"Don't Give Into Hate" - Cage The Elephant Live At Brixton Academy

Cage The Elephant showed us why they're one of the best touring rock bands of the past decade.

Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 13:39

Considering that a former Home Alone 2 extra had been ushered in as the new American President just hours earlier, playing a song with the lyrics, “Right before my eyes / I saw the whole world lose control,” was an appropriate move from Kentucky rockers, Cage The Elephant.

"I feel compelled to say something about what’s going on in the world,” said frontman Matt Shultz, addressing the crowd directly. “Don't give into hate. It's time for the majorities in the world to stand up for the minorities.”

Those words were met with huge cheers from a packed Brixton Academy heaving with passionate teens. It was great to see. After all, when things outside are, to massively understate, ‘rubbish’ - and we’re not talking about a large puddle sat outside the venue that had two actual safety stewards stationed around – live music is always a good remedy.

[RCA Records]

The only person in the room that could match the relentless pogoing going on down the front was Matt Shultz. Well known for his electric performances, (legend has it that Shultz hasn’t stood still in his life), Matt was always entertaining. His vocals were on-point too, especially during ‘Shake Me Down’. Behind their crowd-surfing, crowd-walking frontman, were the other five members of Cage The Elephant, including touring member Matthan Minster on keys, a f*ck tonne of lights and, oddly, a large, blank curtain.

Cage The Elephant - Trouble

"We were here for two years when we started, and playing rooms with two whole people,” said Shultz.

Clearly, to be headlining the 5000-capacity Brixton Academy, a 45-minute drive from their old stomping grounds of Leyton, meant a lot to Cage The Elephant.

The setlist was like a greatest hits set. Featuring old classics like ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ alongside new favourites such as ‘Trouble’ and ‘Mess Around’, Cage The Elephant are, thankfully, the sort of band who will always reel out the songs people really want to hear. Unlike others, who won’t be named here.

The encore featured a solo acoustic performance of the aforementioned, timely ‘Right Before My Eyes’, and finished on a breathless run-out of the gnashing ‘Teeth’, taken from Cage The Elephant’s Grammy-nominated Melophobia.

Cage The Elephant are heading off to mainland Europe now, but they’ll be back soon. Make sure you catch them when they do. You won’t regret it.