Cake - Artpark, Lewiston, NY - 05/20/2011
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 11:10PM 
Review/photos- John Jeffrey
Lewiston, NY - Upon arriving to Lewiston's Artpark concert area on a cool, damp Friday night, it was to my surprise that the Cake show scheduled that evening, was being held indoors. The somewhat small, but very nice venue (with not a bad seat in the whole place) saved the crowd, from what would have been a sloppy mudfest, due to the afternoon rain showers that were bestowed upon us, on what some were calling, the last day of the world (Note: Incase you are not aware, some false religious prophets claimed the following day - Saturday, May 21, 2011 was to be world's "Judgement Day"). I figured if what those lunatics were saying was going to be true, I would spend my last night on earth, having my 'Cake' and eating it too, right?
As show time approached, and the packed house scurried to their seats, I stood in front of the nearly barren stage, wondering why their was a potted tree sitting there. I guess it fit in with the simplistic theme of the stage, as aside from the tree, there was only a small drum kit, some small amplifiers, a disco ball, and a nature mural. The tree was given away to a lucky fan later in the show, but they said I couldn't have the disco ball. I had to ask.
Being that this was my first experience seeing Cake live, I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't expecting pyro and a light show, as the 'live' Cake visual experience is at the complete opposite end of that spectrum. The guys in the band took the stage like serious jazz musicians, and moved around as much as the tree. Cake is all about the music, and they came to deliver, playing 2 sets of their favorite tunes from the Cake catalog. Frontman John McCrea's onstage banter is just as dry as his lyric delivery, and when the crowd wasn't giving him the response he wanted, he threatened they would not be "(Going) The Distance," which of course they played, at the start of the second set.
McCrea encouraged the crowd to "exercise" our "free wills" during the intermission, to do "whatever you want," as the smell of marijuana in the venue became intoxicating. During the break, several fans went to fill up on beer and food, while some had their fill of Cake and left Artpark, to either beat the traffic, or perhaps to 'exercise their free wills' elsewhere.
The second set was more of the same flawless performances, playing each track from it's respective album, verbatim. Although it's great to see a band playing their tunes so faithfully, in some ways it detracts from the whole 'live' experience. One might ask, aside from the munchies, what does a concert goer get from going to a Cake concert, that they don't get from just listening to the CD? The answer is - being there. While a Cake concert may fall short of what some people expect from a full concert experience, being in the crowd and feeling the music, forgetting about your real life dilemmas for two hours, and going home with a smile on your face, is worth the price of admission
alone.
Setlist:
Set 1
1.Sad Songs and Waltzes (Willie Nelson cover)
2.Italian Leather Sofa
3.Opera Singer
4.Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
5.Long Time
6.Mustache Man (Wasted)
7.Shadow Stabbing
8.Wheels
9.Mexico
10.Bound Away
11.Guitar
12.Sick of You
Set 2
13.The Distance
14.Jolene
15.Pentagram
16.Love You Madly
17.Thrills (During the tree giveaway)
18.Sheep Go to Heaven
19.Never There
Encore:
20.War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
21.Short Skirt/Long Jacket
for more on Cake, check out www.cakemusic.com
Thomas