Live Gig Review! – Cage The Elephant @ Manchester Academy 2 – 03/10/11

For the second time in six days I'm at Manchester's Academy 2 to come see a kick-ass rock n' roll band. The weather's holding up nicely, with England still getting the last few rays of sun from the preceding weekend's late summer flourish of good weather. The gig's sold out, and everyone's dressed like they're ready to hit Newquay beach.

The atmosphere inside the academy is fantastic, with the very, and I mean very, young crowd looking and sounding enthusiastic for tonight's show. Providing support are Brit band 'Dinosaur Pile-Up', who's very heavy rock sound work's well in getting the crowd pumped for the main event. Their half-hour whisks along quickly with no fuss and they've teed the crowd up perfectly. A one to watch for the future one could easily argue. But that's not why everyone's here. We want to see the what the other side of the Atlantic has to offer.

At approximately 9.30pm, Cage The Elephant come on and come out swinging. They keep the lively pace set by Dinosaur Pile-Up by opening up with one of their biggest songs, 'In One Ear'. It's a damn fine start and the crowd are loving it. They then hit in to some new material from second LP 'Thank You, Happy Birthday'. '2024' and 'Aberdeen' hit one after another and they're sounding great, if a little slower and much different in tone than their self-titled débuts tracks. However there is plenty to admire from said début, with 'Tiny Little Robots', 'Lotus' and 'Back Against The Wall' all getting an airing. The band race through their set in next to no time, with front-man Matt Schultz saying relatively little to the crowd throughout other than to thank them here and there. However as we come to the end, the band unsurprisingly save their biggest singles for last. 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked' gets the biggest cheer of the night, while last single 'Shake Me Down' brings the crowd back down to end their normal set.

Then something very baffling happens. The band go off for the obligatory three minutes to come back on for their encore. Which lasts all of three minutes while they play 'Sabretooth', after which they just leave. It's is a little disappointing because A) who does a one-song encore? And B) even with the encore break and song, their entire set-list only lasts one hour. A bit on the short side for a band with two albums worth of material to perform. However at £12.50 a ticket, it's hard to complain that much.

Still, Cage The Elephant are a good band, pure and simple. There is no denying the fact their brand of American rock n' roll is anything but a joy to behold. But a lack of showmanship and short set-list is a little disappointing, and you feel they just need that little bit more to become a truly must-see band. Still, a very entertaining band who are still worth checking out for a very little asking price.

3/5