On This Day 23/05/2004 Less Than Jake

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On this day, 23 May 2004, American ska punk band Less Than Jake played Cardiff University on their Anthem tour.

Formed in 1992, the band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone).

The group released its debut album, Pezcore, in 1995, following a series of independent seven-inch single releases. The band's subsequent two studio albums, Losing Streak (1996) and Hello Rockview (1998), were released on major label, Capitol Records, leading to increased exposure. Borders and Boundaries was released in 2000 on Fat Wreck Chords.

The band's fifth studio album Anthem (2003) was the group's most commercially successful to date. Debuting at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 (the band's highest to date), the album featured three major singles in both the US and the UK, with "She's Gonna Break Soon" (which spent a couple weeks on TRL), "The Science Of Selling Yourself Short" (which spent five weeks on the Billboard Top 40, peaking at No. 37), and "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out" (featuring Billy Bragg), which spent time in the UK Top 40.

Actress Alexis Bledel, known for her role as Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, appeared in the video for "She's Gonna Break Soon", where she played the unnamed subject of the song, an angsty teen girl who has a nervous breakdown and destroys her bedroom over the course the song.

The band spent the rest of the year promoting the new album by playing the Warped Tour and gained support from Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, and Bang Tango during its fall 2003 tour. The band released B Is for B-sides in July 2004.

The album comprised tracks that didn't make Anthem's final cut and was produced by Less Than Jake. The DVD retrospective The People's History of Less Than Jake appeared a month later, featuring both professional and bootleg recordings of the band. The band also held the opening spot on the main stage during the Projekt Revolution tour in the summer of 2004 with Linkin Park, Korn, Snoop Dogg, and The Used before taking a long break to write the group's next record.





Setlist

Plastic Cup Politics

Last One Out of Liberty City

Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts

Welcome to the New South

The Ghosts of Me and You

Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding

Lockdown

Dopeman

Sleep It Off

The Science of Selling Yourself Short

Happyman

9th at Pine

All My Best Friends Are Metalheads

Mr. Chevy Celebrity

Automatic

Last Hour of the Last Day of Work

Escape From the A-Bomb House

Shindo

The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out / Screws Fall Out


Encore:

Look What Happened

Gainesville Rock City