Last night, the holy trinity of alternative rock descended on the crowd at the Dos Equis Pavilion. The venue, somewhat sold out, appeared ready to burst at the seams from the overwhelming ecstasy intertwined in the audience. The speed of the people’s energy began to gain momentum as the sun started to set over the Dallas skyline and the first band Wild Belle hit the stage.
The line-up, which was quite extensive for bands with that much recognition included the Chicago Psychedelic Pop sibling due Wild Belle, a Texas home-town favorite, Spoon and the anticipated headliners of the night, Cage The Elephant and BECK.
Spoon, the post-punk revival band from Austin, Texas caught the last glimpse of the sun as they sailed into a musical experience. The last time they played a stage in Texas was to co-headline Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2015. Their 26 years of playing live gigs together showed. They played an 11-song set that was about 50 minutes, pulling hits from their first albums up to now. Which was to be expected considering they recently released a greatest hits record. Although the band didn’t interact much with the audience, they did shout out Daniel’s father, who was in the audience. During their time on stage the crowd remained seated, but they did not keep quiet. Probably the loudest sitting crowd that venue has seen. The synchronization between the members reminded everyone there why they are such Texas icons.
Cage the Elephant did not disappoint, which is not surprising. They are brilliantly weird, something that’s missing in today’s radio-friendly music. Their Saturday night performance was nothing out of the ordinary for the rowdy band. Singer Matt Shults strutted a sunny windbreaker, transparent bubble umbrella complete with a post-apocalyptic mask as he bounced around the stage in front of a giant wall of fire. His half bounce/ dance moves made their way down onto the crowd during their “Cry Baby,” their second song of the night. Shultz’s contagious energy immediately had him surrounded by die-hard fans dancing around him for a selfie. His embodiment of a 70s rock star injected with angst from the new wave punk era bands, has rocketed him as one of the best performers of our generation.
As crazy as the Kentucky native seems to keep up with, his band did not fall behind. Their agility to switch tempos within micro-seconds and sound as explosive as Shultz does without jumping onto the crowd is mesmerizing. They sounded experience, fresh and exciting. Their new album Social Cues, which a bounce-off the wall’s banger re-shaped the groups artistic trajectory. It’s still just as loud as Thank You Happy Birthday just with the added seriousness and sensible topics.
Their 20-song set included hits ranging from their 2013 record Melophobia to their new album Social Cues. “Shake Me Down, “Skin and Bones” “Cigarette Daydreams” and “Mess Around” just to name a few – with the ecstasy and intensity that brews in their stage presence they lived-up to BECK’s fan base.
Starting on the dot at 9:25 p.m. with “Loser,” the independently released single that landed the band a deal with DGC Records and was later released in their first album Mellow Gold driven with passion, El Guero stepped onto the tempo with his folk-rock bluesy vibes singing out, “I’m a looser so why don’t you kill me.” Exuding coolness of very high degrees during their third song of the night “The New Pollution” it only got better from there. Nothing compares to years of experience, love for the craft and loyal fan base, so as the darkness of the hot summer night evolved the crowd grew heavier from the desire to continue the “Texas love affair,” Beck mentioned mid set.
The band always being up for a good time, paired their musical journey with laser lights, humor, a bit of role-playing and bluesy-rock rhythms. The night did have its intimate moments with the occasional “slow” tempo songs. “Los Cause” from Sea Change divided the set with a sudden stage fading to black, slowly signaling the show was coming to end. Veteran gig-goers knew better than to leave as that was not the end of the shoe, but just an encore. The band walked out one last time to deliver one of the greatest performances to ever grace that stage with “Where It’s At” in which BECK let his musicians take control of the ship and play pit some of rock n’ roll’s best 6-string solos including: “Miss You,” by The Rolling Stones and “Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads’. When the sing returned to BECKS command, he invited Cage the Elephant on stage to end the night with “Night Running” their collaboration on Cage’s album Social Cues.
It is safe to say, Saturday’s night set electrified Fitzhughavenue, filling the voids of a stressful week with tunes. BECK, at its highest, revived the people of a city that doesn’t sleep.
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
BECK
By: Maria Limon | Exclusively for @Music, Why Not!
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