is ska, more ska!
In high school, I was at a punk or ska show almost every weekend. Then, my body decided it was going to develop a crazy allergy to cigarette smoke. I had always gotten a scratchy throat around smoke, but my respiratory system decided smoke was evil. It took me a while to figure out what was happening, but repeated sinus and throat infections directly after going to super smokey shows made me realize a sad truth. That truth was that my concert days were over. I tried to wear a mask, but that didn’t always work. So, I stepped out of the concert scene, only going maybe once a year… if that. I usually reserved the outing for bands I had never seen or knew wouldn’t come again soon.
Less Than Jake is a band I haven’t seen since high school. When I saw they were going to be playing a full “Losing Streak” set at Pre-Fest 2, I knew I had to go. The set was great, totally felt like I was 16 again. I remembered the words to all the songs and had a bit of pit time, all with the added bonus of what seemed to be no-smoking in the venue. This town definitely needs more ska shows, preferably without smoking.
