Less Than Jake Is Less Than No One! – Music Madness Magazine

Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino was a hopping place this past weekend. The Arena was filled with country fans for the lovely LeAnn Rimes. The punks, ska fans, and those just looking for raucous music were entrenched in a small theater known as The Wolf Den. If you had shown up two hours before folks were let in, you would have found that quite a line had already queued up. Less Than Jake was playing their third show at this gem of a venue and amazingly, it was free! All shows at The Wolf Den are free and they have had some pretty big names take the stage there. It’s well worth keeping an eye on who is performing there.

Less Than Jake is a ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1992, they have a huge discography too large to list here. Follow this link to check out their past releases. To say that their live shows are fun is an understatement to say the least! Frontmen Chris DeMakes on guitar and Roger Lima on bass really play to the crowd and have fun doing it. They bounce back and forth around the stage and ham it up for the cameras. Buddy Schaub plays trombone as he bobs and weaves across the stage somehow avoiding his band mates (usually). Anchoring the lineup is Matt Yonker on drums and on sax is Connecticut’s own Peter “JR” Wasilewski. Adding to the fun this particular evening was guest trombonist, Chris Rhodes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

The evening’s show was a thing to behold. Less Than Jake was firing on all cylinders as they delivered an incredible performance. Perhaps it was the intimacy of the small venue that fired them up. Maybe it was the fact that the venue is open to the casino floor so folks walking past would stop to check out the show. Maybe it was the audience filled with a number of loyal fans who had come from all over the Northeast to partake in the merriment. Most likely, it was a combination of the three.

At one point, DeMakes wandered out in the crowd to shake hands with an older couple who are most likely casino high rollers who show up for all of the shows. Chris claimed it was the first time he had done such a thing. The band had made notice of a gentleman sporting a perfectly quaffed mustache. They eventually had “Bob” join them on stage to show off his dance moves. Along with Bob, they had a pair of young ladies who were dancing wildly throughout the show come up to dance.

Yes, this band takes notice of their fans and pays them homage. They also paid homage to Wasilewski’s Mom who had made the trip to see her boy play. The only regular part of their show that was missing was the toilet paper roll guns but it was easy to forgive.

Less Than Jake are constantly on the road. Odds are, they will be playing a city close to you so make sure you get out to see one of the most entertaining bands that you will ever see. Here is a link to their tour dates.