words + photos by Stefny! At the Disco
When I was 10 years old, I went to the movies with my two best friends and my mom to see the high school enemies-to-lovers movie Drive Me Crazy. In one of the opening scenes of the film, rebel Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his friends Ray and Dave sabotage the sprinkler system with orange dye in an act of “school spirit.” As the sprinklers kick on and begin spraying everyone with the tainted water, the frenzied chords of Less Than Jake’s “Help Save the Youth of America From Exploding” punctuate the festivities. And that, friends, was my first introduction to the ska punk legends from Gainesville, FL.
When I was 14 years old, I went back to the movies with a couple of friends (although I don’t remember who) to see the teen skateboarding flick Grind. Over the end credits, the familiar sound of Gainesville punk pierces the speakers. It is Less Than Jake’s “Look What Happened.”
(Editor’s note: The Donnas are also prominently featured on both soundtracks. Interesting…)
Both of these songs (and the films they came from) found me at pivotal, impressionable times in my life. Both songs and films have gone on to become favourites. And Monday night at Emo’s, I got to see both of those songs as part of Less Than Jake’s encore during their Summer Circus tour.
I only ~know~ three LTJ songs (the third being “The Science of Selling Yourself Short,” one of my go-to karaoke jams) and they played 19 songs, but man it was SO MUCH FUN. I would straight up go see them every day of my life and not get tired of it. Roger and Chris’s voices go so well together. The whole band looks like they’re having so much fun out there, especially trombonist Buddy. They mentioned multiple times how they’ve been around for three decades and how Borders and Boundaries was 25 years old. And I’m not calling them old by any means, but you’d never know they weren’t a bunch of kids in their 20s out there bopping around if not for their graying hair.
I also totally forgot that Chris DeMakes was in this band. He has a great podcast called Chris DeMakes A Podcast that I’ve listened to multiple times, where he interviews artists about some of their biggest hits, like Candlebox’s “Far Behind” and ABC’s “The Look of Love.”
And yes, I did wear my Grind sweatshirt to the show.