Cage the Elephant @ o2 Academy, 20th February 2020

The two-time Grammy award winning Cage The Elephant found themselves headlining the O2 Academy in Birmingham on Thursday evening, with the show being opened by Post Animal (b/w) and SWMRS (colour).

Currently touring in support of their fifth studio album Social Cues, the band have developed a reputation for being a fantastic live band over the years. As I have not not seen the band since Reading Festival in the early 2010’s I was more than excited to see how the band had come along since then. And as they treated the audience to a massive 22 song setlist it was more than clear why they had gained such a reputation.

Whilst visually the show was pretty subdued and simple, sonically the group took the audience on a voyage throughout their long and varied career, with the main visual focus being on brothers Matt & Brad Shultz’s engaging on stage persona.

Older tracks such as ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ and ‘Shake Me Down’ sat happily alongside newer tracks ‘Broken Boy’ and ‘Cold Cold Cold’.

It was clear from observing the audience that different factions were more inclined towards certain era’s of the band’s career than others, a great testament to the standard of the band’s output throughout their career.

Personally I would have liked to have seen more songs from the band’s two earlier releases, however I’m more than aware that this was no nostalgia trip.

This is a band who’s success is still on the upwards trajectory and they clearly have the fans more than on their side. Seems like there really ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’.

Reviewer: Dan Earl

Photographer: Andra Tudoran

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