CHI Health Center Omaha was the hot place to be Monday, Sept. 17, as two-time Grammy-Award winners Cage the Elephant performed for a full house. English musician Bakar started off Monday night’s show performing solo. He took the crowd through his hip-hop inspired indie rock catalogue, finishing with his most popular single “Hell N Back.” This bassy, retro and lighthearted love song entertained the audience with its catchy, whistling melody. Young The Giant followed shortly after and swapped the indie, earworm-worthy tunes of Bakar for a roaring electronic modern rock set. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia took a few pauses in playing to make some heartfelt, but short, statements on creative individuality. He touched on how some of the bands most popular music, especially their second released album “Mind Over Matter,” was a commercial flop initially but grew over time into a leading piece of art.
The headliner entered expectantly to a screaming chorus that was hoping for old favorites and new melodies. Cage the Elephant did not disappoint. They performed a high-energy show, despite lead singer Matt Schulz suffering from a broken bone. He performed the full set with a leg brace on a knee scooter. This didn’t seem to slow down his stage presence even slightly. He popped scooter wheelies and stood on one foot to the roar from the crowd.
Cage The Elephant covered a couple tracks from each of their albums but surprisingly few tunes from their newest release, “Neon Pill.” On one hand, crowds expect to hear the hits, but from a band that so often reinvents their sound from one album to the next it comes off a bit disappointing to barely give time to the newest release.
The lighting design, however, impressed this reviewer. Considering the small footprint (most of the CHI arena was used for seating and the pit) the lighting component was incredibly varied. Two songs from each album would be paired together with tailored lighting. The song “Shake Me Down,” for example, used laser projectors to create the illusion of warm sunlight in clouds in combination with the lyrics “I’ll keep my eyes fixed on the sun.” Songs from their higher-energy 2019 album “Social Cues” used pyrotechnics to full effect, with plumes of fire erupting just in front of the band.
Cage The Elephant finished the show with a strong encore, including “Come A Little Closer” and “Cigarette Daydreams,” arguably the bands best known hits and both from their second album “Melophobia.” In the closing song, the band members lined up at the front of the stage continuing to play while Schulz triumphantly lifted the microphone to catch the singing of the crowd as well as his own.
Visit https://www.cagetheelephant.com to learn more about this band.
