Chatter filled High Dive’s concert room as wisps of cigarette smoke from the outside bar drifted through the graffiti-covered door.
The crowd was ready for Less Than Jake.
As the equipment crew finished setting up the stage, fans were gently pushing their way around the room to find the best vantage point to see the night’s main attraction. One loud, distorted guitar note pierced the air, and the lights shut off. The crowd erupted.
Sunday was the beginning of the end of High Dive’s second Wake and Bake Weekend, a three-night concert series featuring Gainesville’s own Less Than Jake. The show also included performances by the Duppies, Morning Fatty and Ballyhoo! Not one band received a less-than-warm welcome from the eager crowd of skinny-jean-wearing fanatics.
“We’re homies with them,” said Morning Fatty bassist, John “Pop” Papoulis, regarding the band’s relationship with Less Than Jake. “It’s our fourth or fifth time playing with [them].”
Morning Fatty played a high-energy show and included their fan-favorite ode to dealers, “Street Pharmacist.” The band closed out its set with a unique version of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” that left the crowd scream-singing the lyrics back to the band. You would have thought the Beatles themselves were on stage.
“If people keep coming, we’ll keep playing,” Pop said.
When headliners Less Than Jake took the stage, the space front and center turned from a dance floor into a thrashing mosh pit. Some of the crowd members took a few safety steps backward to avoid getting dragged into the vortex of flailing limbs and flying drinks.
From a distance, all you could make out was a frenzied cluster of happy drunks and the occasional Converse-wearing foot of a crowd surfer who didn’t quite make it on top.
The members of Less Than Jake seemed to be in the comfort of their own home as they chatted and jabbed at each other with some friendly verbal abuse on stage. They went on to perform one of the loudest and longest sets of all the bands.
UF health science senior Gabrielle Lipman came to see Less Than Jake for the first time.
“I didn’t know much about them,” the 21-year-old said. “The way they interacted with the audience was really personal.”
The outside bar was a refuge for those who needed a smoke or a change out of their sweat-drenched clothes. Upon re-entry, the humid air sucked the breath out of your body as you tried to slide your way through the masses.
Mindy McCulloch, a Dunnellon resident, traveled an hour to make it to High Dive for the show.
“I came the first year and had a good time,” McCulloch said. “Why not come back this year?”
A version of this story ran on page 10 on 9/5/2013 under the headline "Local boys Less Than Jake come home to wake and bake with Gainesville"
Morning Fatty’s Andrew White performs at High Dive’s 2nd Annual Wake and Bake Weekend on Sunday. The band was followed by Ballyhoo! and headliners Less Than Jake.
