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Matt Shultz, Cage The Elephant |
Headlining last night's
Spring Fling tour date at Sacramento's
Sleep Train Arena, presented by
Radio 94.7:
Cage The Elephant.
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Cage The Elephant, Spring Fling tour 2016 |
Backtrack several hours... one of the rainiest, darkest, wettest days we've seen in northern California for a very long time. It didn't feel like spring, not one bit.The
weirs for the Yolo Bypass have been opened, relieving the Sacramento River and the city by allowing water to flood the fields under and surrounding the I-80 causeway.
Folsom Lake Dam has opened its gates. There is water, water, everywhere, so needed after four years of California drought, and yet so discouraging to travel. Roads are slippery, Californians really don't know how to drive in rain; flash-floods across roads, giant puddles, aquaplaning, dark roads where trolls or sudden-and-black lakes hide under bridges. That's what it felt like, driving to Sleep Train Arena for the
Spring Fling tour show. We took the high road along the levee; the river, swollen-brown, threatening, high on the left: homes and streets, low on the right. Torrential rain; a dash from parking lot to ticket office, through security, and into the aging structure that is Sleep Train Arena. Next year, we'll have a new stadium, downtown, but the old "Arco" still has good vibes... and a lot of history. But it really didn't feel like spring... not until the music began. And then, it suddenly was sunshine all the way.
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Cage The Elephant, Spring Fling Tour 2016 |
Spring Fling is a huge tour-event. Show started at 7 p.m. with Bear Hands; finished around 11.30 p.m. at the end of
Cage The Elephant's set, with massive shows from both Foals and Silversun Pickups in-between (more reviews to follow). The venue wasn't sold out; upper-level seating was closed off with huge curtains, but this made the sound for the show just perfect, and the crowd was far bigger than any other Sacramento venue could hold, indoors.
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Brad Shultz, Cage The Elephant |
Cage The Elephant, and Matt Shultz. He's like Mick Jagger and Josh Todd's stepbrother on speed, wound-up-to-go, and with an overdose of caffeine in his veins. He never, never, ever stops; running the stage, jumping, diving, unstoppable, In comparison, brother Brad Shultz, on guitar, seems almost sedate, but he's not; it's an illusion generated by Matt's hyper-enough-to-power-a-train energy.
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Matt Shultz jumping, Cage The Elephant |
A huge setlist: opening with
Cry Baby and
In One Ear:
Cigarette Daydreams saved for the encore, about 18 or so songs later. Yes, it was huge. Yes, you want to see this show.
The Sacramento date was the second on the tour, which began on
Friday in Fresno, Bakersfield tonight, and more dates throughout the USA. If you have any opportunity to catch one of these shows, don't hesitate: no matter the weather, no matter how hard it is to get there, you're going to have a wonderful time.
More photos from the show:
http://www.alisontoon.com/-/galleries/music/cage-the-elephant
Reviews/photos for Bear Hands, Foals and Silversun Pickups coming soon!
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Matt Shultz, Cage The Elephant |