Bad Religion/Less Than Jake/Hot Water Music

live in Washington, DC (2002)

Chris Moran

I can't think of a more appropriate title for the current Bad Religion/Less than Jake/Hot Water Music tour than simply, the "Monsters of Punkrock". Never before in my humble life have I seen a more incredible lineup of three of my favorite bands, all appearing together in a club tour. I just prayed that my expectations wouldn't kill the actual event for me.

It seems that when Bad Religion goes on a club tour, people come out of the woodwork to see them. Old punkers, scenesters, kids, adults….everyone. Hell, I had my fair share of old friends calling me or seeing me around town saying "Dude, did you hear Bad Religion is playing here next month?" Yes I did.

There were 2 shows in the Virginia area, Norfolk and DC. Both are about an hour and a half drive, so what the hell? Two days of Bad Religion. I opted to write my review on the DC show, as for some reason I was expecting more (mainly that Mr. Brett would make an appearance, but alas, no dice).

Naturally, Bad Religion will sell-out a show in DC without any problem. Add LTJ and HWM, and you get scalping of tickets. You get groups of kids wondering aimlessly outside the venue asking, " Hey man, got a spare ticket?" No, I don't.

Because of the enormous crowd and line, I only got to see about 1/3 of Hot Water Music's set. That really pissed me off. I missed the entire set the previous night because the club will not take into account that people were still waiting outside. I did manage to see my favorite song, "Turnstile", which is always a crowd favorite as well. What impressed me was how well the crowd took to HWM. Months ago, I saw them in this very same venue on Plea for Peace, and people just stood around looking stupid. On this night, people went apeshit. The crowd bobbed up and down to almost every song, screamed choruses together, and just soaked in everything HWM had to offer.

If anyone could follow up a powerful set like HWM always offers, it would be their Gainesville, FL brethren, Less than Jake. Now, many will disagree, but I have always felt that Less than Jake is the funniest band in punk. That doesn't mean they are my favorite band, but if there is one band that truly loves what they do, and that wants you to enjoy a show, its Less than Jake. LTJ were not going to disappoint on this night either. They played a vast variety of songs from almost every album including "Liquor Store", "Automatic", "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sell-outs" and the metal-fist, crowd favorite "Gainesville Rock City". LTJ also teased the crowd with 2 new tracks, one of which, "Plastic Cup Politics", had the place go nuts. The stage setup also proved to be a very interesting part of the show. With a variety of televisions placed about the stage, bizarre (mostly homemade) images would randomly appear. The strangest seemed to be what looked like an alien smoking a cigarette and a gimp.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar with seeing Bad Religion live, it has become a quite infamous tradition that they will make you wait forever. But that's how they want it. They want you so ready and built up when they come on, that you will lose your shit. Imagine, every time the song on the CD playing on the PA system ends, the crowd begins to cheer, but only to huff and puff when the next song begins. This went on for about 45 minutes. But finally the curtain began to open and there stood Greg Graffin, Greg Hetson, Jay Bentley, Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman (well, he was seated)…

Probably everyone there was expecting the set to open with something from the new album, but Bad Religion had plans of their own. "Suffer" had the crowd fly into a fury of uncontrollable chaos. Everyone in the 2-story balcony area was fighting to get their fists over the ledge and sing along. The band also went into the first 3 tracks from "The Process of Belief" one after another, which may seem corny, but they way it was, with Greg spouting off the song name quickly before the start of each, impressed the hell out of me.

Other highlights included Greg Hetson's always energetic bouncing about the stage, Jay slipping on water and seriously fucking up his knee- only to return with electric tape engulfed around it- a true punk rock remedy. Brooks was one of the most impressive aspects of the set. His energy and emotion and perfect timing on every track would make you think that he had been in the band for years.

Others on the setlist included "Skyscraper", "Stranger than Fiction", "Generator"- with the mid-song breakdown played briefly as Fugazi's "Merchandise", and a brief rendition of Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized", with Jay handling the vocals. On an interesting sidenote, the only track played from the Brett-less era was "Them and Us". Nothing from ‘No Substance' or ‘New America'.

Naturally, the show initially closed with "Fuck Armageddon", but after a brief and comical mock of the whole encore notion, they returned to fire up the house with "American Jesus" and "21st Century Digital Boy".

I can not fathom why any fan of punk would not go to this tour. If you city's show is sold out, get tickets. Go to Ebay, steal your friend's, find a scalper, just don't bitch to me when everyone and their mom tells you what a great show you missed.