Derek
Matty
What the hell, why was everyone at the Cake concert, like, 35 years old? I don’t want to get all “kids these days” on you… But seriously: kids these days. When I go to an all ages show for a wicked band that’s been around for about 15 years, I expect to be one of the older people there. But I guess concerts with seats draw a different crowd.
There was an opening band, (Paper Lions), but the only things you need to know about them are that they kind of sucked, and they ended with a 20 minute prog song called Mr. Strawberry Man or some shit. That’s just uncalled for, guys.
The last time I saw Cake, (back when Pressure Chief was released), I guess Jon McCrea was in kind of a bad mood or something. He flat out refused to play the most popular songs and stuck to new album material, or the more obscure stuff from previous albums.
This time, things were different. The classic radio singles all made the show, including Never There, Sheep Go to Heaven, The Distance, Shadow Stabbing, Rock n’ Roll Lifestyle and of course, Short Skirt/Long Jacket. But they also brought out some covers (War Pigs, Ruby don’t take your love to town), and some of the lesser known album tracks. Like last time, one of the highlights of the show was the anxious and somehow unnerving performance of Comfort Eagle.
The thing about live Cake songs is that I think they’re changed just slightly to kind of screw you up. No matter how well you know the songs, it just seems like the intonations and rhythm are a bit off. Not like “Oh man, they messed up” off, but like, “Hey, they’re playing this song different” off.
It’s my theory that McCrea is kind of a dick and likes to mess you up when you’re singing along. Both times I’ve seen Cake, I’ve been singing along with the people around me, and we’re all failing spectacularly. I’m no American Idol, but I can usually keep time with a freaking Cake song. The up side is that you get to hear slightly different songs than what you hear from the albums all the time.
Considering Cake is my favourite band, it probably won’t mean much if I say that the show was fantastic. But it was. Whoever engineered the sound did a great job, everything was perfectly mic’d, even down to the signature vibraslap. If you get the chance to see these guys live, do it.
Oh, and I guess Cake is giving away a tree every show now. This time they gave it to the oldest person in the audience, 57 year old Rick. Apparently, he’s supposed to take pictures and document the tree’s rise to power as he ages and grows weak. Nice.
Filed under: Concert Review | Tagged: cake, Concert Review, music
I guess I was at a different concert than you were. I though the Paper Lions were a great opening act. I thought Cake was average at best for Cake. The last time I saw them at The Centre they put on a much better show.
Maybe the view from row 3 was better.
Really? The Paper Lions sounded way too generic for me.
I saw Cake at the Centre last time they were here too, but I disagree that they put on a better show. I really liked when the banner dropped and the strobe kicked in during Comfort Eagle, but on the whole I thought that set wasn’t as fun as this one.
I also seem to remember that they played a lot of Pressure Chief material, which I don’t like as much as their older albums. This show was heavy on Motorcade of Generosity (probably due to the re-release), which I definitely prefered.
To each their own, I suppose. Thanks for the comment!
PS- I’m jealous of your third row tickets. As you probably noticed, I was in the balcony.