Less Than Jake's Chris Demakes
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Less Than Jake
with The Swellers and Cage
December 12, 2009
Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Review by Laura Herrera
Photos by Katie Condon
The heavy rain and floods on route to Ft. Lauderdale’s Revolution for the Less Than Jake concert was only the first unfortunate event of the night. Even after a late arrival and a run through the flooded parking lot to the door, Revolution was vacant. The Swellers and Cage were expected to open that night, but after an hour, there was still no music.
Instead, a half-hour of the Van’s Warped Tour documentary was projected onto a screen. These 30 minutes of torture included recordings of NOFX and Ice T & Body Count. That time could have been used to showcase a local talent, but instead was wasted and the crowd seemed to agree. People chanted “turn it off, turn it off” as they sat on the floor, their feet tired from standing.
The Swellers Anto Boros on bass
Another half hour later and there was still no live band. Luckily, The Swellers from Michigan took the stage and put the audience out of their boredom. The second the band played their first chord, the crowd rose from the floor. By the second song they opened up a circle pit and began to skank. The band played through their growing discography including songs from their latest album, Ups and Downsizing. “Sleeper” and “2009” were dubbed crowd favorites as people danced, clapped and sang along.
The Swellers seemed like saviors to the crowd, but in retrospect their music was generic punk rock. However, near the end of their set, the band picked up the pace with a cover of a Rehasher song. Roger, bassist of Less Than Jake and guitarist/vocalist of Rehasher, made a guest vocal appearance and keyed up the concertgoers.
Cage, whose real name is Chris Palko, was a progressive rapper armed with a microphone and backed by a DJ “spinning” from a Mac.
After The Swellers finished their set, Cage took the stage. To people’s surprise, Cage wasn’t another band with repetitive rifts and fast drums. Cage, whose real name is Chris Palko, was a progressive rapper armed with a microphone and backed by a DJ “spinning” from a Mac.
The Swellers Nick Diener on vocals and guitar
Cage’s demeanor on stage was sluggish, yet it was fitting of his music. Songs like “Nothing Left to Say” and “I Found my Mind in Connecticut” were melancholy, the lyrics deep, and the combination hypnotic.
Personally, I consider Cage to be the only interesting opener of the night; however, some audience members disagreed. They flipped him off and incited a verbal standoff between them and the rapper. Regardless, he finished his set honorably.
After further wait, Less Than Jake finally paraded on stage. It was my fourth time seeing the band live, yet I felt their presence on stage gets better every time.
LTJ ran through their discography, playing hits from their 1995 debut Pezcore to their 2008 release, GNV FLA. “Plastic Cup Politics” and “Abandon Ship” were among crowd favorites.
Less Than Jake's Chris Demakes
Of course, LTJ delivered comedy too. Chris Demakes, front man and guitarist, chose one prepubescent boy and another teenager girl to the stage. With the spotlight on the two, the band demanded to see them kiss before the next song. With the whole room cheering them on, the lips of the confounded boy and giggling girl met as the music began. Some friends of the boy later reported on the Internet that it had been his first kiss.
In general, the crowd lacked life. With the band’s horns blaring and enthusiastic vocals, I shouldn’t have been able to take notes in the front of the pit without getting pushed. The energy picked up during “All my Best Friends are Metalheads,” but disappointingly, it died off after the one song. After that, I had had enough and left. A flooded parking lot, a pre-recorded crowd, mediocre opening acts and a boring crowd was enough. LTJ’s vibrant shows still lived in my memories, but that night I left disappointed.
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