It’s a Sunday night and I’m in the Birmingham Academy to shoot and review “cage the elephant “ a bit of an unknown in the UK, however if you surf the US blog sites one name crops up again and again, from the land of the Chevy hails “cage the elephant” (that’s Kentucky if you didn’t know) Who, along the way have acquired the reputation of the new bad boys of rock n roll.

With the academy rammed to the rafters in anticipation of the headliners “the pigeon detectives” I don’t, well im sure they don’t realize what they are about to see and hear, me included, enter CTE.


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From the start to the finish of their set its an intense pace, Matt Schultz on vocals seems to be completely insane, he’s everywhere, full of energy, never still once, live, his voice comes across great , its almost like someone you know but cant put your finger on it, then out of the blue, Brad Schultz on rhythm guitar decides he no longer enjoys the stage and promptly departs to ply his trade in the front row, the bands intensity never flickers, its like its their last gig, ever!.

Musically fantastic, guns n roses meets jet, meets the doors , the influence in their music is obvious, all be it with a twist, from what I can make out the lyrics seem to be a mixture of fighting, and shall we say making love, or the 2 fs, every movement of the band is unpredictable (except the drummer for obvious reasons ) the sweat is pissing out of them, as their 30 min set comes to an end both myself and the crowd are blown away, if your into QOSTA /Rage against / Chilli peppers, then you have to check these out, there’s definitely something here for you ... Excellent stuff!!!

Matt Shultz - Vocals
Brad Shultz - Guitar
Jared Champion - Drums & Percussion
Daniel Tichenor-Bass/Extra Vocals
Lincoln Parish- Lead Guitar


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Video and Review of the current single 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked'

James Hope