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The Rice Thresher
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Brandon Konstantinovich for the Thresher
Nearing the end of the U.S. leg of their "2001: A Space Idiocy" tour with Teen Idols, Anti-Flag, and fellow Floridians A New Found Glory, the band was clearly not yet worn out from months on the road supporting their latest album, Borders and Boundaries. Teen Idols kicked things off, but the crowd didn't come alive until Anti-Flag started its set with "Fuck Police Brutality." After several more hardcore political punk anthems like "This Machine Kills Fascists," A New Found Glory took the stage. Their upbeat, energetic two-minute pop-punk songs were a welcome change for the mostly younger crowd at the show. Largely playing new tracks from their latest self-titled album, such as "Hit or Miss" and "Better Off Dead," A New Found Glory warmed up the crowd for the main event. In typical '80s metal band fashion, Less Than Jake strolled triumphantly on stage through a thick fog, with strobe lights flashing and the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey blaring. A circle pit broke out in front of the stage as soon as the audience heard the first few chords of "Suburban Myth." The energy level both on and off the stage never dropped as the band and its entourage danced around while the fans sang along to every song. According to J.R., LTJ's trombonist, during the entire tour venues had been as packed as the Aerial. "Last night [in Dallas] was the only show that hasn't been sold out this whole tour, and there were 2,000 kids there. This tour has been great for all the bands, and it's been a lot of fun - everybody's made good friends." The set contained a good mix of both old and new material, including "Pete Jackson is Getting Married," "Gainesville Rock City" and the classics "Last One Out of Liberty City" and "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts." The show reached its climax as the band was finishing the guitar-driven crowd favorite "My Very Own Flag," when one of the band's costumed dancers breathed fire out over the stage. J.R. explained that such antics mean a lot to LTJ. "One thing that's missing from music nowadays is the spectacular things that the glam metal bands had, like the big explosions and whatnot. And they don't do that stuff anymore," J.R. said. "Nirvana kind of killed that. "So let's bring back a little of the spectacle on a more ghetto level. We try to keep it cheap, we try to keep it exciting," he said. "We try and have fun and make each other laugh. We figure if we make each other laugh, somebody else is going to find it funny." Considering their similarities to metal bands, it's not surprising that LTJ opened for Bon Jovi on several tour dates last year. Their shenanigans caused some confusion among the elder rockers, though. "Our sense of comedy is kind of warped, to tell you the truth," J.R. said. "The guys on the Bon Jovi tour were seriously worried about us."
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