Videos: Less Than Jake Tour Blog: part two

As Less Than Jake continue eastward with Reel Big Fish, The Flatliners and The Real Deal, today's stop sees the tour stopping in Regina, Saskatchewan (home of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League). Punknews is along for the ride. You can read part two of Ben's blog as he travels with the band continues after the jump with video footage of their in-store appearance in Edmonton.You can click Read More for the the video and journal.

Last night’s show was a blast. I hadn’t seen the band play a club setting outside of The Fest in about ten years and was curious to see what kind of set list they’d throw together. This being a co-headlining tour, the band has a shorter time on stage than they are accustomed to (65 minutes). That being the case, Chris DeMakes (guitar/co-vocals) says the band tries to fit as many of the songs people are really looking forward to hearing into the set. The 17 songs they did play spanned the bulk of the band’s catalogue. I was particularly stoked to see the inclusion of ‘Look What Happened’ and ‘Gainesville Rock City,’ both from 2000’s Borders & Boundaries, one of my favorite albums and one I didn’t get a chance to see them tour on. The rest of the set list looked a little something like this:

Does The Lion City Still Roar?
Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts
All My Best Friends Are Metalheads
Look What Happened
Summon Monsters
The Ghosts Of Me And You
Great American Sharphooter
How’s My Driving Doug Hasting
The Science Of Selling Yourself Short
Conviction Notice
Sugar In Your Gas Tank
Automatic
Al’s War
Last One Out Of Liberty City
Encore
Dopeman
Gainesville Rock City
Plastic Cup Politics
The show was great, and Edmonton seemed to have a good time. Between the onstage banter and Buddy’s dancing in a George W. Bush mask, the band kept the audience laughing in between songs. The venue warned Less Than Jake that they would be charged $200 if they shot confetti into the crowd as planned. I'm not sure if a cost-benefit calculation was done, but the confetti came out regardless.
By the time gear got loaded in it wasn’t long before I realized I had been up for 24 hours. I climbed into by bunk not sure of how well I’d sleep. Thankfully memory foam mattresses and total exhaustion took care of any potential sleeping problems and I woke up around 10:00 this morning as we pulled into Regina. The club hosting tonight’s show, The Distrikt, is located in the city’s warehouse district. Walking around on foot makes you feel as though you’re in a desert town in the American south more than the Canadian prairies. Being a college town and the provincial capital, I'm sure Regina has more to offer than seedy looking tattoo parlors and shut down restaurants, but that'll have to wait until the next visit.

On the way to the in-store today the cab driver, full of biker tattoos and a baseball hat decorated with flames made the inappropriate joke of the day, claiming that Greyhound’s new slogan is "Greyhound, where you be-headin’" Too soon? Today’s in-store went well, despite two fliers posted throughout the city, each advertising the show at a different CD Plus, when in fact, it was actually scheduled for Zeus, which used to be a CD Plus. It was a nice little set and people seemed to appreciate seeing some classic Less Than Jake songs played acousticely. The band signed CDs and shook hands when they were done, which gave me time to grab a couple seasons of The X-Files, the only season of Freaks and Geeks and The Coen Brothers collection on DVD. We grabbed a bite to eat at a small local establishment, which got me thinking about good food. Vinnie told me about a few good BBQ spots in Gainesville that must be checked out when I go to The Fest in October. Southern BBQ is the best. I just may have to roast a pig over a fire when I get home next week.
Tonight’s show should be fun. The club has a capacity of about 450 people, which is roughly half the amount of the people who have been coming to the tour’s shows thus far. I don’t think the band plays venues this size too often, which might make the crowd feel as though they’re part of something special. The venue makes good use of it's small space and is pumping Minus The Bear over the PA right now, so they're good in my books.
If you haven’t already, I urge you to check out