Wednesday, October 28, 1998
Cake
By Brent Hopkins
Daily Bruin Contributor
As John McCrea and his four-man crew stepped onstage at the
Troubadour on Oct. 26, he offered an encouraging salutation.
"Greetings, we are Cake, we are here to serve you."
The Sacramento alternative-funk-country-rock-rap-rockabilly-jazz
band, with their quirky lyrics, catchy melodies and danceable
rhythms, served the eager crowd quite well. Unfortunately, there
weren’t enough portions to go around. The music that the
hard-groovin’ quintet cooked up was great while it lasted, but the
hour-and-20-minute length of the concert left something to be
desired.
After hearing them sizzle together, interweaving McCrea’s steady
monotone over some first-class instrumental work, it was
disappointing to see them unplug their instruments and tread
offstage so soon into the evening.
At least while they occupied the Troubadour’s cramped stage,
Cake sounded sharp. Dressed in cowboy outfits, complete with
oversized belt buckles, they looked like they should be singing
ballads about roping maverick steers and their cheatin’ mama back
home. They sounded quite different, however.
Fans were treated to grinding bass lines, crashing drums,
excellent rhythm guitar, and above all, tremendous work on trumpet
by talented multi-instrumentalist Vincent Di Fiore. Their musical
style encompasses many genres, sampling jazz-inflected horns, funk
bass and rock guitar in equal proportions. They even brought out
guest Greg Vincent to play pedal steel guitar on the melancholy
country tune, "Mexico."
McCrea, looking strangely like "The Man With No Eyes" from "Cool
Hand Luke," did not have the most warm and inviting stage presence,
but the crowd didn’t mind at all. He rarely spoke between songs,
and when he did, he had the demeanor of a high school chemistry
teacher. In the same even, collected voice that gives his songs
their unusual character, McCrea lectured the audience on
instruments, such as the pedal steel and on his favored percussion
device, the vibraslap. Describing it as "a descendant from a very
primitive and badass instrument," he brought it out at various
times throughout the evening, its characteristic rattle lending an
odd rhythm to "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps," and "Hem of Your
Garment."
While many bands’ live performances can sound mechanically
reproduced and boring, Cake chose to go down a different road. By
switching around the instrumentation of songs, letting guitar solos
replace what had previously been horn licks or bringing Di Fiore’s
trumpet into the spotlight, new life was breathed into songs such
as "Italian Leather Sofa" and "Frank Sinatra." Even when they stuck
to the songs’ original form, the energy with which they played kept
the crowd moving. By the time they got to "The Distance," the upper
balcony benches shook from fans who had climbed up to dance.
While he may be a white guy in Western wear, McCrea sure didn’t
fake the funk, with his rap-like vocals becoming almost hypnotic
over the energetic drumming and solid basslines. The darkened
lights and the disco ball helped, too.
Though the hour-long set seemed far too brief, the 20-minute
encore at least closed the concert on a high note. Acknowledging
the audience, McCrea finally removed his mirrored sunglasses and
took the microphone.
"There’s not much hope in general, but this song makes you feel
like there is," he said somberly, before launching into "I Will
Survive." Aided by a new bass solo, the cover of Gloria Gaynor’s
disco anthem earned just a smattering of applause when compared
with the closing number.
"We’re going to leave you with a very, very sad song, because
it’s very, very sad to leave you," McCrea said, showing about as
much emotion as Hannibal Lecter . The crowd didn’t seem very, very
sad once the band began to play the song that they’d been calling
for all night long, "Jolene." Turning off all the club’s lights and
encouraging the audience to "make some noise," the band tipped
their cowboy hats to the crowd with this fan favorite. It was a
nice cap to an entertaining, although brief evening. The music was
great, but it was just too bad the Cake ran out too soon.
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