ALBANY, N.Y. – It happened again.
Earlier in the month, pop-punk icons New Found Glory played a scorching sold out show here at Empire Live, and about midway through opening band Four Year Strong’s set, something triggered the fire alarms. The P.A. immediately cut out and the house lights came up, temporarily leaving both band and audience stunned with surprise. About 10 minutes later, FYS managed to soldier on and call it a night.
Now here we are a few weeks later, Floridian ska-punk legends Less Than Jake are putting the finishing touches on a phenomenal set and headed toward “encore” territory (co-headliner Bowling For Soup would later close this particular date), and it happens again. Both band and crew dart about the stage in confusion, half-kidding to the audience that the band was so awesome, they’d literally blown the PA.
But first, let’s start at the beginning.
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If you’ve seen any of those recent trend pieces declaring the “return of ska” or the incoming “4th wave,” of ska, the validity of those claims was quickly apparent upon arrival at the venue, and the ensuing attempt to procure parking. (Ultimately, several blocks away was the best this reviewer could manage.) Once inside, it was clear a great many of those parked cars were indeed owned by fans here for the show, with the spacious room starting to fill before opening act Don’t Panic even took the stage.
And what a welcome surprise they were. Don’t Panic hail from Stroudsburg, Pa., and brought an energetic, old-school Northeast workingman’s ethic to their classic pop-punk/power-pop sound, which went over well with the crowd. The four-piece turned in a quick, tight set that drew primarily from their latest release, Dark Horse, with the occasional pause for humorous between-song banter. At one point singer-guitarist Ted Felicetti called out members of the audience who were wearing shirts from two of his favorite bands: Bayside and Millencolin. (Yes, I was the one wearing the Bayside shirt. Guilty as charged.) Don’t Panic are well on their way to carrying on both of those bands’ sonic traditions.
Next up was The Aquabats!, who clearly won the “most fanatical fans” award for the night, judging by the numerous attendees who endured the stifling heat in the room in order to sport elaborate homemade Aquabats costumes. It was 16 years since the last time the band had played in the 518—their last performance here was June 12, 2006, at the now-defunct Saratoga Winners, in Cohoes—so there was major pent-up demand for another local Aquabats show. Halfway into their second song (the incredible “Cat with 2 Heads!”) the front stage lights went out (reportedly due to a loose cord), leaving the band mostly playing in darkness for the rest of the set. The fans hardly cared.
Thus the Aquabats’ set felt like a bizarre ska/new wave acid trip, as the costume clad superheroes rocked under blue light through a set of goofy, bona fide Aquabats classics (“Martian Girl!, “Pool Party!,” “Red Sweater!”), while peppering the crowd with a barrage of themed inflatables. Some 10 or so beach balls were in circulation throughout, giant sharks floated over the crowd for “Shark Fighter!” and large, five-foot pizza slices were batted around during “Pizza Day.”
Toward the end of the latter, a small child in an Aquabats costume was brought onstage and actually placed atop one of said pizza slices, and was then sent (safely) to surf atop the audience. Periodically, singer the MC Bat Commander would leap across the barrier, crashing onto the railing, and then lean into the crowd with his microphone. (During their beloved anthem, “Super Rad!,” he nearly worked his way across the entire barricade. I sang the lines, “The fury of attack / feel the wrath of the super rad!” with him, for a personal highlight.) The whole experience was surreal, and undoubtedly incredible, for all those who’d waited so long for the gig.
For the purposes of this review, we’ll skip ahead now to the co-headliner tour’s closer of the night, Bowling For Soup, so we can later return to the Less Than Jake incident, where we began. It had been even longer than the Aquabats! since BFS played the 518—the last time was April 9, 2005, at the old Northern Lights, in Clifton Park—and fans were literally moved to tears as they watched the band perform.
Opening with “High School Never Ends,” BFS broke out all the hits (“Girl All The Bad Guys Want,” “I Wanna Be Brad Pitt,” “Punk Rock 101,”), even their iconic Phineas and Ferb theme song, “Today is Gonna Be a Great Day,” while keeping onlookers amused with their onstage chit-chat between cuts. This is a band that doesn’t take itself all that seriously live or otherwise, so that sense of fun permeated their set. They closed out, of course, with the once-ubiquitous hit, “1985,” sending fans home happily dazed, as if a full-on catastrophe hadn’t just happened beforehand.
Which brings us back to Less Than Jake.
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Beyond boasting an incredibly evergreen career that now spans 30 years and nine excellent full-length studio releases, Floridian ska-punks Less Than Jake are a touring machine, bringing remarkable energy and professionalism to each performance. They’ve also taken countless other bands under their wing over the years, perpetually setting the standard for how to be a quality touring punk rock band. Even amid such esteemed company as The Aquabats! and Bowling For Soup, there was a special perfection to Less Than Jake’s set on this night, which I only wish had continued longer.
Fans knew from the start that this was going to be an epic Less Than Jake show, especially when the band opened with a classic—“Automatic,” off 1996’s Losing Streak—before showcasing some fabulous recent material with “Lie to Me,” from 2020’s career reinvigorating Silver Linings, their first new full-length since 2013’s See The Light. (Another gem from that record, “The High Cost of Low Living,” found its live home mid-way in the set.) Then it was right back to the classics, with “Last One Out of Liberty City,” off their magnum opus, 1998’s Hello Rockview. The band would go on to play three more off Rockview: “Motto,” “History of a Boring Town,” and “All My Best Friends are Metalheads.”
What makes a Less Than Jake show so memorable in the live setting is the combination of standout individual performances and the kinetic band interplay; bassist/vocalist Roger Lima is an incredible overall talent, who works so well in tandem with singer/guitarist Chris DeMakes, the band’s co-frontman (who brings that super likeable, Mark Hoppus energy to everything LTJ touches). Meanwhile, you have two of the most enjoyable horn players in the genre—saxophonist Peter “JR” Wasilewski and trombonist Buddy “Goldfinger” Schaub—either killing it on the brass, or working the crowd with seemingly unending energy. If that wasn’t enough to keep you engaged at Empire Live, there were all kinds of onstage hijinks happening, including those giant blowup guys you see flapping around outside car dealerships, and a mysterious dude who came onstage with a skull mask and pair of boxing gloves.
At one point DeMakes, taking pity on the heat-wilted audience, ordered security to start handing out water. Then he brought up onstage a female attendee in a toasty looking Aquabats outfit, gave her a spot to sit on the drum riser and some bottled water to cool off. None could argue that the mercury was rising rapidly in the building. But we were mostly having too much fun to notice.
The balance of the Less Than Jake set pretty much cherry-picked from throughout their career (“Magnetic North,” “Gainesville Rock City” and “Look What Happened”) paying extra attention to material from 2003’s Anthem, busting out “The Science of Selling Yourself Short,” “The Ghosts of Me and You,” and “Plastic Cup Politics.” More old-school inclusions, such as “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts,” and “My Very Own Flag,” ensured that the OGs in the audience left happy, too.
And it was somewhere amid “Flag” when it happened: Quite suddenly and without warning there was no sound, and no stage lights; just the blindingly bright house lights. Confusion ensued, while an unfinished encore remained. Those of us who’d experienced the Four Year Strong show earlier in the month all let out a collective sigh of, “Oh fuck. Not again.” But this time, what came next was truly magical.
With just one song left in their set, DeMakes and Lima decided to roll with the punches. Grabbing a pair of acoustic guitars, the pair sat down at the edge of the stage and began to play “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads,” spurring a massive sing-along. It didn’t matter that we could barely hear either singer or their instruments; the deafening roar of the audience had taken over. It was one of those incredible, spontaneous moments that turned a potential disaster into a night that no one in attendance will forget.
This is why we go to shows.
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(NOTE: Jon Monaghan contributed to this story.)
Hey Fans! Check out 518scene.com’s exclusive live footage of this incredible Less Than Jake moment!:
Less Than Jake – Empire Live, Albany, NY 6/24/22 (Photos by Jon Monaghan)
Bowling For Soup – Empire Live, Albany, NY 6/24/22 (Photos by Jon Monaghan)
The Aquabats! – Empire Live, Albany, NY 6/24/22 (Photos by Jon Monaghan)
Don’t Panic – Empire Live, Albany, NY 6/24/22 (Photos by Jon Monaghan)
