Less Than Jake brought their Summer Circus tour through Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon on August 4th, and thrilled the crowd with a legendary line-up of icons.
Opening up the show was Philly’s, Catbite who came out strong with “Die In Denver”, the opening track off their most recent (and excellent) release, Doom Garden EP. While Catbite may be the youngest group on the tour, they make it clear from their first note that they belong on a tour of legends and for good reason, they’re incredible. To say Catbite writes catchy tunes would be an understatement, their grooves; their melodies are infectious. You’ll be humming “Tired of Talk” for the next week. Catbite isn’t just writing some of the best ska tunes right now, they’re writing some of the best music of anyone. They put on a stellar performance and gave way for arguably the most influential band on the tour, Fishbone.
Fishbone has been around the longest of the four bands, forming in 1979, but you wouldn’t know it watching the energy radiate off of Angelo Moore and company. Fishbone wasted no time, opening up with old punk-inspired favorites, “Deep Inside” and “Subliminal Fascism” from their sophomore LP, Truth and Soul (1988) before slowing things down a bit for “Secret Police” off their new album, “Stockholm Syndrome.” The crowd was electric all through the set, but things really got exciting near the end when Angelo helped lead the crowd in singing along to their anti-Trump anthem, “Racist Piece of Shit.” Before the end of the night, all 3 other bands on tour would tout the influence Fishbone had on them all, and the sheer joy they were experiencing being on tour with such a remarkable staple of the ska and punk scenes.
The energy didn’t die down for The Suicide Machines. If Fishbone is the high-wire act, The Suicide Machines are the motorcycles spinning in a cage. They came out fast and fiery, with “Too Much” and “S.O.S” from their classic album, Destruction by Definition. Loud, fast, chaotic – lead singer Jay Navarro jumped across the gap to the barricade to sing with the crowd, and the audience returned in favor, singing every word back. For a minute, it was hard to remember being in a big venue and not in some crammed cinderblock garage with 100 people. Jay made sure everyone felt like part of the show, even taking a small break to allow a fan to propose on stage (she said yes!). But before long, it was time for our main event.
Less Than Jake ran out to the stage, waving while smoke machines exploded behind them, all in front of a back drop like an old red and white circus tent and bust into one of the staples of their live shows, “Gainesville Rock City”, followed by the newer “Lie to Me” and then fan-favorite and classic “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts.” Less Than Jake shows always feel like a great, big party and this was no different. Accompanying the smoke machines, were Wacky-Waving-Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men on both sides of the stage, stage hands shooting toilet paper into the crowd, two audience members from the VIP show dancing as clowns, balloons, costumes and more. The sold-out crowd jumped around, skanked in the pit, tried their best to circle pit and gave as much energy back to the band as they were giving themselves. It was an undeniably good night. After the 90’s, ska was believed to be dead. After this night, it was clear ska was not dead, it was thriving. In recent years, a saying has been going around the ska scene that could be heard echoing in the old school halls as folks were leaving – Ska Now More Than Ever.
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