Photographs by Janine Van Oostrom.
Cage The Elephant is a pretty well known Rock band; whether you know them from their main hits “Cigarette Daydreams”, “Come a Little Closer”, are an early fan, or maybe just heard of them from their song “Mess Around” being featured in a recent mobile commercial, they are a very widespread band. They made a stop on their North American tour at The International Centre (previously known as Arrow Hall) in Toronto on Sunday May 8th.
Openers for the show included Broncho, and Portugal. The Man. Doors opened at 7pm, and Broncho essentially took stage not long after that. This was good because the show started so soon and people didn’t have to stand around and wait however, a lot of people often go to shows after the doors have already opened, so many people missed the opportunity to see Broncho. Broncho had some really good vibes, they have a more “laid back” style than Cage The Elephant. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t that into it in the beginning half of the set however, by the end everyone was loving it. I really enjoyed the singers voice, as it is very Indie sounding but, I find his pitch very unique – just like the singer of Portugal. The Man. Portugal The Man had a pretty good set but, it was slightly underwhelming. I was expecting them to have slightly more energy because I find there music to be so fun and different, so I had really high expectations. I had never looked at any of their live footage previously so I kind of just had a predicted image in my head, but they were rather the complete opposite. They didn’t really speak much, which is okay, but they didn’t even have energy to make up for it. For some odd reason they had somewhat of an MC who stood at the side of the stage and would make some commentary between songs but nobody had no idea who it was, and it was just odd. I kept hearing comments criticizing him and joking about him throughout the show. I did think there was some cool synthesizing in their set that I haven’t heard in there tracks, and I think the piano sounded really well and was the perfect touch to every song. I was hoping the drums would be slightly more defined, but instrumentals were still done very well. I liked the set because they would go back and forth between playing more chill songs, and then upbeat songs for instance “Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue” and “Head is a Flame (Cool with It)”. The crowd was decently into it.
Before Cage The Elephant entered the stage, the entire crowd was yelling “Cage” until they entered. There was such a good and excited energy in the room, and I think the band could really feel that and catered to it so well. As soon as they entered the stage, everyone lost it. They were fulfilled with so much energy, and I think it was so awesome. Singer Matthew Shultz did not lose his energy throughout the entire show- he was actually pretty crazy (in a good way of course). It really added to the show because it made everyone else have an even better time to see the band so stoked to be there and also having a good time. I did enjoy his vocals however, I found at times he shouted a bit more than singing, so he wasn’t being very “fluid”. Otherwise, that is my only criticism in terms of vocals. There were some really good acoustics throughout the whole show as everything was very defined and sounded how it should have, right up until “Come a Little Closer”. For some reason the electric totally just faded out. In that track, electric guitar is something that really makes the song and is very defined throughout and in the chorus, but it really wasn’t made to be heard. I’m not sure if this was a technical difficulty, but it was somewhat disappointing. With that being said, this was still a flawless performance. I really enjoyed the harmonizing during “Cold, cold, Cold” , it sounded perfect.
My favourite performance was “Trouble”. It sounded exactly like the track, and overall was just very well done. The breakdown in the song was so awesome, and created such a hype for the crowd. Also, “Mess Around” is tied with this one. The amount of energy in the crowd was out of this world and the entire audience was singing. It was just so clear how good of a time everyone was having.
“Its Just Forever” had so many ups and downs, amazing drums, and some chaotic piano at the ending which really tied it all together. Again, I wish the electric guitar could have been a tad more defined during the chorus but it was still super fun. Also, kudos to Shultz on all the headbanging; rock on.
Overall this show was such a good time, and everyone had so much fun. I think that’s what concerts are all about- if an artist can give everyone an escape and a good time, then they’ve really done it.