This show was the first on the Less Than Jake tour where Rufio was scheduled to play, but because of a death in the family they were off. I was happy. This show already had local favorites The Matches opening up so the need for a replacement seemed minimal. That being said, the replacement and opener was The Effection, a power-pop band out of the east bay. No one in the slowly filling venue really liked them, and they caught on to that very fast.
After a short set, the crowd grew larger and started trying to push their way up front for The Matches. Even if you don't like the Matches, they have a lot of energy. They played about 10 songs opening up with Dog-Eared Page, then going on to play December is For Cynics, Borderline Creep, Audio Blood, and finishing up with Sick Little Suicide. They were good, and the crowd seemed to enjoy them a lot.
The crowd settled down and Fall Out Boy came on. Their whole first song was played without any lights on. They sounded like New Found Glory, except not as catchy. There were three girls next to me who would shriek into my ears everytime they were pushed or when a new person started singing, or when someone played something remotely different on any instrument. They made me like Fall Out Boy even less.
Then the band everyone there had come to see: Less Than Jake. The people up front had become much more predominately male as opposed to the opening bands. After a short wait a huge Less Than Jake banner was unveiled and the crowd went crazy. Tons of confetti dropped town from the ceiling as the band jumped on and went into Welcome to the New South. Buddy, the trombone player, was out with a hurt wrist but they had Chris from the Bosstones fill in and he did a great job. After the first song i knew there was way too much pushing. So instead of having to concentrate on not falling down I moved about 30 feet back to the back of the first level into a sea of mosh pits. One of the highlights of Less Than Jake's set was Dopeman which was never one of my favorite songs, but was fun to see live. The mosh pits turned into skank pits and it was a fun time. They went on to play a wide variety of songs spanning from Laverne and Shirley from Losers Kings and People We Don't Understand to Anthem. My personal highlight of the night was the encore:The Brightest Bulb has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out. Chris came on and played the first part of the song with an acoustic guitar. It was a nice song, and a welcome rest for the audience. Suddenly the electric guitar blasts in and the room is filled with confetti and the rest of the band has jumped on stage. The mosh pits start up again and Less Than Jake finishes up a great set.
Less Than Jake's partial set. (not in the right order)