Cage the Elephant Was A Religious Experince at the Reno Knitting Factory

Cage the Elephant tore up the Knitting Factory last night. Their high energy million mile an hour joy ride through the small venue was amazing enough that I still don't know how to describe the events that transpired.

The show began with Auto Vaughn, a small time band with a lot of heart. Their set was good a lot of energy, it was sad that they were the first opener, I don't think the crowd gave them the appropriate amount of energy. Their set was awesome you guys should really check them out (links at the bottom).

After Auto Vaughn came the 22-20's, they were awesome performers but I don't think they got the crowd amped up enough for Cage the Elephant. The British indie rockers were awesome on stage, and had a good presence I just don't think it was suited for being the second opener for Cage The Elephant.

Now we get what I REALLY want to talk about Cage the Elephant. These guys were amazing, every second between when the 22-20's got off stage to the sound check all you heard from the crowd was CAGE CAGE CAGE, or ELEPHANT ELEPHANT, the massive amount of excitement that was building coupled with a drunken and happy crowd, prepared me for THE BEST show of my life.

When the first song started to play the crowd all ran to the front, with about 500 people on the floor, we ended up getting 4 rows of people all smashed together in a three foot area. I was right in the middle of the action managing to only have a row of people between me and the crowd barrier.

When they finally started playing it was loud and it was fast, it was like they were going a million miles an hour. The lead singer Matthew Shultz stage dived during the first song, the first of five times during the show he would do that. They played all of the album except James Brown, Lotus, and Cover me Again. Saving "In One Ear" and "Ain't No Rest for The Wicked" for the end of the show. Matthew had such a stage presence he controlled the crowd like we were his puppets, the more amped up he got the more violent and quickening the crowd got.

There is only one way I can describe Cage The Elephants live performance and I know many people will get upset by it but, their live show was like how people described Nirvana's early live shows. Full of energy and rage. Something that can never be forgotten. If someone were to ask me if I would recommend seeing them live I would say HELL YES!!!!!!