It was strange - a little, anyway - to be so excited to go to the Webster Theater, a place where I'd never been, to see CAKE (yes, all uppercase) -a band that had its biggest song, "The Distance" in the mid-90s, right after I graduated college. In fact, I remember distinctly driving around Rhode Island as a reporter listening to 99.7 "the Edge" blasting such songs out of the underperforming speakers of my '88 Regal. (cloth seats, faux wood dash)
Much has changed since then, but interestingly, CAKE has continued producing albums and touring. They've actually created far better material than their initial album "Motorcade of Generosity", although airplay has not been something that has come as regularly as with their first record. It's too bad. People have been missing out.
But not me, and not the hundreds who packed the Webster on Thursday night. My wife was a little concerned that we'd be the oldest ones there, but we were pretty far from it. Most people in the crowd were about our age - mid 30s, with likely families and other responsibilities. There was a healthy mix drinking beer on the floor of the Webster - twenty somethings, those in their forties, and some beyond, like the bearded dude who was hanging around the back of the theater seemingly alone.
I bought a CAKE shirt because I had to. It is blue and says "CAKE" in huge letters in orange, with an orange tree beneath it. One of the things CAKE does is it gives away a tree at each show, in an effort to show that they're "green." It was a cool-looking tree, although I couldn't hear what kind it was.
CAKE played for two hours, a bit short by concert standards, but what they played was damn good. Among the songs were: "Sheep go to Heaven", an awesome cover of "War Pigs", "Stickshifts and Safetybelts", "Love You Madly", "Wheels", "Comfort Eagle", and a few new songs, one of which was very good. There of course were others, but my memory was fogged by... well, my former students might read this.
Going to see CAKE at the age of 36 on a "school night", was, well, pretty cool (except for the part about paying the babysitter for six hours of work). We were not the oldest ones there, although in a potentially scary encounter, my wife said we passed two kids who said, "Hey, that's Mr. Polochanin!", which means I had them as students five or more years ago. I was curious about who they were, but they disappeared in the crowd.
Much has changed since then, but interestingly, CAKE has continued producing albums and touring. They've actually created far better material than their initial album "Motorcade of Generosity", although airplay has not been something that has come as regularly as with their first record. It's too bad. People have been missing out.
But not me, and not the hundreds who packed the Webster on Thursday night. My wife was a little concerned that we'd be the oldest ones there, but we were pretty far from it. Most people in the crowd were about our age - mid 30s, with likely families and other responsibilities. There was a healthy mix drinking beer on the floor of the Webster - twenty somethings, those in their forties, and some beyond, like the bearded dude who was hanging around the back of the theater seemingly alone.
I bought a CAKE shirt because I had to. It is blue and says "CAKE" in huge letters in orange, with an orange tree beneath it. One of the things CAKE does is it gives away a tree at each show, in an effort to show that they're "green." It was a cool-looking tree, although I couldn't hear what kind it was.
CAKE played for two hours, a bit short by concert standards, but what they played was damn good. Among the songs were: "Sheep go to Heaven", an awesome cover of "War Pigs", "Stickshifts and Safetybelts", "Love You Madly", "Wheels", "Comfort Eagle", and a few new songs, one of which was very good. There of course were others, but my memory was fogged by... well, my former students might read this.
Going to see CAKE at the age of 36 on a "school night", was, well, pretty cool (except for the part about paying the babysitter for six hours of work). We were not the oldest ones there, although in a potentially scary encounter, my wife said we passed two kids who said, "Hey, that's Mr. Polochanin!", which means I had them as students five or more years ago. I was curious about who they were, but they disappeared in the crowd.
