska band playing frat parties at the University of Florida to 19 years later headlining yet another show in California to a crowd of enthusiastic fans who sing along with their hearts and souls, Less Than Jake still can put on a killer show that aims to please no matter the age of their fans.