Spring Fling (Featuring Cage the Elephant, Silversun Pickups, Foals and Bear Hands) @ First Niagara Center Arena, Buffalo, NY 3-28-16

Summer can’t get here fast enough it seems, but there are a few tours to tie us over until then. One is the Spring Fling featuring Indie rock bands: Cage the Elephant, Silversun Pickups, Foals and Bear Hands. As this particular tour is winding down, it made a stop at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY, this past Monday night. Being the same day as Dyngus Day, a local Polish pride celebration that dominates the area, it apparently had an impact on the show attendance. The venue was the most scarcely populated then I have ever witnessed. Nevertheless, it didn’t compromise the bands efforts to provide a dedicated performance for the die-hard and casual fans that showed up hoping for a good time.

Opening the set was Bear Hands. They played a short set that included the new track “What a Drag.” The Brooklyn, NY based band is getting ready to release ‘You’ll Pay for This’ on April 18, 2016. There wasn’t much time to get excited about their set, that contained only a short 6 songs, but at least they were getting exposure and eventually we will see what type of reaction the new disc will have.

Next up was Oxford, England’s Foals. Besides Cage the Elephant, I thought Foals stole the show. Their aggressive from of indie and punk rock made for a real kick ass set. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yannis Philippakis took command of the stage and set the tone for the rest of the bands performance. He even attempted to go into the audience during their last song, “What Went Down,” but his stay was very short lived. He seemed to get aggravated at something and went back over the barrier towards the stage and that was pretty much the end of the set. It would be interesting to see what they could do with a more lengthy time allotment.

Third up was Silversun Pickups. The set was so –so, but what intrigued me about their performance was how drummer Chris Guanlao set up his drums. He has a pretty basic kit, but to the right there was one cymbal that was uniquely set way up high. In my opinion, it appeared too high for any player to reach. But, Guanlao’s style fit the kit and he didn’t miss a beat at any time. I jokingly suggest he resembles “Animal” from the Muppet Show with his hair flying all over the place while he’s banging the hell out of the skins. The band has been around for a while now, with 4 studio records under their belt, including 2015’s “Better Nature.” They will be included in this year’s Coachella festival.

Lastly was the headliner Cage the Elephant, driven by its energetic front man Matthew Schultz. They are currently on tour in support of their December 2015 release “Tell Me I’m Pretty.” Opening up with the first cut “Cry Baby,” the band was clearly on its way to telling everyone “you’re in for a hell of a show!” A third of the set list was made up of tunes off of the new disc. The songs, along with the dynamic light show and stage presence of Mr. Schultz, undoubtedly grabbed everyone’s attention. Bassist Daniel Tichenor made it a point to stir up the masses, who were crowd surfing just about the entire show without interruption. Looking at the Indie rock scene, I can’t think of another frontman that has the qualities of Schultz. He is a very passionate vocalist who loves to connect with his crowd while giving it his all on stage, and it’s refreshing to see the art of showmanship still exists. Schultz is known for going into the crowd and did so during their last track of the evening, entitled “Teeth.” Even after the show was over, he collected set lists, picks and whatever he could get his hands on to either hand or toss to the crowd. Fan experience first! That’s how it’s done boys and girls!

Cage the Elephant setlist:

Cry Baby

In One Ear

Spider Head

Take it or Leave it

Aberdeen

Too Late to Say Goodbye

Cold, Cold, Cold

Trouble

Ain’t No Rest

Mess Around

Punching Bag