March 22, 2024 – L’Olympia, Montreal, Quebec
First off, I need to confess. I got this wrong. When I saw the announcement that Less Than Jake were going to be playing at L’Olympia, one of the bigger venues in the city – I thought this can’t be right. They won’t fill that room. Wrong. See, my thought process was based upon their last visit to Montreal, where they played a less than capacity show at Club Soda a few blocks down the street. Since that wasn’t full, I thought there would be way they would draw 2200 people out this time.
Well, serve me up my big ol’ plate of cold, cold crow because not only did they sell out the building, but there were a whole lot more people trying to get in that couldn’t. The banter from inside the venue was that the line-up to get into the venue was stretching down at least three blocks, all the way to Rene-Levesque boulevard. Now, let me stress that I absolutely love L’Olympia. It’s quite simply one of the nicest and classiest of the many venues we are fortunate to have in this city – but the security is beyond ridiculous.
See Also: Mad Caddies at Club Soda, Montreal
Getting into the venue is always a nightmare. They poke and probe every inch of clothing you’re wearing and search everything but the anal cavity, although I wouldn’t be shocked if they implemented that in the near future. Talk about overkill. When you have a little over two thousand people trying to get in to a see a show and there are more people outside than inside when the second of three bands begins to play, there’s a serious issue. Ticket’s aren’t cheap these days, and people I spoke to said they had been in line for over an hour. Imagine shelling out all that dough during the days of Trudeau’s bullshit carbon tax to spend the majority of the gig outside looking in.
The Raging Nathans
This meant that The Raging Nathans played their entire set to a less than half-filled room, while people that wanted to see them were outside, freezing their genitals off on the sidewalk. If I was a Nathan, I’d be in a rage too. The clue was in the name.
Still, it didn’t seem to phase them much as The Raging Nathans blasted through a grippingly entertaining and energetic set. Of the three bands on tonight’s bill, these guys are the one I am the least familiar with but they are on my radar now. Probably the same is true for a lot of those that had the chance to see them tonight, too. It’s a shame so many weren’t able to get in to witness it. The fact remains that the band deserved better and were denied it.
The objective of the opening acts is to spark an audience and get people ready for the headlining act and that was certainly achieved here. Punk rock played the way it was meant to be – fast, aggressive, some melody and attitude but most of all high energy. Music to skate to, dance to and evidently surf too.
I particularly enjoyed hearing Drug Dealin’ (For Money) off of their split EP with the Dwarves, which is a lot of fun and a little naughty for an all ages show but, hey, if you’re going to bring your kids to a punk rock show, they’re going to get a punk rock education. That doesn’t mean little Johnny is going to start slinging dope in the school yard after hearing that track, but is also doesn’t mean he won’t. Khaahmsayin’!
Strung Out
As much as I love Strung Out, and I really do – I haven’t always been a fan of theirs when it came to their live shows. A few years ago, I felt that the band had gotten better on the live front, and having seen them twice last year, and now here tonight, I can confirm that they are probably better now than at any other point in their career. To emphasize that remark, I feel I should mention that I first saw them back in the late 90s, and have seen them at least a dozen times since then, in multiple cities. Mmmkay! And yeah! Tonight, they kicked ass.
Midway through their set, Strung Out introduced a new song from their upcoming album Dead Rebellion which drops in about a fortnight, called New Gods – and it shreds. The formula is very much what we’ve come to expect from Strung Out, although there is more and more of a metal influence that is creeping into their tunes. I’m more than good with that. Before they played, the boys were jamming some riffs by Down at soundcheck – which I thought was pretty cool.
Between the late soundcheck and the start of their set, I could see the guys jumping up and down backstage, getting themselves psyched up for what they were about to bring to the stage. Seeing them still doing that all these years in, was somehow motivational to me. To see the passion that still exists, that’s an awesome thing. Maybe I’m just a sentimental fool, but people about to phone it in aren’t doing that sort of thing. This is still as special to them as it is to us.
At one point late in their set, the band got the crowd to chant the name of fallen Punk legend Tony Sly – who is a beloved icon here in Montreal. I don’t need to tell you how loudly the audience responded to that request, and in turn, Strung Out replied with a brilliant cover of No Use For A Name’s Soul Mate. Hearing two thousand or so people belting out Sly’s lyrics was therapeutic and brought back a lot of memories. What a classy move from an already fantastic band.
In all, Strung Out churned out thirteen tunes, all of them solid picks from their impressive catalogue that would soon number in at ten studio albums. Selections like Analog, Firecracker and Bring Out Your Dead were all great to hear again, but it was Matchbook that got the greatest respond from the crowd. Rivaled perhaps only by the aforementioned Soul Mate cover.
Less Than Jake
Finally, all the cardboard cutouts they were faced the wrong way, and fooled nobody, were turned towards the crowd. An indication that the evenings final act was gearing up to take the stage.
Tonight Less Than Jake come to town to play 1998’s Hello Rockview in its entirety. In fact, the whole tour is geared around doing exactly that, and I’m going to wager that maybe that is why they packed out this venue – they dragged out all the punk rockers and moon stompers, the ska kids and their own kids, too. This was an all-ages show that spread across generations which is both strange and wonderful to see. Twenty-five years ago, when I first heard these songs, never would I have thought I’d be seeing a show like this. Where does the time go? How did I get so old and how do all these people have kids now? Wild, man.
Artists always play to their crowds in the same way they walk off stage pretending they aren’t coming back to play a couple more tunes as an encore. Everyone knows it’s coming. It’s just tradition. All artists tell whatever crowd they’re in on whatever night that they’re the best crowd they’ve played to so far on this current tour. Lip service. But I’ve never heard a band repeat it so many times on a given night as multiple members of Less Than Jake did tonight. Maybe there’s truth to Chris DeMakes loving Montreal.
Then again, tonight was the first time DeMakes has ever had a proper Montreal smoked meat sandwich in the three decades he has been playing here. So… yeah!
Speaking of encores – tonight’s was six songs long. Six! People had began walking out, trying to beat the coat check lines that are as ridiculous as the hassle to get in. First came The Science of Selling Yourself Short and then Automatic. Realizing their fuck up when the third song, Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts, began; most turned back to catch the rest of the encore. Those that did then were treated to Lie To Me, Gainesville Rock City and finally Look What Happened. They swore that was the last track.
At one point, DeMakes attempted to tell the crowd that he didn’t speak – and did so in hilarious fashion, saying “Je do not parles a vous” (I do not talk to you). Now, yeah, we do speak a strange mix of English and French in Montreal – which gloriously irks the jerks in power (up yours Legault!) but this one sentence took the cake. I laughed but even though French isn’t my native tongue, appreciated the effort, and I’m sure many others did too. Nice try Chris! Horribly wrong, but nice try!
And there was more – before playing Richard Allen George… No, It’s Just Cheez, for some reason, the band started to talking to each other about “stinky fromage“. Topping that off, DeMakes pointed out a set of twins that sell beer at shows, and these are some seriously tall lads – one of whom was adorn in Viking-esque horns tonight. “That’s the guy that stormed the Capital building” yelled bassist Roger Lima. Good times, good times!
Read More:
>> Less Than Jake at Club Soda, Montreal
>> Chris Demakes of Less Than Jake
>> Strung Out at Club Soda, Montreal
With all the people who were frustrated getting in, now being frustrated by how hard it is to get out as they spilled out into the night, I overheard several people talking about how great the night had been. I couldn’t help but agree. Two thousand people came out to see the show tonight. How great is that!
It surely won’t be long before we see Less Than Jake back in Montreal – and I’m already looking forward to it.
