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entertaining u newspaper: your monthly guide to entertainment
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“I remember the first time I heard the phrase ‘power-pop,’” says the bassist and back-up vocalist for Jacobs Ladder, Sammy Gonzalez. “I was sort of offended when someone described our music like that, and then I started really looking it up and I was like, ‘You know something, we really are power-pop in a lot of ways.’… I embraced it… We’re not mainstream…but we still have catchy hooks and stuff. For sure, we consider ourselves power pop.”
With more than 250 shows under their belts, Jacobs Ladder has opened for national acts like the Ataris, Fall Out Boy, Bowling for Soup, Between the Trees, River City High, Glasseater, Unsung Zeros, and Price. They’ve also toured on the Warped Tour, premiered on an episode of the Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and trained with multiple Grammy Winner Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band. They’ve rocked it in four East Coast tours and an insane amount of mini-tours here in Florida.
The band released a 6-song EP in the summer of 2006 and set off on a one-month winter East Coast tour, which landed the boys their first indie deal on JMB Records. They recently released their debut album, On a Chariot of Fire in the summer of ‘07 and have toured non-stop to support the release.
Jacobs Ladder presents listeners with a show of soaring energy, which is in contrast to their CD, which Gonzalez says is “more chill.” Most people who come to see them are pleased to discover that they’re quite a bit louder than their MySpace page promises. But they don’t get complaints from their devoted MySpace fans (of which there are about 28,000), because Jacobs Ladder still tries to be true to the sound of their recordings.
Their appearance here in Jacksonville is part of their Rock Against Hunger Tour. “At the end of each show we’re collecting cans, because in South Florida a lot of people don’t get their Thanksgiving. It’s a simple way for us to give back to the community.” This philanthropy isn’t a new thing for the band. They’ve donated their time in the past at benefit concerts tsunami victims and other philanthropic causes.
One of the more pressing questions I had for Sammy Gonzalez was regarding the name of the band. The phrase “Jacob’s ladder” can mean a host of different things, from penis piercing to something you might find in a mad scientist’s lab or an old toybox. There’s always the original Biblical meaning, but I was hoping that the band might have been named for a Jacob’s Ladder Total Body Climbing Treadmill that claims to provide you with the “Ultimate Workout.”
“Jacobs Ladder has a lot of different meanings, and for us it means to continue to grow and always to aspire to higher things in life. We take that in many different ways in our life, when it comes to our music, when it comes to our fans…to always try to do better.”
This particular meaning is reflective of both the Biblical view and the scientific symbolism of Jacob’s Ladder—which was meant to represent a transformation of the self to a higher understanding and connection with the universe. I think the penis piercing might have been more interesting, if less universal.
Hear the band in action at Jack Rabbits on the 20th. If you want to Rock Against Hunger, make sure you bring canned goods to donate for the cause. If you forget, at least you can have a rockin’ good time. Tickets for the event will be $6 (21+) and $10 (under 21).
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
