Cage the Elephant Firing on all Cylinders
by Swamp on 2024-08-29Centre Bell - MontrealRating: 5 out of 5Many years ago, I had my youngest daughter listen to In One Ear and Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. They were the only two songs I knew from Cage the Elephant. Since that time, she dove into their catalogue, including the newest offering from Neon Pill and has been a fan since. When I heard that they were coming to the Bell Centre, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have her see an act in a large arena. Little did I know that I would be equally blown away by this high energy, engaging and impressively talented band. While I wasn't as familiar with all the songs as my daughter, I knew enough to appreciate that they brought a completely different energy live than their studio albums. From opening Broken Boy and classics like In One Ear, Come A Little Closer and Cigarette Daydreams to newer tunes like Good Time (my fave off the new album), Cage delivered massive energy and a stage set and lighting that helped create an atmosphere to match their music. It's important to realize that this was all possible despite singer, Matt Shultz, performing with a scooter to support his broken foot. He was still all over the stage and one could almost forget that he was only operating on one leg. The band was not only solid, but so slick and executed everything so well, once could easily think that they were watching a band that had honed its abilities over double the number of years that Cage has been playing. Throughout the show, the crowd sang along virtually line for line and the energy created by the band was amplified by a mix of young and old concert-goers. This is a band I would see again without hesitation and one whom I would highly recommend to see. It's amazing to see these younger bands carrying the rock/pop torch so well. It made this old hard rock/heavy metal guy super pleased and impressed and my daughter claimed it was the best show she had seen. The main opener, Young the Giant, about whom I knew absolutely nothing, are a high energy rock/alt-rock band that amped up the energy after Bakar and country artist Willow Avalon (who I thoroughly enjoyed, though not particularly a fan of country music). Singer Sameer Gadhia seemed to channel a Freddie Mercury-like charisma and had the vocal chops to back it up. The band was polished and, even not knowing their material, I thoroughly enjoyed it. A really great night of music and showmanship.