Cake is one of my favorite bands that I have been listening to since the 90s and one that I never had the chance to see perform live.
When I heard they would be playing a free show in Detroit on June 29th, I was ecstatic.
The show was to celebrate the Stars and Stripes Festival at Freedom Hill.(Sterling Heights, MI)
Of course to prep for the upcoming show I dug out my favorite albums to listen to which are: Fashion Nugget (1996) and Comfort Eagle. (2001)
I forgot what gems songs like Race Car Ya Ya’s and The Distance are from Fashion Nugget. My favorite song from Comfort Eagle is still Short Skirt/Long Jacket.
In my quest to check out newer music from the band, I found out from their official website that they recorded their sixth album using 100% solar energy! I guess they also started their own label called Upbeat Records so kudos to them!
I listened to some of their recent stuff from the album Showroom of Compassion (2011) and I really liked the track Long Time. The song kinda had an old school breakdance/freestyle beat but still kept classic Cake lyrics and style.
Another song called Got to Move was ok too but for some reason it reminded me of The Pretenders 1994 hit song I’ll Stand By You.
All in all my ears got pumped up with old and new ballads and I was ready for some Cake!
The evening show kicked off with lead singer John McCrea being interactive with the crowd and trying to give someone a tree.
I love when a frontman jokes with the audience but I think the whole tree bit dragged on way too long!
I’m big on efficiency and 10 minutes wasted could have fit in two more songs to the set! I would rather hear more music and less quirky jokes.
All is forgiven though since they sounded awesome.
I was happy to see that they are not a studio band and sounded as great live if not better than they do on their albums. They zipped through their classics like Short Skirt/Long Jacket.
They performed an awesome cover of War Pigs by Black Sabbath and they closed out strong with The Distance.
Music Reportage 
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