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05/20/2011 Cake (Lewiston, NY @ Artpark)

By Eric | May 30, 2011 2:37 pm

A fun Friday night show at Artpark, and there probably isn’t a more perfect venue in which to see Cake. Especially when you’re close, like 5th row close. Tiff and I had aisle seats, just left of center, so we had a little more room. Actually, every one else that we personally knew at the show was in our row as well, which was a testament to how good the fan club tickets were (and how fast we bought them). Since this was billed as “An Evening With Cake”, much like the last time we’d seen them, there was no opener, and after the long Final Countdown-esque intro song, the band came out and played the rollicking opener… Sad Songs and Waltzes? No kidding. I thought that was pretty cool as an opening song, right into Italian Leather Sofa, neither of which I’d seen since the Cornell show in ’01. After shooting down someone yelling out for “The Distance” (two songs in? Sheesh.), the band continued on with a couple of my favorites in Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle, along with Wheels (no patriotic jumpsuits in the crowd however). McCrea mentioned that he mourned the loss of 3/4 time in popular music, and vowed the rest of the show would be in that time signature. It wasn’t, but the next song, “Mexico” certainly was! The longer first set was closed out with the new single and big crowd-participation number “Sick of You”. At one point during a John McCrea soliliquoy, he implored the crowd to be quiet, inferring that they weren’t interested in what he had to say. Overall, I thought his marked contempt (on multiple occasions) for those in the audience that weren’t paying attention was pretty humorous, as I too have always felt, “Why are you here, if not to pay attention to the band?”. After the brief intermission, the band abruptly launched into The Distance, before a Motorcade two-fer of Jolene and Pentagram. They gave away another tree (apple tree this time around) while the band played the instrumental “Thrills” (off the b-sides album). A rousing version of Sheep Go To Heaven closed out the second set. The encore consisted of the War Pigs cover, and then finally Short Skirt/Long Jacket. Another fun set by the band we’ve been lucky to see three times in the last three years in our area!

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle

Set 1
Sad Songs and Waltzes
Italian Leather Sofa
Opera Singer
Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle
Long Time
Mustache Man (Wasted)
Shadow Stabbing
Wheels
Mexico
Bound Away
Guitar
Sick of You

Set 2
The Distance
Jolene
Pentagram
Love You Madly
Thrills (During the tree giveaway)
Sheep Go to Heaven
Never There

Encore:
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Short Skirt/Long Jacket

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