Mayhem, Pyro, and Chaos: Cage the Elephant Set Brixton on Fire
It’s as though they’d just heard that the first impression is the most important. Win that, and you win the crowd.
If you Google Cage the Elephant, you’ll be presented with a feed of esteemed gentlemen—well-tailored Kentucky rockers.
So it’d be safe to say my preconception was cleanly scrunched up, thrown in the bin, and then hit with a sledgehammer when they burst (almost literally) onto the stage behind a series of flamethrowers. The group had long quit the besuited lifestyle, with frontman Matt Shultz sporting an oversized beanie, loose cargo pants, and a satchel that could land him his next paper round.
It was like watching a game of tennis but with six players and twelve balls. Soundtrack the release of a pack of irate bulls to Broken Boy, and you have the introduction to Cage the Elephant at O2 Academy Brixton.
Unlike most shows that ease up after a blustery intro, Cage the Elephant didn’t relent. I suppose that had to be the case when the last time the UK saw them was five years ago—almost to the day.
While Matt, Brad (rhythm guitar), and Nick (lead guitar) ran havoc around the stage, the rest of the band watched wearily, like parents minding their kids in the park.
Last year’s Neon Pill album also came after a five-year wait following Social Cues and provided a soothing return that satisfied fans’ nostalgia. A polished album that created an extension of their previous records.
However, last night, in a set that circled through key pieces across all their albums—Cry Baby, Cold Cold Cold, Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked, and Shake Me Down—the newer tracks stood their ground, and it all made sense.
Not adapting your sound is a notoriously self-destructive move, but maybe being an absolute tyrant on stage is the antidote for that. When you’ve refined a sound and energy that work for you live, it’s wise to double down on them.
They possess this rare skill that makes being on stage the best place to be, and they almost put you up there with them. It makes you want to start a band, perform for the masses, and have the time of your life.
I say rare skill because I once got carried away at karaoke and jumped off the stage into what I thought was a receptive crowd. Y’know, like something Robbie Williams would do. The mood immediately dropped—no one made eye contact, everyone stopped clapping, and I was suddenly stood in the middle of the room in silence with the second half of the song still remaining.
It’s never as easy as it looks.
As Matt continued his Usher-style movements across the stage—the kind where you extend your arm, grasp at the air, and then ‘drag’ yourself to whatever you’ve just grabbed—adorned in lasers and smoke machines, it was clear: the stage is their home.
Sabertooth Tiger, the one you’d likely skip in any situation other than if you needed hyping up before a brawl (or a job interview, possibly), concluded the segment before the four-song encore. The recorded version has 0.5 seconds of static at the end. In the live version, there were about five minutes as they exited the stage for a breather. For the rest of us, we were on the tracks as the world’s longest freight train sped over us.
The finale was all a nod to the past, including the singalong banger Cigarette Daydreams and Come a Little Closer.
Cage the Elephant know exactly what they’re good at, and their reputation for wild events is exactly what’s going to keep crowds flocking to their multi-date shows—until they decide to stop.