The Gainesville-based band has been around the world more than a few times, but on Labor Day weekend you can count on them to perform for their hometown fans at High Dive.
Does it really seem like Less Than Jake, which began its rise to stardom from simple Gainesville roots, is beginning its 25th year as a band?
“Absolutely not!” said Vinnie Fiorello, the band’s drummer and co-founder with Chris DeMakes. “It feels like the blink of an eye.”
That’s because Less Than Jake, the five-member ska punk band, has maintained a fast and furious pace for the past quarter-century, recording eight studio albums, keeping a tour schedule that would burn out many musicians and creating what Fiorello calls “an unshakable bond.”
“What I do know is that we’ve been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows together, and that the rest of the dudes that I share a stage with may not be blood, but they are most definitely my brothers and they’re most definitely my family,” Fiorello said.
To show appreciation to their hometown fans, the band is hosting its fifth annual Less Than Jake Wake N Bake Weekend over the Labor Day holiday at High Dive in downtown Gainesville.
The fun begins tonight with Less Than Jake headlining a Night 1 concert that also includes Morning Fatty, Kash’d Out and Dr/veways. On Saturday night, the Night 2 lineup includes LTJ, Peelander-Z, The Busdrivers and Bothering Dennis. Tickets to each night are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.
“It’s all to celebrate Gainesville, man!” Fiorello said. “It’s a simple thing. A few years ago, we found that while we were touring a lot, we were neglecting our hometown, that we were neglecting Gainesville.
“We wanted to make sure we carved out a specific weekend for Gainesville, no matter how busy our schedule is. We set this date and we will always play this date. We have to make sure the roots we have as a band stay strong and are not forgotten about.”
For the past four years, always on Labor Day weekend, Less Than Jake has performed at High Dive, one of the local spots where the band cut its teeth in the early ’90s when the venue was known as the Covered Dish. The band played its first gig at the old Hardback Café, which is now part of the Boca Fiesta/Palomino complex next to the Hippodrome.
The Wake N Bake Weekend has always been about more than music. This year is no exception. This afternoon at 5, the band is scheduled to appear at First Magnitude Brewing Co. for the keg tap of a raspberry wheat ale in honor of Less Than Jake.
“I had a chance to go down and get a taste of it while it was fermenting,” Fiorello said. “Good stuff!”
On Saturday, the Wake N Bake festivities will include a road rally in which 15 teams drive around Gainesville looking for clues at specific landmarks. On Sunday, the music moves to Loosey’s Downtown when Less Than Jake does an acoustic show during brunch.
Although High Dive is smaller than most venues Less Than Jake plays, Fiorello said it holds a special place in the band’s collective heart.
“When we first started gelling in Gainesville, Covered Dish had opened,” Fiorello said. “This guy, Bill Bryson, was booking shows. We sort of grew into that venue. It still feels like the Covered Dish to me. It doesn’t matter what the name is. It still feels like when we first started as a band. It feels cool.”
Fiorello even waxes nostalgia when he strolls by Boca Fiesta, where Alan Bushnell’s original Hardback Café was the epicenter of the local music scene.
“It’s cool to be able to see the old place and go, ‘Oh yeah, I’m having a taco now, but this is where we had our first club show in Gainesville,” he said.
For Wake N Bake Weekend, Fiorello said that Less Than Jake fans can expect two completely different sets.
“Both go through deep cuts as well as popular songs by the band,” he said. “Most of our stuff is a mixed grab bag anyway as far as genre is concerned. Some stuff is a little bit harder, a little bit more gritty, and then other stuff is a little bit more laid back and ska or very kinetic and ska.”
The Less Than Jake catalog now includes more than 100 song titles.
“At some shows, we’ve dove so far deep into our catalog that I think no one in the room knew what song we were playing,” Fiorello said. “There’s a balance to doing a set list and making an enjoyable experience for the hardened fan or just someone who goes, ‘Hey, I’ve just moved to Gainesville and I’ve kind of heard of Less Than Jake, so let me go.’
“You want to reach that person as much as you want to reach that fan who has deep roots and has been a fan for almost as long as we’ve been a band. So you want to balance that set every night to make everyone happy.”
With Less Than Jake going on 25 years as a band, Fiorello is in awe.
“Let me put things in perspective,” he said. “Less Than Jake has lasted longer than every single person in Less Than Jake that had been married. It has lasted longer than their marriages. It’s wild!”
In fact, the band has been intact for the past 14 years, when Peter “JR” Wasilewski (tenor saxophone) came onboard. Original Less Than Jake members include Roger Lima (vocals, bass), Buddy Schaub (trombone), DeMakes (vocals, guitar) and Fiorello (drums), who is also Less Than Jake’s primary lyricist.
“I don’t know if Less Than Jake will last forever, but we’ve been around for 25 years, and that’s a long time for a band,” Fiorello said. “It doesn’t feel like it, and I’m grateful every day that we have that bond. Not many people can say that.”
Less Than Jake has performed on the Warped Tour all summer, including their first-ever concert in Mexico City during a ska festival. At the end of September, the will begin a busy month touring throughout Europe. The band will return to Gainesville at the end of October to headline a concert at Bo Diddley Plaza during Fest 15.
There’s also a ninth album in the works, according to Fiorello.
“We’re actually going to lay down some drum tracks and some other tracks after Wake N Bake for a few weeks before we go over to Europe,” he said. “Our aim is to do an EP for release in early in 2017.”
In other words, any rumors about Less Than Jake’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“We’re still being creative, we’re still playing music together, and we’re still pushing into new things like Mexico City,” he said. “We continue to hold onto the roots that we have and have planted, and we continue to stretch out as much as we can.
“That’s always been the plan for Less Than Jake, and that continues to be the plan.”
— Noel Leroux
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