Cage the Elephant, Young the Giant and Willow Avalon @ Artpark, Lewiston, NY 9-7-24

Go big or go home is what most people say. Well, Artpark hit it out of the park with their last show of their Golden Anniversary. Cage the Elephant, Young the Giant and Willow Avalon played a sold out show for the fans of the WNY area. Unfortunately, Bakar who was originally on the bill, was not able to perform at this show.

First up was Americana artist Willow Avalon. Avalon is brand new artist who just released her first EP earlier this year called ‘Homewrecker.’ She also did her first touring in 2024 as well. She defiantly made the most out of her half hour set. She went back and for the playing an acoustic guitar and singing acapella. Her seven songs had some flavor to them. Highlights for me were “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke” and “Homewrecker.” She kept the audience’s attention and that’s usually hard to do for a unknown opener. She reminded me of a young Margo Price. I see big things going forward for Avalon!

In the middle spot was Young the Giant. This was the first time I was catching the band live. It was the 2nd time they performed at Artpark, so they were very comfortable with the area and crowd. Their hour set was energetic to say the least. Led by front man Sameer Gadhia, the band opened up with a track off the 2016 ‘Home of the Strange’ called “Jungle Youth.” The kept the momentum going with “Wake Up.” The set was full with upbeat anthems. Gadhia talked about the humble beginnings of the band and saying sometimes playing smaller places and making connections with their fans is more meaningful for them. The band even brought out an unreleased track called “Bitter Fruit.” A intense delivery of “Dollar $tore” followed. The finally slowed things down some with “Call Me Back.” Overall, the band sounded very tight and was a terrific pick to open the show.

The final band that will grace an Artpark stage in 2024 was up next in Cage The Elephant. Going back to a show that took place in Atlanta on August 2, vocalist Matt Schultz broke his foot. He still performed on a knee scooter. The band is on tour of support of their 6th studio effort titled ‘Neon Pill.’ It’s their first major tour in 10 years and first time back to Artpark since 2011. So you can say there was lot of built up enthusiasm for the bands show since it went on sale earlier this year. The bands 1 hour and 35 minute set was a nice retrospect as the band played at least one cut off of each of their 6 albums. They went back to the 2009 ‘Social cues’ album to open up the show with the tune “Broken Boy.” Guitarist Brad Schultz made his way into the crowd during the song for about 1 minute. A very cool effect that both brothers are known to do. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen for Matt due to his broken ankle. Artpark lit up like a Christmas tree with everyone holding up their cell phones for the song “Trouble.” They had some cool laser effects throughout the show as well. They closed the set in high fashion with “Sabretooth Tiger.” One of the bands biggest hits in “Shake Me Down,” started the encore and they finished with blazing version of “Come a Little Closer.” How Matt Schultz performed in a mobile scooter was simply impressive. It was almost like he wasn’t limited at all as moved around as much as you he could in that scooter.

Again, Artpark ended in high fashion in bringing a show like this to the area. It gives everyone a nice bow to place on the 2024 season at Artpark.

Setlist:

Broken Boy

Crybaby

Spiderhead

Too Late to Say Goodbye

Good Time

Cold Cold Cold

Ready to Let Go

Neon Pill

Social Cues

Halo