Cake

I have wanted to see Cake since I was at least 14. That's over a decade. And for that over a decade, every opportunity I've had to see them has been thwarted. They came to Kansas City when I was in high school, but my parents said I couldn't go. Without their money and theiry driving me, I had no recourse.

Cake never came to SLC while I was in Utah because the last time they were there, an audience member threw a shoe at John McRae. This year, the one I lived in Kansas in, they went to SLC.

But, last weekend they came to Buzz Under the Stars, an event show put on by a local radio station. Thing was, the other three bands they booked are all going on tour together. Cake was the outlier, which meant that one of my most absolutely favorite bands in the history of music only had a 60 minute set and they were technically supporting Mumford & Sons.

I found this unreasonable, shocking, and a crime. But, it was Cake, so I went.

Here's a breakdown of things (pay no attention to the timestamps because they are wrong. Blackberry Pie can't seen to get them to work):

Parking was a bitch, but we're in! #buzzunderthestarsFri Jun 03 23:21:44 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

The first band up was Matthew and the Atlas. Overall, they had a good sound, but they couldn't hear themselves in the monitors and with all the sound/tech problems they had, they only got to play bout 5 songs.

Too bad Matthew and the Atlas isn't a better banter band. So far half of their set has been tech difficulties #buzzunderthestarsSat Jun 04 00:06:10 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

The next guy, Nathaniel Ratclif and the Fairchildren (forgot his name at the time of the tweet) was pretty good.

As much as I like this Nathaniel something and the Fairchildren, I want them to finish because then it's Cake #notalie #buzzunderthestarsSat Jun 04 01:06:09 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!

It's criminal that Cake is opening for Mumford & Sons by the way #buzzunderthestarsSat Jun 04 01:31:27 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

One of the best part's of Cake's set was 1) they played their singles, which they apparently never do, and they never ever end their concerts with 'Going the Distance' but they did for me, and 2) their set seemed like a big F U to M&S and the organizers, not having them headlining. Even in their banter, Cake acknowledged the fact that more people were at the show for Mumford than Cake, which I think is definitely the wrong way around. Oh, and 3) the music was awesome. I only wish they had more than a 60min set to light up the stage. Sigh. But, here's some video I shot of Cake. First some of 'Never There' and then the audience participation part of 'So Sick of You' which was indeed, pretty sick.

Sheeeeeit that Cake set was awesome #buzzunderthestarsSat Jun 04 02:45:10 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

Then Mumford & Sons played, and they had a pretty nice feel and sound. I was really into them for the first couple songs, the vibe they had going, but then two things happened. One, a girl collapsed and they stopped the show to get her out. Broke the momentum totally. Then, they played some new music from the upcoming record. I was excited about this, but then I payed attention to the lyrics and I couldn't shake the feeling that M&S are a secret Christian band, pulling an Insane Clown Posse stunt on the world. Now, I have no problem with Christian bands, I just like to know that ahead of time. I felt, and still feel, tricked. At that point, the fun was kind of sucked out of the concert, and we had been standing up for like 6 hours in the same spot, so we went home.

Wait, is Mumford & Sons a christian band? Why did no one tell me? #buzzunderthestarsSat Jun 04 03:55:35 via Plume  nathanielraypickett
thejhexp

I don't want to knock M&S too bad, though; they are great live. I have a clip of them, but Youtube gave me licensing issues (insert copyright rant here) and this site won't let me upload videos >100MB. Oh well, you'll just have to believe me.

In all, I had a good time. Yeah, the venue was over-large with 10k people, and it was too long and too hot but the music was good and I had a fun time. Oh, also I saw Cake. I SAW CAKE PLAY MUSIC LIVE. Some pictures to round things out:

See the full gallery on Posterous

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