Tonight
the Academy in Bristol hosted one of the most
energetic tours to come to the venue in a really
long time in the form of a triple-headed American
ska-punk tour which saw Zebrahead, Less Than Jake
and Reel Big all share the stage for one of the
most anticipated ska tours of the year.
First up were Zebrahead and tonight I learnt never
to trust the stage times posted on the Bristol
Academy website and Facebook page as I got to
the venue thinking I was 15minutes early giving
me enough time to get into the venue and my coat
put in the cloak room
but it actually turned out that Zebrahead had
already taken to the stage as their set time was
extended so by the time I finally got in and battled
through the massive queue to the cloak room I
headed into the main room to catch the remainder
of the Zebrahead set and like usual Zebrahead
were on top form and had a bar set up on stage
and in between songs invited members of the audience
up on stage to pick a drink and down it, musically
Zebrahead did exactly what they do best and smashed
their way through various big bouncy energetic
punk songs with a hip-hop twist and the likes
of ‘Drink Drink My Germans’, ‘Mental
Health’, ‘I’m Just Here For
The Free Beer’ and ‘Anthem’
were instant hits throughout their set.
There
was a quick twenty minute change around on stage
and then Less Than Jake took to the stage and
from the start they had the crowd in the palm
of their hand as they played one big bouncy ska-punk
anthem after another, the whole set they played
was like a greatest hits concert but at the same
time they also managed to include a few songs
from their most recent album ‘See The Light’
which instantly went down a storm with the crowd
especially when they opened with the album opening
track ‘Good Enough’ and then went
on to play ‘My Money Is On The Long Shot’
and ‘Give Me Something To Believe In, Inc’
which instantly had the crowd on their feet skanking
like mad.
Through
their set Roger and Chris had a lot of banter
with the crowd telling them how they went to Pret
a Manger and had the worst food they ever had,
to then saying how they will not be watching the
Super bowl but will be smoking a Super bowl to
then getting a fan to bring their t-shirt on stage
for them to sign with Chris shouting out “You
will never see Paramore, My Chemical Romance or
Fall Out Boy doing this”
Over the years Less Than Jake have aged like we
all have but when it comes to their live shows
they put as much energy and passion into it as
they did say 20 years ago and that is what makes
Less Than Jake a joy to watch as the energy on
stage was fantastic and hearing
the crowd sing-a-long word for word top the likes
of ‘History Of A Boring Town’, ‘
Scott Farcas Takes It On The Chin, ‘Johnny
Quest Thinks We Are Sellouts’, ‘Plastic
Cup Politics was great but the main highlights
were when they played ‘All My Best Friends
Are Metalheads’ and ‘Gainesville Rock
City’ which had the crowd explode with excitement
like they were in their teens again as soon as
the first notes were laid down.
Less
Than Jake played for a hour and 10minutes tonight
and managed to play a solid 18 tracks and left
me wondering how the headliners Reel Big Fish
could top the show Less Than Jake just put on
and that was easily answered shortly after Reel
Big Fish took to the stage.
After another twenty minute set up on stage headliners
Reel Big Fish took to the stage and looking like
a mad mash up band with the whole band wearing
clothing that was so different from each other
with Hawaiian shirts, massive silky shorts, sunglasses,
suits gracing the stage as they smashed straight
into a great set with ‘Everything Sucks’,
‘I Want your Girlfriend To be My Girlfriend
Too’, ‘Everyone Else Is An Asshole’
and ‘Trendy’ all be played back to
back within the first 10minutes and from this
moment I realised that after not seeing Reel Big
Fish on the live circuit for such a long time
that tonight’s set is going one I will be
remembering for a long time.
As the set progressed Reel Big Fish played ‘Good
Thing’, ‘Where Have You Been’,
‘ I Dare You To Break My Heart’, ‘Thank
You For Not Moshing’, ‘Hiding My Headphones’,
‘She Has A Girlfriend Now’ but it
was the likes of ‘Monkey Man’, ‘Beer’,
‘Sell Out’ and ‘Take On Me’
which the crowd were patiently waiting for the
most tonight and when each and every one of these
tracks were played the venue erupted with excitement
with people who have never meet before singing
the lyrics loud and clear into each other’s
ears as the whole venue came together for some
energetic sing-a-long fun.
Every
single year for at least the past five years Reel
Big Fish have headed over to the UK in February
for a headline tour and every single time the
tour seems to sell out well in advanced and it
is easy to see why as Reel Big Fish are all about
having a laugh and entertaining their fans and
that is exactly what happened tonight as Reel
Big Fish played a solid 19 song set and even ran
over their 11pm curfew and the venue staff didn’t
even seem bothered as they seemed to be enjoying
the show as much as everyone else.
Overall tonight was my first gig of the year and
proved to be a fantastic night and one where I
came home with such a gruff sounding voice due
to nearly losing my voice singing-a-long to catchy
tunes for the best part of three hours as three
of the hottest ska-punk bands around at the moment
entertained a sold out Academy in Bristol.
Zebrahead 4/5
Less Than Jake 5/5
Reel Big Fish 5/5
Review By Trigger
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