Live music review: Cage the Elephant came back from five year hiatus with Young the Giant at Moody Center

When a band like Cage The Elephant moves out of their place of formation for England, you know they intended to live up to their titular mission statement. Kentucky-born Cage The Elephant is many records removed from super-hit “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” becoming one of the mainstream’s most hard-hitting arena rock and roll acts while churning out a discography with inarguable depth that carries the torch for contemporaries such as The White Stripes, Beck, Modest Mouse, and The Black Keys. On Thursday night at Austin’s downtown basketball arena, as Melvins’ Buzz Osborne would call a “non-venue,” the Kentucky-England band pumped out 80 minutes of virtually banterless cuts that saw the six-piece outfit tearing through their accomplished career of steady but worthwhile material. An eclectic audience made their way to the Moody Center for the Friday eve show. Shirts from bands like Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Oasis, and other boundless rock and roll fandoms came to bask in a star-studded bill that sculpted monstrous energy throughout the night. 

Joining the stage first came Georgia native Willow Avalon. Built with a country-like influence, her jangly Honky Tonk style seemed to go over well with the early-comers to the weeknight performance, bringing her tight-knit rhythm section to accompany her honest, tell-all tunes. Fresh off the release of her recent LP, Stranger, Avalon proved her up-and-coming staying power by involving the audience in new tune “Homewrecker,” which captivated the audience singing along with the rural Georgia-born artist.

London-based experimental R&B act Bakar came next, appearing on top of an inclined light platform that made the singer look like an angelic presence as he emerged onstage. The across-the-pond vocalist also acknowledged his love of local venue Scoot Inn. He told the audience that members of his crew still wear the venue merchandise they received from the performance.

The semi-headliner Young The Giant took the stage to deliver an hour-long performance of enormous synth-heavy indie rock tracks that showed their ability to captivate arenas with their musicianship with a variety of enthralling sounds. Armed with powerful lead guitars and arena-filling keyboards, the Irvine band made it clear that they’re not “new” to the game anymore, telling the attendees how Austin was one of their first ventures out of their home state for SXSW 2008. While not quite as raw and aggressive as their headlining counterpart, Young The Giant delivered a great mix of ballads, dance-ready anthems, and vibey songs that took things in an almost darker direction with a superb light show that gracefully carried the moods. When the anthems hit, they hit.

Cage The Elephant took the stage promptly at 9:25 p.m., ready to deliver over 20 songs handpicked from each of their six full-length releases. Since this was Cage’s first Austin appearance since 2020 before the COVID-19 lockdowns, the energy was spiraling throughout the audience in anticipation of Shultz and company riding with Central Texas once again. Leaning heavily into releases like 2013’s Melophobia and 2019’s Social Cues, super frontman Matt Shultz, whose brother Brad Shultz also plays guitar in Cage The Elephant, and his bandmates came ready to present their storied career up to 2024.

Since overcoming a stint with addiction in 2023, Shultz remained open about his newest venture into sobriety, making his story an inspiring one to his ever-growing audience. The CTE ensemble left little time for BS in their set, hacking through the numbers like they were going out of style. “Broken Boy,” “Cry Baby,” and “Spiderhead” served as the opening triple play, before letting the band lean into their 2024 release, Neon Pill. “Good Time” showed its head as the first entry from the new record, and the audience reaction showed their dedication in singing along with a song that’s only been out for what feels like a few weeks.

The stage pyrotechnics blasted sweltering heat onto the audience, much to their visible delight. A few more new album cuts appeared in the form of title track “Neon Pill” and “Rainbow,” making way for Melophobia soothing ballad “Telescope,” which had the audience utilizing their phone lights as lighters for the slower tune to light up the arena in Christmas light-like fashion.

“Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” made a mid-set appearance, emitting infectious energy for the super-hit that, while commercial, is still an extravagant banger. At some point, Shultz introduced the band, including the frontman’s guitarist brother who also laid it down on the keyboards for the arena gig that accounted for every note you hear with Cage The Elephant’s robust, modern rock sound. In the ever-changing landscape of music in the world, Cage The Elephant knows how to play the hits and introduce their audience to new angles of their sound.  The crowd rejoiced in the old and new as the Cage train kept rolling on throughout the set.

When the U.S.-to-England act returned to the stage after a lengthy section of anticipatory audio feedback, “Cigarette Daydreams” appeared. The night went by fast, and there was little time to take a breath as the band worked through their set with fiery urgency. Shultz and company are back and better than ever, and this sentiment was made clear by night’s end. The evening’s final hurrah came as “Come A Little Closer,” a testament to being an artist in the modern world and wanting people to understand life’s trials through art. With this epic performance at one of Austin’s biggest venues, Cage The Elephant proved that rock and roll is alive and well in 2024. The band’s five-year, touring hiatus was lengthy for fans, but the wait was well worth it.

Cage The Elephant continues down the road in the U.S. this Summer before embarking on another tour leg in North America in the Fall. Tickets can be found here.

All photos by Drew Doggett except where noted