Cage The Elephant Remains Untamed At Pine Knob

Alt-Rockers Cage The Elephant rode into town on Tuesday, September 10 for a rip-roaring good time that blended good ol’ rock and roll with a dash of country and pop in the support from Young The Giant, Bakar, and Willow Avalon.

 

 

WILLOW AVALON

 

 

The Country Pop singer Willow Avalon and her band primed the audience with some southern hospitality, giving us a taste of livin’ from her side of the fence. Her visual look reminds you of what you probably would imagine Lana Del Rey’s country vibes would be, but her voice brings more of a twang with a teeny bit of self-aware sarcasm.

 

During the last song of her set, she played a new track with her band called “Homewrecker” which she prefaced with a story of how she began dating a man and when her mom wanted to see photos of him, she went to his mother’s Instagram. What she found, along with perfect pictures to send, was a wedding photo from a few months prior. This transpired while she was in a writing session with her band mate, and resulted in the track we heard. Willow had the crowd chime in and sing the words “Homewrecker” during the chorus.

 

SEE THE FULL SETLIST FROM WILLOW AVALON HERE:

 

 

*This playlist does not include “Raise Some Hell,” which was captured on video by a fan in the audience. See that below.

 

 

 

 

BAKAR

 

 

Bakar has a very distinctive voice with his English accent front and center in his blend of Alt Hip-Hop/Rock crooning style. Wearing a shirt that said “Cage The Bakar” on the back with “Neon Pill Tour Forever” on the front, he serenaded the crowd with his tracks like “All In,” “Right Here, for Now,” and even a snippet of Dominic Fike’s “3 Nights.”

 

His demeanor was chill overall, standing at the mic and grooving to the beat. During “1st Time,” he moved to the speakers and stood tall with the sun cascading on him as it peeked through the corner of the pavilion. He closed out his set with “Hell N Back,” which you may have heard as a collaboration with Summer Walker.

 

CHECK OUT THE FULL SETLIST FROM BAKAR HERE:

 

 

 

YOUNG THE GIANT

 

 

Young the Giant are a fan favorite from what we could tell from examining the crowd that had packed in for the night’s festivities. Kicking off their set with “Jungle Youth,” and “The Walk Home” they had warmed up the crowd enough that when their top 5 hit “Cough Syrup” began, fans were screaming the lyrics at the barricade, jumping and looking alive.

 

The most lively of the crew, frontman Sameer Gadhia, commanded the audience with his passionate delivery, and at one point jumped so high that you wondered if he played basketball in a former life. Young The Giant plowed through a 13-song setlist which also included their biggest hits “Mind Over Matter,” “Superposition,” and the song that non-seasoned attendees would probably know the best, “My Body.”

 

SEE THE FULL SETLIST FROM YOUNG THE GIANT HERE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

 

 

If you thought that Matt Shultz was going to slow down just because he was in a walking boot and using a knee scooter, you were dead wrong. The Cage The Elephant frontman makes the best of his predicament by cracking jokes between songs, showing all the ways he could hype up the crowd just by standing and sitting down. Needless to say, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand as the band blazed through their 23-track setlist.

 

Accompanying pyro and a laser show, the band showcased their vast catalog, proving they are much more than “just the guys who did ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked.'” Rock radio has been supporting the song the tour gets its namesake from — “Neon Pill,” but I found it interesting that they only showcased two more tracks from the album, “Rainbow” and “Good Time.”

 

Speaking of their big hit-off their self-titled album, during “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” the guitar cut out, and Shultz wasn’t having it — requiring that it was played again and again. A great way to honor the song we all fell in love with from 2009. They also included tracks “Back Against The Wall” and “In One Ear” from this era. Winding down the set, the band hit their most streamed song on Spotify, “Cigarette Daydreams,” and wrapped up with “Come A Little Closer” during their encore.

 

The band’s legacy still feels underground despite their staying power. They almost feel like a band that is one of those “if you know, you know” finds and has a solid fanbase who are perfectly okay with their genre-bending ways. While we hope by next time Matt Shultz can return to his diving-from-the-stage-wired-mic-in-hand antics, this show was a killer set for new and old fans alike.

 

SEE THE FULL SETLIST FROM CAGE THE ELEPHANT HERE:

 

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