Less Than Jake + Pepper + Beat Union + Imperial Leisure @ Birmingham Academy – 9th November 2008
I was really shocked to see the size of the queue in to the Academy tonight. Not because the bands were crap but because it was a Sunday night, and it was raining that hard it was like monsoon season on this cold night in Brum. According to the touts, some people had been queuing since 4pm that day, and the poor fans looked like drowned rats as cars sped through the massive puddle next to the pavement on purpose to soak them further. All the bands needed to put on one hell of a show tonight to cheer up dripping wet awaiting audience.
First up were Imperial Leisure, who I personally have not heard of before tonight. I’d only been in the press pit a few minutes when security came rushing behind me to floor a guy who had jumped the barrier and made a leap for the stage. But this wasn’t a fan, it was lead singer Dennis!! He had (unknown to security) a bizarre and frankly dangerous way of getting on stage. He gambolled over the barrier (I swear he hit his head really hard off the floor), grabbed beer off the stage and fed them to unknowing fans at the front, before leaping back on stage and going into their first song of the evening. Imperial Leisure are crazy, fast Ska-Punk and they certainly have the front man to match! They went down a treat with the wet crowd, inciting some mad skanking and dancing, which no doubt dried off the majority. You wouldn’t have known there were some members missing either? I counted 6 people on stage whereas in all their publicity shots there are 10 members, not sure what happened to them, but it didn’t affect their performance at all. They played songs from their album ‘The Art of Saying Nothing’, which they also handed out copies of after the gig. Judging by the reception they received, I don’t think this is the last we will hear of them.
Next up were local band Beat Union. It was a bit surreal for me to see them supporting Less Than Jake tonight, as without naming names, I remember dancing to Less Than Jake in XLs nightclub with certain members of the band many years ago! For Beat Union this was a bit of a home-coming show, after being on tour in America, and part of the Warped Tour for what seems like forever! I’m not sure why they aren’t as huge over here, and after watching them live tonight, I really don’t understand why they haven’t got more press in the UK. They are immense to see live, with some brilliant songs and great stage presence. You can’t help but think, when you are watching them, that this is probably the last time you will ever see them as a support act. It can’t be long before Beat Union will explode into the public eye in the UK as they have done so brilliantly in the US. It’s so great to see a Brummie band doing so well. I really hope they have some headline dates lined up for the UK next year.
Pepper provide 3rd slot support tonight. I’d already seen them here at the Academy earlier this year supporting Flogging Molly, although supporting Less Than Jake seemed more suited to their type of music. Hailing from the island of Hawaii they play a sort of mellower ska, not far off that of Sublime, whose music career was cut tragically short with the death of singer Bradley Knowell. You can certainly hear the Hawaiian influence in their songs, and some of the more mellow tracks, you could be lying on sun drenched sand drinking a margarita. They were definitely a lot more sober than the last time they were here, and reminded the crowd how totally wasted they were last time they graced a Birmingham stage! When it came to banter with the audience, I preferred them when they were drunk, but they sounded so much better playing sober. The crowd loved them and unfortunately for the security tonight, that meant wave after wave of crowd surfers, and even a small circle pit!
Finally tonight it was the wonderful Less Than Jake. The crowd were dried off and wound up nicely, thanks to all 3 support acts, and chanted their name as the lights went down for their entrance. Less Than Jake have been a band for 16 years, and I’ve personally been listening for them for at least the last 10, so seeing them tonight was a real honour. Chris and Roger are like joint front men. Pulling faces for the cameras, they are hilarious to watch shimmying across the stage, and as they start to play its obvious why they have lasted such a long time. It’s easy to forget how many songs by LTJ that you actually know. They played all the classics like, ‘Jonny Quest’, ‘All My Friends Are Metalheads’ as well as songs from the new album GNV FLA.
You really had to feel sorry for the security tonight, they were pelted with bodies throwing themselves over the barriers, it sometimes felt like there were more people crowd surfing than there were people to hold them up! Half way through, LTJ picked 4 members of the audience to come up on stage and play their ‘Disturbed’ game., for which the chosen few had to do the best impression of the opening line of song ‘Down with the Sickness’. Not impressed with the 4 audience members efforts, he turned the microphone on the only security guard with a mohawk (who was actually quite good) and for which he won absolutely nothing. Silly games like this and the fact they can get basically everyone to dance and jump up and down in one room, with a big smile on their face, is just one of the reasons LTJ will be around (hopefully) for many years to come. The NHS should stop giving out Prozac, and start giving out Less Than Jake box sets and concert tickets, because everyone who walked out of the gig tonight looked like they had the time of their life!
Review & Photos – Lucy Pryor
I was there, it was an awesome show, Less Than Jake are great sounding live too. The supports were also very good