The elephant was let out of its cage Friday night when a sold-out crowd filed into the Pageant concert venue on the Delmar Loop.
The attraction was the alternative/indie group Cage the Elephant, who have rocketed into the public eye after their hit “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” debuted with the rest of the album “Cage the Elephant.”
Right from the start, there was a buzz of excitement radiating from the crowd, and one could only hope that the acts would be able to live up to expectations. Fortunately for all, they did.
The show took off as the 22-20’s took the stage, and though not well known in the United States, the English and first opening act did manage to show off some true potential with their set. The hard-alternative style of their music was enticing for every fan and their latest single, “Latest Heartbreak,” received a hefty roar from the crowd.
Though lacking in stage presence and show prominence, the 22-20’s music proved to be natural and paved the way for the next group, AutoVaughn.
AutoVaughn, yet another alternative/indie group, truly reached out to the audience and used comedy, including constant nudity jokes and cracks at Cage the Elephant, along with their natural stage prominence to bring their best and create a great show.
Plus, the music was fresh and just plain good. The group used three vocalists to ensure a mixture of tones and melodies as well as intricate guitar solos and distortion to create a final product that was outstanding.
The flexibility shown throughout their music, from such soft alternative songs as “A million to one” to harder rock songs as “Handshake, smile,” also proved to keep the audience on their toes and made AutoVaughn seem like a headline show.
But, the best was yet to come.
When Cage the Elephant took the stage, all sanity went out the window. The crowd’s roar was immediately answered by a frantic clash of electric guitar chords, furious screamed notes and a slew of drum beats.
The music itself, though shaky and seemingly unpolished at first, took a turn for the better as the group played one of their best sellers, “Back against the Wall.” Throughout this song, the band relaxed a bit and began to truly equal the tracks on their first album in terms of sound quality.
Vocalist Matt Shultz was then able to put on quite a display: stage diving, crowd surfing and actually walking throughout the Pageant as he screamed every lyric, not to mention his constant head banging and what can only be described as “spas-attacks.”
His physical show was incredible and brought every member of the audience to their feet and put all hands in the air. It even led some fans to jump on stage and crowd surf.
The show, or spectacle, was exhilarating, entertaining and amusing to say the least due to Shultz’s energy on and off stage. He was a real showman and made the atmosphere electric.
It only got better from there. “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and the encore of “In One Ear” were the highlighted songs of the night due to their perfect execution and placement within the set.
It was because of all of this that by the end of the show Cage the Elephant left the crowd chanting, “One More Time!”
