Page 46 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 106

BV106 pg46-49 Less Than Jake.qxp_BV106 pg46 08/05/2022 00:04 Page 1

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LESS THAN JAKE – BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE, 06.04.22
2022 (July 13th to be exact) marks the 30-year anniversary of Less Than Jake, and although we’re a few months short of that, that’s most definitely
an amazing feat and, while the band are going out on a 30th anniversary tour later in the year, the Gainesville, Florida-formed outfit deserve to be cel-
ebrated all year round. Their set seems to do that, with a list of songs picked from their entire catalogue of music, from the 90s up until their most
recent album, ‘Silver Linings’. They kick things off with ‘Rock-N-Roll Pizzeria’, a yummy opener from their 1996-released ‘Losing Streak’ album, which
then opens the door for the illustrious and charismatic ‘Gainesville Rock City’ from 2000’s ‘Borders & Boundaries’.
The opening song of latest album ‘Silver Linings’, released in December 2020, while COVID-19 was rife and most of the world was in lockdown,
‘The High Cost Of Low Living’, is particularly tuneful. ‘Silver Linings’ is an album the band hasn’t had chance to tour until now, so we get to hear some
of the album’s songs live for the first time. Later in the set, bassist/vocalist Roger Lima sings ‘Anytime And Anywhere’, one of the released singles
from the album. It’s quite a heartfelt song, with Roger sincerely singing ‘Just so you know I’ll be there anytime and anywhere’.
The entertaining five-piece bring their inflatable Pez’s, toilet paper blasters that shoot toilet paper into the crowd
(although one gets a little bit stuck), and a few red balloons which are thrown out into the crowd during ‘The Science
Of Selling Yourself Short’, bouncing up and down over the crowd almost in time to the melodic tune. “We’ve been
coming to the UK since the last century,” Chris says to the audience. The vocalist/guitarist eats a banana while
asking the audience who suffers from leg cramps. Apparently, they are caused by a lack of potassium and bananas
are high in potassium so help.

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