8A -The Michigan Daily -Thursday, February 9, 2006 ARTS Jake offers something for everyone By Trevor Campbell Daily Arts Writer MTV's barbershop reality can't cut it Years of writing, recording and touring can lead to stressful situations and hard times. Yet Gaines- ville, Fla. quintet Less Than Jake has thrived for 13 years. Perhaps it's their genre-bend- Less Than ing style, including influences Jake from ska, pop, punk, jazz and Tuesday heavy metal. They've shared the stage with the likes of Bon Jovi, St. Andrew's Hall Bad Religion and even Snoop Dogg. The band seems to have a little something for everyone, which is perhaps why they've consis- tently been able to pack venues, headline tours and get crowds dancing for more than a decade. TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily Less Than Jake frontman Chris Demakes performed at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit on Tuesday. By Ben Megargel Daily Arts Writer T kV EE "The Shop," MTV's latest reality-show travesty, takes the time-worn focus on the banalities of every- day life to a new, The Shop nauseating lows. Attempting to pass Thrdays at itself off as both a 1 real-life version of MTV the hit film "Bar- bershop" and a cultural pulse-taker, the low-budget show comes off as hopelessly unauthentic and dated. Set in music producer Cory Rooney's Queens barbershop, "Mr. Rooney's," the show focuses heavily on the personalities of the barbers. The premise is nakedly basic: Seven barbers cut hair while engag- ing in petty arguments, discussion about cultural events and on-the-spot interviews with celebrity patrons. In the pilot, a vari- ety of small, forgettable arguments erupt on topics as urgent and vital as, let's see, who will sweep up the hair and whether they should have to wear their black jack- ets when the air conditioner breaks. It's all groundbreaking stuff, clearly. Music videos play on a large TV screen, in the shop, and are used as springboards for discussion about a par- ticular artist or event. To top it off, urban music stars - including rapper Tony Yayo and singer Chris Brown - stop in the shop, prompting a series of fluff questions from the barbers. The main problem here is that the characters are just too average to draw our interest away from our own boring lives. Besides, everyone is essentially reduced to a stereotype. The blunt charac- terizations of the barbers make them feel empty and pointless. The most insight we get into these guys are the bouts of jeal- ousy over who gets to cut the hair of the celebrity customers. This shallow bickering spills over into the intermittent discussion about popular topics. Instead of discussing anything recent or politically relevant, the barbers cover subjects that were con- troversial months ago. From discussions about Dave Chappelle's disappearance to Kanye West's comments about President Bush, there is nothing too outdated for the barbers to rehash. The presence of celebrities in the bar- bershop also takes away from the show's purported realism. B-list stars part of Rooney's highly connected, celebrity- stuffed network just "drop by" the shop. These celebrity appearances are blatant mutual promotion; the show and the celebrity gain increased exposure. The trite questions that the barbers ask ("Why did you choose to sing and not rap?") sound beyond scripted. This is not TV, it's bad PR. Though "The Shop" emphasizes its realness and close proximity to the streets, the reality it portrays is highly dubious. No barbershop is this far behind the times and would show any respect to bootleg celebrities. The contrived charac- terizations and trivial conflict render the show more fitting as a midday MTV2 filler than a primetime MTV staple. Detroit." Demakes made "We've had a lot of fun on these huge package tours, but it's great headlining because you get to call the shots," said vocalist/guitarist Chris Demakes about their cur- rent tour, which made a stop at St. Andrew's Hall on Tuesday. "We get to vary our set more, and play the songs that everyone wants to hear, and you just get a better vibe for what the crowd wants." Originally from Livonia, Demakes lived in metro Detroit until he was seven. "You learn to make a mockery of yourself. You've got to have fun with it." - Chris Demakes Less Than Jake vocalist/guitarist sure to thank his family for com- ing out to the show, and invited the crowd to show his uncle what a "circle pit" is. The crowd then burst into an outright fren- zy, bouncing around the floor of the club and revolving around a young girl in the middle of them who was the designated center of the pit. "You learn to make a mock- ery of yourself," Demakes said. "You've got to have fun with it." The humor of Demakes and the rest of the band added to the ing amusing anecdotes alongside corny jokes broke the awkward silences between songs. At their stop at St. Andrew's Hall, Demakes pulled a mother onto the stage because she was singing along with her daughter and thanked her for being the "cool mom." He followed that by asking her if she knew what a MILF was. Surprisingly, their live shows translate well onto their albums: Songs ranged from emotional ballads to tracks about a friend stealing a beer tap off of a burnout's keg. With an EP entitled Absolution for Addicts and Idiots and their full- length release In With the Out Crowd coming this spring, the band has a busy future ahead of them. They'll also head out for a full stint on this year's Vans Warped Tour, so grab your friends, get ready to jump around and remember that hot moms are always welcome. "It's great to see my relatives," Demakes said. unique atmosphere of the group's performances. 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