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Young the Giant Setlist
Bakar Setlist
Willow Avalon Setlist
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Kentucky rock group Cage the Elephant is back with their newest full-length, Neon Pill (via RCA Records) still touring en force despite a recent mishap to singer Matt Schulz, bringing with them three other very different acts, for a full evening of music at a sold out warm outdoor evening at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City (a show we also took in a bit earlier in the tour in Minneapolis).
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The multi-genre evening began with a brief half-hour set from Georgia native, Willow Avalon, in support of her debut EP, “Stranger”. Her music leaned towards very traditional Country, with a cool and personable demeanor, three-piece band and mic stands decorated with lavish songs. A clever transition between songs was sound clips of her great-aunt and grandmother talking about music.
For her first time in the area, she briefly embarrassed herself thinking she was on the Kansas side of the state line (acts seem to confuse KC frequently), blushing and admitting, “My brain is mashed potatoes, ya’ll” and the set ended with recent anthem, “Homewrecker” about a recent relationship she discovered (via social media) was with a married man (classic Country subject matter!).
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The music shifted to UK neo-soul/hip-pop as smoke billowed out from side stage and Camden Town London artist Bakar stood atop a speaker pedestal for most of his half-hour set, singing along to tracks in support of last year’s full-length, “Halo”. For “1st Time”, he managed to work in an end snippet of King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” and “Right Here, for Now” segued into a recent Dominic Fike radio single, proving the UK singer has some musical savvy.
His “NW3” was autobiographical about his Camden upbringing, he gave deserved props to the two ladies on stage left interpreting the lyrics into sign language, and he got the entire audience to stand (“you look so much better on your two feet!”) for 2019 mega-hit, “Hell n’ Back”, a song now over five years old (but still on radio rotation), given new life in a version with Summer Walker.
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Irvine, CA indie rockers Young the Giant have been in existence an amazing twenty years already, with latest album being 2022’s American Bollywood (via AWAL) which we’ve previously seen them live, in support of and for which, they headlined at this same venue last year.
Singer Sameer Gadhia was in fine and soaring voice, remarking between songs, that the band had been feeling retrospective of late- getting in touch with the elements that made them form a band in the first place- playing to intimate groups of people, examining their older music (particularly their sophomore album, “Mind over Matter”, which took some time to age and fully sink in, for fans and critics to fully appreciate it), and playing lesser known songs like 2014’s “Waves”.
Their blend of alternative rock with a worldly influence has always been unique and the band plans two special LA shows next month at the tiny Troubadour, where they’ll play two early albums in their entirety. On this night, their hour-long set chiefly featured higher tempo songs and familiar hits (though we missed early radio single, “Apartment” which hasn’t been a part of their setlists in some time).
The best song we can think of about quantum physics, 2018’s “Superposition” was both musically powerful and ethereally trippy at the same time, and the title track to 2014’s “Mind over Matter” was played with the satisfaction that the song and album are now getting their proper critical due, also celebrated with an expanded deluxe edition of the album.
2018’s “Tightrope” was a funky, percussion-filled jam and closing hit (and the song that put the band on the mainstream map), “My Body” found both band and crowd jumping in place during its choruses.
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After a short set break, Cage the Elephant was on fire (almost literally, as pyro shot up from several stations near the front of the stage) from the beginning of their 85-minute set, opening up with the perfect song for their current situation, 2019’s “Broken Boy”.
Singer Schultz scampered and raced about the stage with the aid of a leg scooter, the result of a broken foot sustained while on stage in Georgia, in early August. He’s been unable to put any weight on it since, but has acclimated to his condition nicely, whipping about from end to end, while still keeping in good vocal form and swaying in place like a young Mick Jagger or Axl Rose.
We’ve seen the band live several times, and the restless Schultz looks like he misses his full mobility more than the likes of Rose and Dave Grohl (who played sitting on the Game of Thrones chair) when they were both injured, but his older brother, guitarist Brad Schultz helped make up for some of it, by going into the crowd early on.
The band never says too much between songs, preferring their music and live energy to carry the show, but Schultz did briefly mention his foot, and his insistence that the tour carry on. The large lighting rigs behind them, the aforementioned pyro (first live fire we’ve ever seen at Starlight), and even lasers helped to visually embellish the songs as well.
With six studio albums and eighteen years as a band under their belt, CTE likely has even more familiar radio hits than you remember, and newest songs like the Neon Pill’s title track and “Good Time” each neatly fit into their still-expanding musical cache.’
Lasers slashed into the sky on 2019’s “Social Cues” and again on 2015’s “Mess Around”, the latter radio hit helping to froth up the crowd into crazed cheering and dancing in the aisles, which continued with the familiar “Trouble” and their 2008 breakout hit, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”.
An excited “In One Ear” led into the main set’s closing song, the dark and rocking “Sabretooth Tiger” that brought out not only more fire, but the lasers as well, for a show-stopping end to things. The three-sing encore was all singalongs, starting with “Shake Me Down,”, then slowing things momentarily for “Cigarette Daydreams,” and ending the evening with their most successful song-to-date, “Come a Little Closer” in a heat-filled blaze with guitarist Schultz firnly spiking his guitar into pieces before the band waved good night.
In “The Matrix”, Morpheus states, "You take the blue pill... the story ends… You take the red pill... you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” On this night, with a varied four-act night headed up by Cage the Elephant, we chose the Neon Pill, and happily immersed ourselves in their musical reality for a few hours.
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CAGE THE ELEPHANT TOUR DATES Sep 16 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center |
YOUNG THE GIANT TOUR DATES Sep 16 CHI Health Center Omaha, NE |
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