Does the lion city still blog?

This must be a record for me: Two ska shows, two nights in a row? Unheard of! Tonight, I took in the Less Than Jake/Goldfinger tour tonight back in Cleveland, and I gotta tell you, it was a blast. Unfortunately, Big D And The Kids Table had to miss tonight's show due to van troubles, and even more unfortunately, this meant we were assaulted with an extended opening set from Suburban Legends, a band who used to play ska but have now turned themselves into some weird frat-house funk/party-rock band. Their choreographed dance moves and cheesy Disney song covers are entertaining for about three minutes, and then you'll find yourself checking (and re-checking) the merch booth for cool swag from the other bands.

With Big D sidelined, co-headliners Goldfinger were up next. After racking my brain, I realized I hadn't seen John Feldmann & Co. live since September 1997 -- nearly 11 year ago! Kind of ridiculous, considering how much they tour (but also considering their recorded output progressively got worse during that decade, maybe it's not so ridiculous after all). One might think the 'finger would've beefed up their set since the tour was down a band, but nope -- as is usual with Goldfinger headlining sets, they barely played 40 minutes (seriously, their set was shorter than Suburban Legends' 45-minute set). The setlist was pretty solid (see below), but c'mon, dudes: Would it kill you to play for an hour? I mean, seriously. You have six albums to your name (and at least two of those albums are good); it's not like you're hurting for material.

GOLDFINGER SETLIST (by album)
Goldfinger - Here In Your Bedroom, Mable, My Girlfriend's Shower Sucks, Miles Away
Hang-Ups - Superman, Question
Stomping Ground - Counting The Days, San Simeon, 99 Red Balloons
Open Your Eyes - Open Your Eyes
Hello Destiny - Get Up

After another half-hour set change, Gainesville, Florida's finest took the stage in front of what felt like a sold-out crowd (I don't think the House Of Blues was technically sold out, but man, there were a hell of a lot of people in there) and just dominated from start to finish. LTJ are one of those bands where their back catalog is so vast, you never really know what they're going to play. Tonight's set relied a little more on their live staples than I would've preferred, but then again there's at least a dozen more live staples they didn't play in favor of playing these. Guess you can't fault a band for having, like, 50-plus songs that work well in a live setting. The new material from GNV FLA sounded particularly strong (I've found myself really coming around to that album, too, after I kind of wrote it off originally). As is usual with LTJ sets, there were impromptu onstage dance parties with handpicked audience members, confetti blasts into the crowd and tons of crowd participation -- tonight, they brought up a guy easily in his fifties named Conrad and had him enter a beer-drinking contest against one of Suburban Legends guys (Conrad won -- way to go, old dude!). Oh, yeah, for anyone who's attended an LTJ show in Cleveland in the past four years: The Superman-costume guy was there again, and soaring like no one's business during "Gainesville Rock City." Cleveland seems to always respond well to this band, as we even summoned them back for a second encore tonight, something they hadn't done all tour.

LESS THAN JAKE SETLIST (by album)
Pezcore - Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts
Losing Streak - How's My Driving Doug Hastings?, Dopeman
Hello Rockview - Last One Out Of Liberty City, All My Best Friends Are Metalheads, History Of A Boring Town, Great American Sharpshooter, Richard Allen George...No, It's Just Cheez, Al's War
Borders & Boundaries - Look What Happened, Gainesville Rock City
Anthem - The Ghosts Of You And Me, The Science Of Selling Yourself Short, Plastic Cup Politics
In With The Out Crowd - The Rest Of My Life
GNV FLA - Does The Lion City Still Roar?, Summon Monsters, Conviction Notice

Okay, it's time for me to hit the bricks. I forgot that I'm not really built for moshing anymore (something I learned the hard way when I braved the crowd and got almost to the front of the barricade for the start of Goldfinger's set). I could sure use a pedicure right now...