Come A Little Closer, Then You’ll See

I love when a show has a good flow. I love when there’s thought put into the acts of the night and the order of said acts. Don’t get me wrong, a bi-polar show is fun and a rollercoaster of a night can be great, but there’s just something a bit more perfect about a night where there’s an opener to ease you into the show, a support act to start to get you amped up, and then a headliner that absolutely blows you away. That’s exactly what the flow was like on Thursday night at The Armory in downtown Minneapolis.

Welcoming the packed audience into the night was the always lovely, Vlad Holiday. This Romanian-American singer/songwriter has a voice that absolutely can not be ignored. It’s deep and dark but has an infectious and beautiful quality to it. My introduction to Vlad was when he opened for this same headliner, Cage the Elephant, last August. Much like that fateful night last August, there was something almost understated about Vlad’s set on Thursday night. He had this way of almost letting the audience ignore him —if they dared. I wish I could expand on that, but I just can’t seem to find the right words right now. There was just something so subtle and soft about his performance that allowed chatter to spread like wildfire throughout the giant venue, but, at the same time, he would hit certain notes and sing certain phrases that would cause a hush to rapidly take over the room. He wasn’t asking for your attention or your heart, but it wasn’t hard for him to steal both of those things with his clear talent.

I had never heard of hey, nothing prior to them taking the stage promptly after Vlad Holiday on Thursday night but I instantly wanted to know everything I could about this group. hey, nothing is the duo project of Tyler and Harlow. They were joined on stage by two additional musicians to bump up the sound ever so slightly, but I loved how you still felt something beautifully raw about their performance. Harlow introduced the band and quickly said that they were going to sing a song about mental health. I feel like that really set the stage beautifully for their entire time on stage. Sure, their sound was a bit more amped up than that of Vlad Holiday, but if you strip back the excitement that the full band brought, you were left with an almost exposed kind of feeling. Hearts were being laid out on the stage, and you couldn’t just hear that, you could feel that.

I loved how overwhelmed this group seemed to be by the giant audience. Honestly, this is something that would typically irk me, but the way Harlow and Tyler both took the stage and seemed instantly taken aback by the ocean of people in front of them was truly charming. You could tell that this group doesn’t do it for the fame or money; they do it to give people an escape from the darkness of the world, and I loved that. Even with this giant room in front of them, they did just that —gave us all an escape and reminded us that sensitivity is not a weakness; it’s a strength. The way hey, nothing took the vulnerability laid out during Vlad Holiday’s opening set and mixed it with a slight taste of the energy to come from the headliner was a really nice touch to the night and made the flow so perfect. Although I was left wanting so much more from hey, nothing as they were leaving the stage, I felt that I was ready for whatever the night was going to throw at me next.

When I saw Cage the Elephant last August, vocalist Matt Shultz was dealing with a leg injury that left him in a boot and at the mercy of a little scooter to get around the stage. He didn’t let the injury stop him, and I watched as he scooted his way across the stage all night as if it was just part of a normal show for them. I was excited to see Cage the Elephant again, this time sans boot and scooter, and really get the full effect of this band for the first time since 2015 (which was the first time I saw them perform).

To say that this band is full of life would be an understatement. I felt like I was getting hit by wave after wave of excitement from not only the audience, but also every member of the band. I was panicked as I was trying to get photos because I felt like every time I got my camera to focus on one of the members, someone across the stage would be doing something I really wanted to capture. It was an adrenaline rush in a way that I haven’t felt in a very long time. When you mix that with Cage the Elephant’s distinct and perfect retro-leaning rock sound, you are left with a truly explosive performance that has honestly left me a bit lost for words.

This tour is in support of Cage the Elephant’s 2024 album ‘Neon Pill.’ I don’t typically talk about the backstory of albums here, but there’s something about this one that really speaks to me. The lyrics from this album are about when Matt (the vocalist) was going through psychosis and recovery triggered by an adverse reaction to some ADHD medications. It’s said that Matt spiraled to the point where he was taking photos of every single item he owned because he thought people were stealing from him. Although I feel for Matt and can only imagine the pain he was going through at the time, I love the way he was able to create such beautiful, heartfelt tracks because of it. The focus of Thursday night’s set seemed to be on this album, but the band also threw some classics into the mix, giving the audience a perfectly curated set that highlighted all six albums that Cage the Elephant has put out since 2008.

Whether it was a new song or a more classic deep-cut, Cage the Elephant was on point, and the audience was eating up every single word. I’ll be the first to admit that, although I really enjoy hearing Cage the Elephant, they are not my band, but I feel like that was my favorite part of Thursday night. Being able to see people in the audience, living their best lives while screaming along to every word of every song, sent chills down my spine. That, mixed with the energy and the clear appreciation that this band has for their fans, made Thursday night one of those shows that was straight-up amazing but also one that is hard to put into words.