Cage the Elephant performed with Biffy Clyro and Sleeper Agent at Albuquerque’s Sunshine Theater April 12th.
The crowd waiting outside the theater was small compared to the lines when other larger bands play there. It didn’t look very promising until the doors opened and people started pouring in… it was a full house!
Sunshine makes money.
As a tactic to make more money, the theater allowed anyone 21 and over to head into the bar to be let in early, under the condition that they buy a drink! The doors were supposed to open at seven, but as usual the doors didn’t open until half an hour later.
Sleeper Agent leaves the crowd sleepy.
The show finally started with the opening band Sleeper Agent at eight o’clock. They played a fifteen minutes of music while the crowd stood watching and were less than enthusiastic about the band. The band was way more into their music than the crowd was.
Biffy Clyro fails to excite.
Next up at 8:30 p.m. was the band Biffy Clyro, whom I’ve probably only heard one song from. The crowd stood watching, without much movement. Of course, there are the few who rock out, head banging to the music, the hardcore fans of the smaller bands.
Cage the Elephant — the band you’ve been waiting for.
Finally Cage the Elephant came on around 9:30 p.m., and thats when the crowd came alive. Cheers and screams welcomed the band on stage. They played until 11:00 p.m. and soon came out for an encore. They played their more famous songs: “No Rest for the Wicked,” “Shake Me Down,” “Back Against the Wall,” “In One Ear,” and plenty of lesser known songs. I’ll admit I only know the more popular songs, but it was still worth it to see them play live.
Their stage presence was extremely energetic, the lead singer dove into the crowd a couple times. After the second stage dive he commented that this was the first time ever that the crowd had tried to actually rip out his hair and that he wasn’t advising it, but he would like the crowd to think about it the next time–if ever–he were to do it again.
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