Cage
If you don’t already know who Cage is, I’m going to have to direct you here. It’s impossible to give you an abridged version of his story but basically he’s a tortured white rapper turned dark indie hip-hopper turned ‘almost’ horror-core rap artist. If the term ‘horror-core’ doesn’t sound appealing to you at all, you’re probably my friend. But seriously, his last record could have been so much more yet unfortunately only a handful of songs really represented why I listened to Cage in the first place. There was always something interesting and kind of fun in the way he made such dark subjects into amazing tracks. So when I saw him perform nothing but new material at the Great American Music Hall last year, I was very close to dismissing him completely. So when I saw that he was returning to the Bay, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t that excited. The payoff? It was probably one of the best performances I’ve ever seen him pull off.
Cage
Yes, he played songs from last year’s Depart From Me, however 3/4 of the show consisted of Movies for the Blind, Weatherproof, Hell’s Winter, and some unreleased tracks including Blood Boy and the Blockhead collaboration, Alright. This was also the first time I’ve Cage without a hype-man on stage. I didn’t really think about it after a few songs mainly because he was effortlessly keeping the show interesting with the momentous and eclectic setlist. Not to mention his commanding stage presence as he took control of the audience. Speaking of which, it was a small turnout that night, which is unfortunate being this was a very impressive show. Even tracks that I dismissed from the I Never New You EP, like the boring Its The 80s Again, became much more entertaining.
Cage
Obviously Agent Orange and Weather People made appearances on the setlist, but it was the amount of appreciation towards his past work that he seemed to understand that made the night. This Cage reminded of when 2005’s Hell’s Winter dropped; a passionate and damaged hip-hop artist that knows how to destroy a stage when it calls for it. My faith in Cage has been successfully restored, I hope he doesn’t fuck it up again.
Click here for more pictures from the show.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
[mp3] Cage – Days from Unreleased (2008)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
[mp3] Cage – Alright (ft. Blockhead) from Alright/ The Art Of Walking/ Crashing Down/ Big City Boy (2006)