CAKE

[jethrien]

ivy03 and I went to see CAKE last night. It was entertaining and I had a good time, but I really don't think I'd bother again. They've always had a certain laid-back vibe--it turns out they don't actually add much energy for a live concert. Also? Their front man turns out to be a drunken asshole.

He's the kind of guy with extremely strong but not particularly well thought out opinions, who lectures the audience on how America is full of rage these days in the very vaguest of terms. Who repeatedly expresses his gratitude to the audience for still liking the band in that incredibly drunk guy way of slurring "I love you, man! You're awesome!" repeatedly. Who decries his band's t-shirts as "capitalist merchandise" before throwing one to the crowd, in a way that makes you feel guilty about selling out and buying stuff even as he himself benefits from it. He's a proto-hipster who skirts the edge of irony but never quite makes it there--he doesn't seem to have the guts to go on full-ironic funny mode, or perhaps he's so hipsterishly subtle about it I missed it. But as his diction degraded over the course of the show, so did my respect for him.

(Also, if you're going to hide your incipent baldness under a cap, remember not to take it off your head at the end.)

Plus, they had a plum sapling on stage for the entire concert, and gave it away to a random fan for no discernable reason. Trying a little hard for a schtick, fellows.

That said, they do know how to structure a show to keep fans happy. They played a reasonable amount of their older stuff, including the opening couple songs and their encore. And the stuff off their newer albums, which I was unfamiliar with, was quite good and I liked it. (Although I had trouble understanding some of the words because of the aforementioned slurring.)

So buy their new album. Don't bother going to the concert. Unless you really want a tree.

Comments

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Huh. Now I'm sort of glad I wasn't able to see them when they were in Albany a year or two back. Meh.

Still enjoy the music, though.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Oh, I also still really enjoy their music. And while I haven't bought their latest album yet (Terminal 5 is not set up well and there was no way I was going to fight my way to the table), I probably will.

I think my problem was that there was very little benefit to listening to the music live. The lead singer always has a tendency to finish notes after the beat--it's a stylistic thing I don't mind--but while on recordings he uses it for effect, he was basically doing it on every note. There's a certain crispness to their recordings that was lacking live, which I would have forgiven for stage presence or banter or additional energy. But there was really nothing that made seeing them live better than listening to the album at home, I'm afraid.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

There are some bands that are way better in person, and some that just....wow, you really are better off with the album. I can totally believe that Cake would fall into the latter...

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

You know, McCrea's persona is really not a surprise given the lyrics of most of his songs.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

It's true that he's a counterculture jerk in his lyrics, but there's a certain wittiness in wordplay and articulateness that was utterly lacking last night. I don't know if someone else writes the lyrics or he was too drunk to be clever, but his stage banter was vague and rambly, not acidic the way the lyrics are.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I saw them at Roseland in 1998, and it remains one of the best shows I've ever seen.

I saw them again in 2004, and they were awful.

All the energy and fun of the 1998 concert seemed to have stayed in 1998.

I'm sad they're still tired, but thank you for letting me know I don't need to bother trying one of their shows again.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

That's really quite sad, yes. Then again, I think a lot of the band members are different from the ones back then, so maybe that's what got lost.

[maydove.livejournal.com]

This is extremely tangential, but just as I was signing into lj I was thinking about the piece of cake that I ate today, and then I saw the title of your post. ...Am I psychic?

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Yes. Now you must go seek some more cake out.

[momerath4.livejournal.com]

Aww, I love Cake. Sorry to hear about their douchebaggery live. Way back in the day I was actually arranging The Distance for the Wildcats. Can't remember why I never finished it—I think I still have a nearly-complete transcription around somewhere.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

If you shouldget bitten by the arrangement bug anew and feel like putting together something easy for SATB, the Net Present Vocals are going to need some new material for next year...

[momerath4.livejournal.com]

I actually haven't completed an arrangement since college—from time to time I get excited by a song and play around with it, but it's been a long time since I've finished one. However, if you guys are interested in The Distance, it probably wouldn't take too much work for me to pull it together. It would be a fun song to do—high energy, and all the parts are very melodic. Though you'd need a good vocal percussionist to pull it off properly. I also made some good progress on Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, but I think I left the sheet music in Jersey.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Make sure the group agrees to do it before you go to much trouble.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Sorry! I'm still going to push for Re: Your Brains!