Something Like Sound

Photo by Steven Wooldridge

The E-Days concert once again pulled hundreds of students into Volk Gymnasium for a fun night of music. Starting off the night was a reggae band from Savannah, GA, that went by the name Passafire. While they insisted the crowd rock out, the music tended more towards a relaxed feel. Occasionally, the songs would break down from the easy-going sways into solid rock riffs that got the crowd moving significantly. The 45-minute set was pretty uniform from start to finish, but was certainly enjoyable.

Surprisingly, the reggae band was a pretty good match as an opener for the ska band headliner of the show, Less Than Jake.

After a between set break that carried on for well over 20 minutes, Less Than Jake came on excitedly and quickly got to playing. Their fast-paced songs were led by an equally fast guitar and punctuated by the signature ska sound of the trombone and saxophone. Most of their songs were fast, quick, and fun, but occasionally the set wound down to a more ska and less punk sound. Throughout their set, mosh pits were continuous and crowd surfers glided along by the dozen.

Of course, what E-Days concert doesn’t involve some ridiculous antics by the headlining band? Less Than Jake was quick to announce that they were actually the band Reel Big Fish and that they were from Tulsa, OK, neither of which is true. A few times, people were invited up on stage and asked to do one thing or another. The band ego was enormous, explaining how they were better than several other bands, such as My Chemical Romance and blink-182, based on ticket prices and such. All in all, their ridiculous attitude added to the atmosphere of the obviously ska punk concert.

Explaining that they don’t leave the stage and come back for encores anymore, they finished off their 90-minute set with three-song “encore,” and let the crowd go, finishing off a fun night.