American rock band Cage the Elephant made their long a waited return to Canada to play their first live concert in over three years. The lead singer Matt Shultz confirmed as much in between songs when he briefly stopped to talk to the audience. I have covered about 14 concerts this year and I would say this show was one of my favourites. The band would play Toronto on August the 2nd 2022 at the History concert hall which is a large sized, in door venue which the band from Kentucky would easily fill. The night would begin with a small amount of drama as there was no opening act scheduled and no firm set times posted but it was assumed to be around 9pm as usual. Myself and the other photographers were brought to the media pit about 10 minutes before 9pm and waited there with the crowd until about 9:40PM when the band took the stage.
I found it slightly humorous to hear the crowd let out a collective sigh routinely during the waiting period from 9pm to about 9:40pm. Every time a song on the venue’s sound system would come to an end the audience would try to encourage the group to come out and play by chanting “Cage!, Cage!, Cage!”. There is no way I can know for sure but I really don’t think this had any impact on Cage The Elephant who I’m sure were back stage at the time getting ready and they were on their own clock. To be honest, when your a band as good as CTE you can afford to do things on your own schedule as once the band starts tearing up the stage the extra waiting time will become a distant memory for the fans attending the show. The face of the group Matt Shultz, took to the stage wearing a cowboy hat and rope style bag that appeared to contain additional clothing or outfits that I don’t think he ended up using. 
Cage The Elephant brought the house down at History on a hot summer night in early August and sent all the fans home happy even if they were a bit late taking the stage(for unknown reasons). There were many moments through out the show where the crowd was singing in unison along with the band hitting every lyric. They played their major hits from through out their existence. Both new and old songs such as “Ain’t no rest for the wicked”, “Cigarette Daydream” and the fan favourite “Come a Little Closer”. The group from America also played a few tunes off their latest album “Social Cues” (2019) such as “House of Glass” and the hit single “Ready to Let Go” which we were lucky enough to record a live video clip of. Shortly before the band played their last song of the night which was “Teeth”, Matt Shultz jumped into the crowd and body surfed into the middle and pulled off a hand stand some how which was quite a sight.
As I mentioned earlier, I already suspect this concert will be close to the top of the list for best concert of the year once 2022 comes to a close in about four months from now. Most people I talk to that have seen Cage The Elephant live in the past usually have the same opinion as this band is known for their great live shows. CTE will be one of those generational bands that will live on a long time into the future for being the sound of a decade, in this case being the 2010’s. The band has a solid body of work over the past 10 plus years and has no sign of slowing down. Any fans out there are encouraged to check their local listings for when they come to town. Enjoy the exclusive live video clip of the song “Ready To Let Go” that was recorded at the concert in Toronto a few weeks ago. Also be sure to follow the band on Instagram @cagetheelephant.
Article and Photos By Kyle McNeil (@trueaspectmedia)
