Concert Goings: Cage the Elephant (5/25/11)

Oh. My. God.

10 years. 10 long years since the last time I’d seen them play live, summer after high school and in an instant it was the same. That struck me halfway through the set that it was the same, me dancing singing knowing every word just like I had in the java house. Didn't matter if they weren't the same band anymore as they were in high school. In a way they were.

From the beginning though:

Got there right on time, ran into friends who were going to see Manchester Orchestra who promptly started calling me a groupie. That was a little insulting as it's not the case. When I say I know these guys, I know these guys. I went to high school with three of them. Our friends weren’t going in right away because they had no interest in seeing Oh Brother and really neither did I so I waited with them. From where we were sitting I could see the tour buses where they were parked and then hey that's Daniel Tichenor (bassist). I didn’t go say hi because really I don’t know Tich. A minute later out comes Jared and I jumped up to go over.

Jared looked at me for a moment like he was remembering, then he was at the barricade giving me huge hugs. “Are you here for the show?” I flashed my tickets and said of course (nope just I hang out in parking lots for kicks). Showed him that I was wearing our senior year t-shirt (I thought it was fitting for the night) and he laughed then asked if I’d be at the reunion, but said he wasn’t sure he’d be there. I told him about the website and he laughed, asked if it was on facebook, but I explained that it was for tumblr. He seemed impressed and told me they were going on first tonight and that he had to go get ready. He did say he was happy I was there though which was sweet.

I went back to where my friends were who broke into calling me groupie again and then a bit later out comes Matt and Brad who seemed to be talking to important people at the barricade but I went back over and loitered until they spotted me. Matt just looked thrilled while Brad looked surprised. Hugs from both boys, full of love and more. Matt loved the shirt, tossed me a high five and told me to meet him there later.

Eventually we went in and I was soo thrilled I was practically bouncing. As soon as the music started I was jumping up and down. They played almost everything. I think almost the entire new album, plus In One Ear (much screaming), Back Against the Wall, Lotus, Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. They re-vamped No Rest for the Wicked and it was awesome. Perfect for a live crowd.





For me there was lots of jumping, dancing and screaming. Matt dove into the crowd the second song, again a little later during Tiny Robots, and I think he did the entire second verse while in the crowd. They got up him up in the air standing for the end which was great.





So awesome to see so many people singing along, to see them cheering and jumping up and down. So awesome.

I wish i could say more about Manchester Orchestra, but I don’t really know their stuff. They put on good enough of a show that I was jumping up and down at the end and dancing because their music is that good. It was neat to see them in their hometown too. I really like the song Simple Math.

Afterward I made champ stick around with me, waiting with the other fan girls for Matt to come out. It took a while, but eventually he did, and he talked to most people before getting to me. I bounced and he grinned and we hugged huge and he was just thrilled. Others kept coming up in between and I let him go because they were real fans and I’m just..a friend fan. We did another video for the website and I had him sign one of our tickets to give away.

I told him they played all my favorites and I got a ‘yeah’ and a high five and then he needed to go back to family and friends who were waiting, which was completely fine. I told him I felt bad because I’ve never actually met Lincoln or Daniel and he said ‘soon enough’ with a grin. He reached out and pulled me into another long hug, really long, whispering about how much he appreciated me being there always, all the support and love. That I had no idea how much it meant. I told him always, always always.

As he walked away he called out "high school poetry club! I haven’t forgotten that’s how we met."