You know what really grinds my gears?!?

Hanna Montana. Miley Cyrus. Whatever she wants to go by. She is everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Internet, clothing stores, TV, newspapers...every kid loves her. Why? she sounds like every other over produced female teenager that fronts a band. Nothing special about her. They said this morning that she has raked in over 2 billion dollars! Her tickets to her shows sell better then the Rolling Stones. My father in law would be quite disgusted with that. But why does the nation love her so much? Can anyone answer that?Who knows. Hopefully this fad will go in the near future, and take High School Musical with it.

Less Than Jake Delivers an Entertaining Show @ Summerfest

Less Than Jake has been my favorite band for a very long time, and every time I can catch them live, they play a fantastic, solid set. Last year they opened for Reel Big Fish July 4th at Summerfest, and THIS year they headlined the Harley Davidson stage with Goldfinger opening as well as a slew of other ska bands. We arrived when Big D and the Kids Table were just finishing their set. Never really got into them in my ska days, but the crowd enjoyed their music and there were plenty of kids skanking. Goldfinger was next. I was into them when I was probably 13 or so years old, so it's been quite some time since I actually listened to them or have had any thoughts on their music. They played some classic songs like "Mable", "Superman", "Here in your Bedroom" and their most famous song, which happens to be a cover "99 Luft Balloons". My little brother made it on stage during "Mable" along with 30 other kids. Their drummer decided to pull a person out of the crowd and drink a Miller High Life Lite out of his nasty Chick Taylor. Next up was Gainsville's finest.

They came on stage to the theme music to The A-Team, and opened up with "Does The Lion City Still Roar?", which is the single off of their newest album GNV FLA. Unfortunatly during their opening song, the sound was really sketchy on Chris's vocals so we couldn't hear him too well. Later in the show Roger's wireless chord pack battery died during his bass solo for "Gainsville Rock City". Here is the set list in no particular order of what was played:
Ghost of You and Me
Look What Happened
The Science of Selling Yourself Short
Plastic Cup Politics
Gainsville Rock City
Does The Lion City Still Roar?
Summon Monsters
Conviction Notice
The Rest Of My Life
Automatic
Sugar In Your Gas Tank
Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts
Krazy Glue
Hows My Driving, Doug Hastings?
Dopeman

during the set there was a drinking contest between an old gentlemen and the tour manager, as well as "Who's the Dirty Rat?" and a dance off between a member of the Suburban Legends and some cocky kid pulled from the crowd. "Whos the dirty Rat?" is where Chris picked three smelly guys and one unfortunate girl out of the crowd to play this game where she (blindfolded) had to stick her nose into their armpits to see which one smelled the worst. She picked this guy (appropriately titled Mr. Duechebag from Chris) sporting sunglasses at night, a bad mohawk, a wife beater as well as some snaggley teeth. They had to dirty dance during "Conviction Notice" as well. During their encore of "Plastic Cup Politics", everyone was to whip their shirts around their heads in a helacopter-like motion. It was pretty funny. Also, Chris had this idea that he would get everyone to sit down (on the benches) and then do a huge wave like at a sporting event. It was pretty funny.

It was quite the entertaining night, with some classic songs, and a few brand new ones. If you can catch them on their Shout it Out Loud tour, try to. It was a good time had by all.

Alkaline Trio Performs Solid Classic Set @ Summerfest

It started out being quite a muggy afternoon due to the consistent rain down pouring throughout the day, then stopping, then starting again. By the time my brother and I got to Summerfest, the weather looked good at the time. There were three opening bands. One of them hailed from Kentucky, but the name escapes me. They weren't too bad. The second band I recognized. The A.K.A's from Philly. They were alright. They defiantly played the crowd and had some good fun. The singer didn't like the kids sitting in the front row that weren't standing up on the bleachers. It basically poured during a good half of their set. The drunks around us seemed to enjoy the rain. The last of the opening bands was a local band (I once again can't recall their name). They were alright, but I somewhat doubt this was their kind of crowd. Kramp and Adler (the two 102.1 radio DJ's that announced them) said they were the first radio station to play them before they released a CD. I wasn't that impressed.

Then came Alkaline Trio.

There was a cold chill coming from the Lakefront as the Chicago-based band took the stage. They opened with "Private Eye", which had all of the benches bouncing. After that song, they went right into "Clavicle" off of their Goddammit CD. There was very little said between songs, which is typical of any Alkaline Trio song. I think they prefer to pack as much songs as they possibly can. In no particular order, the rest of set list went like this:

Time to Waste

Mercy Me

In Vein

Help Me

Calling All Skeletons

Lost and Rendered

I Lied My Face Off

Goodbye Forever

Blue Carolina

This Could Be Love

Crawl

Armageddon

I Found Away

Love Love, Kiss Kiss

I think the highlight of the night was when they played "Blue Carolina" because I don't recall them ever playing that song live. You can tell from the set list that there was a pretty good split of the brand new songs from Agony and Irony, and the back catalog. The new songs they played were pretty great.  Love Love, Kiss Kiss (despite the org haters) is a really great song filled with classic Dan lyrics. 

I think the only new song that everyone knew some lyrics were to the single "Help Me", which has grown on me nicely. 

Behind us for a solid 45 minutes were kids yelling for "Radio". Of course Alkaline Trio came back for an encore to play it. They've been finishing with that song for quite some time. So with that in mind, everyone was belting out the chorus as loud as they could.

Overall, the night was a great time. Despite spending most of the night soaked and balancing on a slippery 6-inch beam (which felt more like a surfboard) my bro and I had fun.

I recommend checking them out on tour.

Pictured Below is Dan.