Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

Rahzel, Less Than Jake, Maroon 5 perform at Convocation Center

Amy Paterson / photo editor Lead singer Chris from Less Than Jake gets into the music during the band's performance.

Part One: Lights, Camera, Action

We, the style editors of The Breeze, finished laying out our pages for Thursday's paper around 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, and by 2:30 a.m., we were hanging out in Less Than Jake's tour bus.

Maroon 5 and Less Than Jake, preceded by Rahzel and DJ JS One, performed in the Convocation Center. Not only were we there for the whole concert in order to review it, but for three songs at the beginning of each set, we were within nose-blowing range of all the performers.

Rahzel jumpstarted the concert with his noteworthy vocals and beat-boxing skills. As the music continued, we leaned on the stage and looked up at Rahzel, effectively ticking off everyone behind us who had floor tickets. Beat-boxing DJ JS One created a solid background rhythm that had the crowd riled up, and gave Rahzel a little something to work with. From Black Sabbath's “Iron Man” to 50 Cent's “In Da Club,” Rahzel carbon copied each song perfectly with his vocals.

“That was [awesome] how [Rahzel beatboxed]. I didn't believe he was actually doing it,” junior Sarah Lussier said. “It was off the hook.”

Rahzel seemed to have mastered the art of crowd interaction. He entertained the Convo with repeated bouts of “Anything DJ JS can do, I can do better,” reproducing with his voice every beat and tune that DJ JS produced. In the middle of his set, Rahzel handed out roses “for the ladies.” Unfortunately, the rose-sharing experience happened long after song three and we already were stowed away in the bleacher section.

After a brief intermission, Less Than Jake took over. Of course, by took over, we mean jumped, yelled, kicked, jammed and bounced around every corner of the stage. Guitars reflected the green and yellow stagelights as guitarist Roger's dreds flew and lead singer Chris Vanhalen's spiky blond hair pierced the smoky air. Less Than Jake had the energy of a freshman boy at his first college party and the straight -forward lewdness of a punk band. The result — crowd surfing, a chaotic tangle of streamers, and plenty of jokes from the band about JMU's infamous guy to girl ratio.

“[The concert was] awesome — lots better than we expected,” said Less Than Jake's drummer Vinnie. “We haven't played [here] in five years, and [now that we're back]; it was an amazing show.”

After Less Than Jake, our ears were ringing painfully. We sat as the anticipation built up in the Convo. Soon enough, Jeremy Paredes, UPB director of Media and Public Relations, led troops of photographers and staff writers to the coveted spot directly in front of the stage. We watched as the stagehands taped playlists on stage with neon tape, and tried with little success to read what the songs were.

We heard the crowd cheering before we saw our next performers. Squinting through the lights, we could see their silhouettes crossing the bleachers, descending the stairs and then climbing up to the stage. One immaculate sneaker after another, they took their spots on stage — Maroon 5 finally was going to perform.

We could see lead singer Adam Levine's black Calvin Klein boxers and the half-dozen guitar picks he stuck in his mic stand — had we reached out, we could have touched his pantlegs, which were held up by a large belt that read “Adam.” Although the energy level wasn't as high as Less Than Jake's, the performance was hotter than the basement of Burruss Hall in August. Three songs quickly passed and then we were herded back to our corral in the bleachers.

The sea of floor-seaters parted and a pair of “granny panties” flew through the air and onto the stage. Levine examined them for a moment before declaring, “Girls save grandma panties to throw at bands. Like, I want some [real] panties. This — although a very nice effort — is bullshit.”

Senior Eric Korn said, “Maroon 5 was a good time. My girlfriend went nuts [over them].”

Part Two: Trying to be the Paparazzi 

All good things come to an end though, and so did the concert.

“[The concert] was amazing, and it went really smoothly,” Parades said. “There were no major problems, and it was great to see we could pull it off again.”

While the night was concluding for the audience, ours just was beginning.

Behind the Convo, several buses were parked. Two of them just happened to belong to the two headliners of the night. With a lot of luck and a little courage, we wormed our way into Less Than Jake's company. Before we knew it, we successfully had evaded a police officer who was trying to shoo us away and found ourselves casually chatting with the band members in their leather-covered, hardwood-interiored tour bus.

Upon asking bassist Roger his thoughts on the night, he said, “The show was delicious, like a properly baked cheesecake. [It was] scrumptious and soft, but still had a hard crust. [Just] how I like it.”

Part Three: A Fork in the Road

At one point, our dynamic quartet parted ways — Cheryl, the style editor, drove home with her roommate Shawn Ryan and myself, the assistant style editor,and Amy, one of the photo editors, stayed on.

After dancing in the bus a while, the temperature rose and Amy and I opted for a breath of fresh air and some chitchat in the parking lot. We followed the band members back into the bus, up the steep steps and back into the music.

A moment later, Amy was elbowing me — Levine and Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine were climbing into their bus. I tapped Levine on the shoulder to ask him for a quote. In the time I turned around to grab my notebook, he disappeared into the recesses of his own tour bus. Although I properly introduced myself later, he would add nothing to his quote, “Beautiful night, beautiful energy, beautiful girls.” Apparently, Maroon 5 hadn't missed the infamous ratio either.

I stood outside the bus for a bit chatting with Valentine. He said, “I was stoked to play with Less Than Jake. We met back when I was playing with Reel Big Fish, and it's cool to come back and play a show [with them.]”

The bands were getting ready to take the stage at 8 p.m. and, at 2:30 a.m., they were getting ready to peel out — Less Than Jake to Cleveland, Ohio and Maroon 5 to Bristol, Rhode Island. We had a small taste of what life is like for the rich and famous, and for now, that will have to do.