The Night Running Tour came through Denver recently with a heavyweight lineup that included Star Crawler, Spoon, Cage The Elephant and Beck. Tours like this are a concertgoer’s dream as they get to see bands that would normally sell out headline shows all on one bill. We didn’t manage to catch openers Starcrawler but they will be back in Denver at Lost Lake on October 12th.
Brit Daniels of Spoon. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
We have been seeing Spoon for a number of years now including here in Denver and various festivals across the country. Brit Daniels and company always perform with an no holds barred right down to business approach. Nothing changed this time around, (only drawback of tours like this is late arrivals), right off the bat they demand your attention and are able to dig deep into their vast catalog to give you what you want. Consistency is synonymous with Spoon and that is what makes them a great band. Impressive performance nonetheless we hope they come back soon.
Next up was Cage The Elephant. We remember an interview back in 2013 that we did with the band and at that time they were opening for Muse. (Read interview here). We have always admired the approach they take into their live performances. Led by singer Matt Shultz, you never know what you are going to expect from their live performance. With a penchant for going all out crazy, nothing changed here, we figured the altitude would tame the frontman a bit, it wasn’t the case. Fully dressed in a subtle suit to begin with and left but nothing in his underwear to end the set, that basically defines the mayhem behind a Cage The Elephant show. Patrons truly got their money’s worth with this performance.
As the opening riffs of “Loser” were played, we were instantly taken back in time to what could easily be described as one of the best singles ever released. Albeit this was in 1993, the song has maintained its shine even throughout all these years and is still considered one of Beck’s best songs considering the amount of albums he has released since. His setlist was like a greatest hits album being played live as he pulled songs from eight different albums giving fans a dose of the different eras of Beck. He managed to hold some small stage banter (which may have cut into the venues curfew) but it was his showmanship that made it a worthy experience a fan of music.
