Less Than Jake at Birmingham Academy

Less Than Jake – Birmingham Academy – 6 November 2010

Words by Jemma Dodd/ Photos by Matthew Higgs

Tonight, the first band I got to see, having already missed the first scheduled band due to the wrong times being on the ticket, was We Are The Union.

Showing classic Ska mixed with rock and the occasional screaming, they almost sound like ‘Four Year Strong’ but with the trumpets. Although at the moment the room is barely half full, several people are already nodding along, whilst others give it their all with full on head banging. They’re definitely suited to support Less Than Jake and give the crowd something fun to warm up to. The band have mounds of energy and credit must be given to the trumpeter who manages to play his instrument, scream and rock out on stage like a mad man with out losing his breath.

As the lights go down ready for the arrival of Zebrahead the whole crowd cheers and the band enter to the theme tune of Team America. Having heard of Zebrahead several times before and hearing nothing but great comments about them I was expecting quite a performance. The first song kicks in and lead singer Ali Tabatabaee calls out to the crowd, and instantly runs to the edge of the stage to get close up to fans. Opening up with Hell Yeah! the band have all fists in the air, punching out in time with the music and everyone dancing during the chorus. During Just the Tip Ali demands a circle pit and the ‘hardcore’ fans almost instantly form one right in the middle of the crowd. Zebrahead are quite a chatty band and clearly have the audiences’ enjoyment in mind, trying to include the crowd as much. ‘Jag-off’ is followed by the room being asked to sit on the floor, this is something I have never seen at a gig before and am still amazed it actually worked! on the count of three everyone jumped up, it was complete madness and looked absolutely mental, but was definitely enjoyable.

If that wasn’t enough, they then get the crowd to greet each other and hug the others around them in preparation for their next song which they say is a song of friendship, Mike Dexter. If I hadn’t thought this band were crazy enough already, they then break into a cover of Britney Spears Oops I did it again, which goes down amazingly with the crowd due to the fast pace and rockiness it has been given. Having finished this song the band demand a beer break and get the drinking audience to hold up their beers, the band then appear with cans and bottles in hand and they literally have a beer break. The band play their hit Anthem ending in circle pits and a whole lot of jumping, singing and dancing.

The lights go down again and its time for the band everyone has been waiting for, a rocky guitar soundtrack is heard and fans begin to cheer in excitement. The soundtrack seems to go on for what seems like ages, but the fans concentration remains on the stage waiting for the band to appear. Finally the room goes black and the band casually walk on stage, the room is filled with cheers. Kicking straight into their first song, Plastic Cup the crowd scream and clapp along as the band jump into performance. Following this Liquor Store has even more movement and dancing along, Less Than Jake are definitely one for a happy and fun, which comes out both in their music and the bands’ personalities. The band take the time to announce the 25th birthday of their sound tech, Ryan and the crowd joins in singing Happy Birthday. An Example fun and craziness in their performance is Buddy, who spends the majority of Soundtrack of my life climbing up onto the speakers and acting like a chimp. To add to this the band then play fun covers of theme tunes from Animaniacs, Scooby Doo and the Pacman cereal theme tune, which sees the crowd laughing and singing along. To top it off front man Chris calls an older man, named Richard up from the back of the crowd and asks for a girl who’s willing to dirty dance with him. The first attempt appears to not match what the band were after and so a dirtier girl is required. Having found a girl who willingly dances alongside Richard, both the band and crowd tried to enjoy the next song whilst holding in laughter of the events taking place on stage. Other songs follow including Automatic, Liberty City, Science and several others which have tonight’s audience in constant movement and singing along.

After returning for their encore the band break into Metal heads. During this song several crowd surfers take the last opportunity to surf to the front of the crowd, whilst the rest dance along. To end their set Less Than Jake finish on a high with Look What Happened. With one last time for the crowd to get involved, they jump as high as possible and rock out like mad. After finishing their set the band don’t end there, leaveing a lasting impression as they spend time hanging about on stage, throwing out guitar picks, set lists and anything else they can find, whilst lead singer, Chris enjoys being pushed on and off stage on wheeled boxes. Less Than Jake, a super fun band and an awesome, energetic, live performance.