Ska band Less Than Jake takes over Nokia Theatre

The night at Nokia Theatre on Nov. 19 started off with The Swellers, hailing from the great land of Michigan. Playing the softer side of punk rock, the guys coaxed the audience out of their pre-show comas and encouraged heads to start banging. Each member owned the beats and don't be surprised if you see them headlining their own tour soon.

Next were The Casualties. The hardcore punk band had the crowd going wild with their rough lyrics and catchy hooks. They even did a cover of The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop." The bassist did jumps and splits that any other rocker would be envious of.

When the Causalities left the stage, the atmosphere changed. You saw attendees practicing their mosh moves, fixing their hair for ultimate mobility and yelling to each other, "I gotta stretch before this."

The lights suddenly went out in the venue and all the crowd could see were dark figures coming onto the stage.

Less Than Jake didn't even have to introduce themselves; the crowd went wild with recognition and excitement as Chris Demakes (guitar/vocals) came out with fingers flying behind Roger Manganelli (bass/vocals). Vinnie Piorello (drums) banged out the beats while Buddy Schaub (trombone) and JR Wasilewski (saxophone) added that extra brass component.

If you are familiar with Less Than Jake then you know their jokester persona, but if not, you picked up on it very quickly. The band started out with fast paced beats, blunt lyrics and natural harmonies. Between each song they would stop and talk to the crowd. At one point Demakes laughed and said, "You guys could have went to see Twilight but you're here instead!"

This transitioned into "Short Fuse Burning" with strong drum bursts and quick fire guitar riffs. What was amazing was the crowd singing in unison and occasionally breaking out into their own harmony. At the end of the song, Manganelli and Demakes called out an audience member who had been texting saying, "Stop texting! There is no texting in rock and roll! I don't think Elvis Presley would have let you text!"

As they went straight into the brass filled song "Portrait of a Cigarette Smoke at 19," a random guy ran onto stage and was quickly grabbed by security. The band just laughed it off and kept singing but after that instance it seemed as if the audience wanted the band's attention so bad they would do anything.

Throughout the night Less Than Jake invited various audience members on stage to make fools of themselves. In one case, two Japanese guys who had recently moved to the United States danced and shared beers with the band members. Then two girls quickly challenged the guys' beers drinking skills and chose to shot gun their drinks. Sadly the two girls failed miserably and were escorted off the stage. Crowd surfers multiplied as the night went on and kept security very busy.

One of the last songs of the evening was "Never Going Back to New Jersey." Not that any other song masked the drum skills of Piorello but in this song he wailed out and showed his power to hold the band together. The thump of the bass had everyone moving and wishing they had attended a how-to-mosh 101 back in high school.

Finishing with "City of Gainesville," the band left the crowd wanting more and chanting "One more song" over and over again. Less Than Jake kept the crowd waiting for a few tense minutes before they took back their places on stage and killed the audience with two finales.

If these shenanigans have been in practice for 17 years already, fans can only wait to see what the next tour holds.

See the interview with Less Than Jake's Chris Demakes.