Author: Crossfire

Barfly, London.
13th June 2008

Less Than Jakes selling out of the Barfly was no surprise to anyone. Tickets were snapped up and the buzz preceding the show was ecstatic to say the least. The chance to see a band who have sold out the Astoria and hit Reading’s main stage multiple times in a venue no bigger than your average bathroom is always an opportunity to be relished.

Upon arriving it was obvious that there were some very high expectations from the band this evening and that the crowd weren’t here to mess about. In ska, they trust, and the simple fact of the matter is, if Less Than Jake can’t pull it off, no-one can.

Opening with a new track is always a risky business and unfortunately Less Than Jake are no exception to the rule. ‘Does The Lion City Still Roar?‘ is a fantastic track and sounded great but using it to kick off what was predicted to be an explosive set slightly dampened peoples fires. Fortunately for the fans ‘Sleep It Off‘ ‘Plastic Cup Politics‘ and ‘Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sell Outs‘ fixed the back-fire of an opening song and set the band up nicely for ‘Look What Happened‘ and another new track ‘Summon Monsters‘. ‘Ghosts Of Me and You‘ is warmly received however the double edged combo of ”History of a Boring Town‘ and ‘Great American Sharpshooter‘ sent the crowd into a relative frenzy.

‘The Science Of Selling Yourself Short‘ followed and the third and final new track ‘Conviction Notice‘ cemented the fact the band are definitely on the right path in regards to new material. It sounds fantastic and although I haven’t heard the record if the three tracks played tonight are anything to go on its sounding pretty good. ‘Rest Of My Life‘ is up next followed by ‘Krazy Glue‘, but the final four tracks are undoubtedly the icing on the cake. ‘Al’s War‘ followed by ‘Last One Out Of Liberty City‘, ‘Gainsville Rock City‘ and ‘All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads‘.

The sound at the Barfly was pretty spot on and the band played exceptionally well, however it’s fair to say there was a certain edge missing. For a small, intimate, sold out show, the band did little to wow the audience. Yes, they played well, yes they played hits old and new, but yes, we’ve seen it all before. It was exciting at the time, but it did little to make the audience look forward. Back – most definitely. It’s good to reminisce, and Less Than Jake never fail to play well, but that wow factor was definitely missing and it noticed.

Gary Lancaster