Review: Less Than Jake at Freo.Social

Less Than Jake at Freo.Social
w/ The Bennies, Young Offenders
Sunday, October 27, 2024

If someone told you to close your eyes and picture a Less Than Jake gig, it’s pretty easy to conjure: a room packed with smiling, bouncing, dancing humans, a stage packed with excellent musicians seemingly having the time of their lives, and a generally festive atmosphere. Well, the Perth leg of their Rockview Down Under tour was no exception. Warmed up by utter workhorse duo Young Offenders and bolstered by party boys The Bennies, the night was a perfect Sunday funday from start to finish.

Radelaide punk band Young Offenders kicked things off to an already impressively-sized crowd, the two of them looking kind of lonely on that big stage with so many instruments already set up for the upcoming acts. It didn’t matter though; the sound these two produced by themselves was impressive as hell, particularly when considering how full of musicians the stage would soon become. Vocalist/guitarist Kyle Landman and drummer Leigh Shags left it all out there, gaining some new fans and certainly a lot of admiration from the room. When you can produce that kind of sound with two instruments (sweaty work though it may be), maybe that proves sometimes less really is more?

Party boys The Bennies took an opposite approach, with the biggest performing ensemble most WA fans would have ever seen them take to the stage with. Since when do they have someone on horns? Who cares though, because it was fucking great! You know what you’re going to get with The Bennies—the very highest of energy, the very partiest of vibes, and always one of the most fun sets to experience. They must be one of the best bands out there for warming up a crowd, and, given that the headliners were playing an album in full that was first released twenty-six years ago (fuck me, can that really be true?!) there were probably a few old hats in that crowd that needed a good warm up in order to preserve some ageing bones! Finishing their set with Party Machine was a winner; it made it impossible not to get amongst it on that generously-sized Freo.Social floor.

Less Than Jake never, ever disappoint, and neither did they this evening. What a trip down memory lane getting to hear Hello Rockview in full! The album’s chock-full of cult ska punk hits many in the room would have grown up cranking as young punks and probably still own on CD (guilty!). If you found yourself in the midst of the floor, you’d have felt like you were part of a chorus, particularly with bangers such as Last One Out of Liberty City, All My Best Friends Are Metalheads, Danny Says and Big Crash. The atmosphere was friendly, festive and genuinely joyful in that way that no one can achieve quite like Less Than Jake. The band absolutely nailed it with the songs from other albums they chose to top the night off with, starting with The Science of Selling Yourself Short to get everyone singing along earnestly, building up to Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts, and putting a lovely cherry on the cake of an excellent evening with Gainesville Rock City.

What a night! It was a perfect line-up to support one of the best ska punk bands from one of the best eras of the genre. There were probably many sore heads on Monday morning in Perth, but one thing’s for sure: this reviewer certainly can’t have been the only one waking up with some sort of banger from Hello Rockview in their ear, ready to take on the week ahead with an extra bounce in their step.

MELISSA KRUGER

Photos by Linda Dunjey