Cake
at the Orpheum
by Katy Shea
Shortly after 7:30pm, the crowd was filled with an eerie mix of thirty-somethings in Dockers and horn-rimmed spectacles (that actually seemed to go well with the omnipresent Eau de Rogaine), college hat-wearin’ cable knit sweater college boys, and cooing Gen Xers all waiting to see the Counting Crows (more specifically, the sage of Top 40, Adam Duritz) when the Sacramento-based Cake took the stage. After an (unnecessary and maybe a little condescending) intro by Duritz, Cake, led by singer/acoustic guitarist John McCrea, showed the crowd that this was definitely not the “find your seat” portion of the evening. McCrea and bandmates got people on their feet, or at least heavily rockin’ out in their seats (this is the Orpheum, remember, where all must sit!).
When the band paused after the first two songs to ponder what to play next, an enthusiastic scream of “Frank Sinatra!” exploded from the crowd with such vigor and desperation they must have felt stunned by the sheer will in that female’s howl, and were obliged to comply. “Frank Sinatra” seems destined to be the band’s next hit, with McCrea’s absurdly witty (yet strangely sincere) lyrics (“Beyond the suns (sons?) that guard your roof/Beyond your flowers of burning youth/Beyond your latest ad campaigns”), forming perfect symmetry with the sparse and diverse instrumentation. This is especially true of the trumpet, whose simple ascending and descending lines anchor the song in “Neo-Lounge.”
Cake then took us out of “Neo-Lounge” and into “Neo-Disco,” treating us to a version of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Cake hop around musical genres so readily; from the rockabilly stylings of “Stickshifts and Safetybelts” to the more driving rhythms/almost hip hop stylings of their hit “The Distance,” to the mellow/funky sounds of their show-ender “Jolene,” (which was much more mellow and dynamic live than it is on their debut album Motorcade of Generosity), without losing continuity, quality, pace… or their audience. When he implored “Let’s make it sound more frightening and powerful!” or “Get Down… Get UP! Let’s try to make this potentially fascist-sounding!” we wanted to make him happy, sort of like everyone’s insane Uncle Harold (Yes, Uncle Harry, the ceiling talks to me all the time too! Nice things it says, yes!)… but in a good way.
While playing their hit, “The Distance,” the energy was more than there, as omnipresent as the college hats. Cake’s sound is, especially in a day and age where alternative rock is becoming more homogenous than ever, a relief and a pleasure. Their irreverence, with innovative instrumentation, “garoooove,” fresh perceptive, and decisively non-whiney lyrics, make them a band to look out for.
