“Come on up here…wait let’s find your parents and get permission for this, can you point them out?” The Brooklyn Steel crowd cheers as Less Than Jake vocalist Chris DeMakes brings two teenagers onto the stage to dance, “Can you point them out? That’s your dad? Wait, THAT’S your dad? He’s been seeing us play since he was your age.” The emotion in the room is overwhelming. Being someone who’s a very casual listener of Less Than Jake, I don’t think I realized just how special this band is to the audience they have. There’s an inherent silliness to each set, keeping things light and almost cartoon-like, but at the heart of it all is a very close knit community. Just observing and being in the room between sets, you hear stories of shows past, songs being traded through generations, and plans to get to the next show.
Less Than Jake, Bowling For Soup, and The Aquabats brought the summer sun into Brooklyn Steel on June 28th, each playing a full headlining length set. I’ve passed each of these bands at their respective Warped Tour sets back in the day, but never taken more than a few minutes to really experience a non-festival setting show. Though each band had some similarities, each had a very unique presence that appealed to every person in the room. The Aquabats came out in their outfits and talked about their TV show (which everyone there had seen), Bowling For Soup brought out the nostalgia, performing the Phineas and Ferb theme song, and Less Than Jake played to their die hard fans, without alienating anyone who was new to the scene. They created a club every person was welcome in.
This show really felt like a proper summer kick off! Make sure you add these bands to your beach and backyard party playlists and check out the highlights from the show below:
