Cake House of Blues April 12, 2015
After a weekend of sporadic downpours and questionable weather, Houstonians could have easily opted to stay tucked in Sunday night for the Game of Thrones season premiere or yet another marathon of Bar Rescue. Quite the contrary: Cake's House of Blues show was completely sold out, overflowing with fans so dedicated they would have swum to the venue if needed.
Upon walking into House of Blues, it was clear why Cake still sells out shows 20-plus years after forming: fans everywhere were preemptively singing their favorite songs, giddy with anticipation for the California alt-rock vets to take the stage. The excitement among the crowd was almost enough to be happy that so many people got to experience this show, but frankly there were too damn many people in the venue. Overhearing tall men comment on how the place was too packed was commonplace.
The band started with the unlikely opener "Sad Songs and Waltzes," a Willie Nelson song from 1996's perfect Fashion Nugget. Opening with a slower fan favorite was an immediate indication that Cake would be playing a set constructed for sincere aficionados rather than casual listeners. This held true as the set rolled into 2001's "Opera Singer," and then two songs from their newest record.
Upon introducing the second of the two new songs, lead singer John McCrea remarked on "the powerful clapping of Houston Texas" and made a well-received joke about how the downtown area seems to be constantly ripped apart. At this time, he shared a story about how seemingly everyone tried to sway the group from releasing a record on their own label, because, well, this is a horrible time for the music industry. McCrea is sadly accurate.
This story would have been much more impactful, however, if it was possible to actually hear what McCrea was saying. The biggest problem with Sunday night's show was the sound. The whole operation could have been louder, especially considering that HOB was packed to the gills, but this was particularly true of the vocals. It was unfortunately evident during "Stickshifts and Safetybelts," when all that could be heard was every drunk girl in the venue. Even so, the audience was extremely receptive to Cake's new songs, particularly "Mustache Man (Wasted)."
The show was split into two sets, one of eight songs and six in the second. To open the second set, the band gave away a tree to an audience member, which went on for an absurdly long time. True, this may not have felt as awkward if the crowd could have heard what McCrae was saying, but the consensus in the back was, "Whaaaaaaaaaa????"
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