Live Review: Cage The Elephant and Young The Giant at Credit Union 1 Arena • Chicago

Brassneck | August 17, 2024

Cage The Elephant

Young The Giant

Credit Union 1 Arena

Chicago, IL

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Photos and Live Review by Jeff Elbel

Cage the Elephant singer Matt Shultz is breaking new ground on the band’s tour, supporting its Neon Pill album. In the early 2000s, Peter Gabriel visited the former Tweeter Center in Tinley Park and used the relatively new Segway technology while performing “Games Without Frontiers” on a rain-soaked stage. At Credit Union 1 Arena on Wednesday, Shultz performed his entire show with an even more challenging pair of mobility props. It’s safe to say that no rock and roll frontman has ever rocked as fiercely with a medical boot and scooter.

“Captain Obvious here, I broke my foot,” said Shultz after the band opened appropriately with “Broken Boy” from 2019’s Social Cues. The singer showed off the new moves he was learning, including scooter wheelies and mock-triumphant poses that earned rowdy approval from the crowd. “I love you all, honestly,” he continued. “Trust me. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be at home on my ass.” By all indications, Shultz will eschew convalescent healing during the remaining month and a half of Cage the Elephant’s North American tour.

The set in Chicago was frontloaded with popular favorites, including the troubled but anthemic “Spiderhead,” the Stonesy psychedelia of “Cold Cold Cold,” and the turbulent breakup song “Ready to Let Go.” Shultz promised some deep cuts for diehard fans if they’d accept a few new songs in the bargain. The band connected with a receptive audience during newer fare, including “Good Time.” Elder brother Brad Shultz switched from his adventurous electric guitar sounds to acoustic guitar for the title cut “Neon Pill.” Appearing as the quintessential cool rocker in all-black attire with Ray-Ban shades and a pair of gold chains, the elder Shultz occasionally left the stage to gregariously rub shoulders with the crowd.

Deep cuts included, it’s a testament to the quality of Cage the Elephant’s material across six albums that fans could be heard above the powerful PA singing along to practically every song. An ardent crowd choir rang atop the slinky groove crafted by drummer Jared Champion and bassist Daniel Tichenor during “Social Cues,” ironically celebrating Matt Shultz’s likely confessional lyric about a successful musician succumbing to the pressure of too much attention. “Hide me in the back room / tell me when it’s over / Don’t know if I can play this part much longer,” sang Shultz and his devoted audience together.

Champion’s thundering tom-toms rolled while Brad Shultz’s buzzing guitar clattered through “Halo” from 2013’s Melophobia. Slashing guitar and a surf beat rang during “Mess Around” from Tell Me I’m Pretty, punctuated by frenzied laser lights and lead guitarist Nick Bockrath’s wicked solo.

“Are you ready for the crowd surfing,” joked Matt Shultz between songs. “We could get a little life raft, and you could push me around.” Champion then answered a young fan’s birthday request for a drumstick. “That’s what we do,” said Shultz on behalf of the band. “We make dreams come true.”

The crowd bounced and swayed to “Trouble” but simply erupted for “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” from the band’s self-titled 2008 debut. From there, the energy never relented. The blissful “Rainbow” and its declaration of gratitude to a loving partner had the audience waving their arms side to side in time with Shultz. The singer called for cell phone lights during “Telescope,” turning the arena into a shimmering disco ball. “Tokyo Smoke” evoked the vibe of Blade Runner, performed under pyramids of green laser beams.

The jagged and dystopian “House of Glass,” with Matt Shultz’s rapid-fire delivery and Brad Shultz’s sharp rhythm guitar, brought the room to a fever pitch before the main set concluded with “Sabertooth Tiger.” In a fit of defiance and punk rock fury, the elder Shultz smashed his guitar to splinters on stage.

Cage the Elephant returned for an encore of “Shake Me Down.” The sentimental and melodic pop symphony “Cigarette Daydreams” followed, buoyed by Matthan Minster’s elegant keyboards. The band brought the house down in an ecstatic communal performance of “Come a Little Closer” with the crowd before the band walked (and rolled) off stage and out of sight.

Singer Sameer Gadhia took time during Young the Giant’s set to talk about the band’s longtime friendship with Cage the Elephant. Although Young the Giant had ideas about spending 2024 off the road, their relationship with the headliners made the offer of a tour “hard to say no to.” Although not currently supporting an album of new material, Gadhia expressed the band’s desire to challenge itself with an adventurous set of lesser-heard material. Songs that had formerly gone dormant included the set opener “Jungle Youth” from Home of the Strange.

“It’s About Time” and “Waves” were taken from the sophomore album Mind Over Matter, which is being celebrated with a 10th anniversary reissue. Gadhia paused to commemorate the milestone. “As second albums go, we took a big swing,“ he said. “We trusted music and trusted our audience. We believed we could evolve.” He then introduced the album’s title track. “At the time it was released, this next song was a failed single,” said Gadhia. “It’s now our most successful song. It just goes to show you put love and trust out there.” The crowd offered a generous ovation as the shimmering and anthemic pop ballad began. With Eric Cannata at the keyboard and Payam Doostzadeh’s warm bass line, the song touched on sources including Sparkle in the Rain-era Simple Minds and Elbow.

Familiar favorite “Cough Syrup” from the band’s self-titled 2011 debut also drew fervent crowd response and participation early in the set. The opening bars of “Titus Was Born” found Gadhia singing delicately, accompanied by Cannata’s acoustic guitar under blue light and sparkling beams of light that looked like raindrops in the moonlight.

The band performed a dramatic version of “The Walk Home” from 2022’s American Bollywood. With lyrics about a “pyramid scheme with a devil investor,” the same album’s “Dollar $tore” was a portrait of needlessly desperate people trading pieces of their souls for money.

The band’s unique sound during songs like the longing “Superposition” fused elements of guitar-based math-rock a la Minus the Bear with sweeping romantic pop that connected threads to Peter Gabriel and Lo Moon. Gadhia danced and spun to the disco pulse of drummer Francois Comtois and Jacob Tilley’s funk guitar stabs during “Tightrope,” with a sound that echoed INXS and Tom Tom Club. The set closed with full-throated singalongs for the ecstatic choruses of “Silvertongue” and “My Body.”

The evening began with engaging sets by rising talent. British musician Bakar offered songs from his 2023 album Halo, including “Alive” and “Right Here, for Now.” The singer’s fusion of R&B, pop, and hip-hop fueled “1st Time,” which included a snip of King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight.” Bakar’s set concluded with the soulful 2019 single “Hell N Back.” Genre-blending artist Vlad Holiday performed a brief but potent set, including “So Damn into You,” joining psych pop atmosphere with a torch song melody and hip-hop rhythm. Holiday’s set wrapped with the slow simmer of “I Don’t Wanna Party Anymore,” a new single with a recorded version featuring guest Kacey Musgraves.