I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 3, 2024] Cavetown

When I learned of Cavetown from my daughter, who played “Lemon Boy” a lot.  Even a few years later, I think the song is fantastic.  I didn’t really know all that much about him (Robbie Skinner), but I had listened to a few records.  So I assumed that the whole set would be kind of mellow and folky.  It actually seemed like an odd double bill.

But there is a sizable overlap of young trans/non-binary people who make up both audiences so even if the music isn’t similar, the tone of acceptance and respect permeates both (all three actually) bands.

I don’t normally like to be far from the stage–it takes me out of the action and makes me feel like I’m just hearing a band not really experiencing a live show.  That makes me a little insufferable I know, especially to my kids who just want to chill out and enjoy an Event.  And really, an outdoor show is more of an Event.

So, when they walked to the back of the lawn and sat on a blanket, I compromised and left the front area that we were in for Mother Mother and hung back with  them.  Although once everyone stood up, I had to move forward a little because I couldn’t NOT SEE the stage.

Especially since the Cavetown set was so magical with inflatable red mushrooms and a large tree stump that Robbie climbed on top of for much of the show.

The first few songs were quite dancey and kind of rocking.  I didn’t expect things to sound like that.  Some of the songs like “let them know they’re on your mind” have a dancey element on record, but they were so much bigger live!

There was a three piece band behind him drummer Willoughby J. Morse

And there was some great lighting.  The lights bounced off of the mushrooms creating wonderful patterns that swirled and spun–the light show was bigger than Mother Mother’s, but that was probably due to it being dark out.

And Robbie was so full of energy!  He bounced around the stage (his amazing hair, flying around).  He ran around and up and down and just seemed giddy with happiness.  At some point he encouraged everyone who was happy to shout “yippee!”

I find that I like the Sleepyhead/Lemon Boy era sound a little more than the newer stuff, so I had fun hearing “Sweet Tooth.”  Having said that, the melody of the chorus of “Worm food” is really great, too.

Since I was further back than I usually am, I was able to see everyone else enjoying the show.  Like the person in front of me who very deliberately stood up and danced to certain songs and not other ones.

There was a mellow section with Fall in love with a girl” and “pigeon” and then came “Lemon Boy.”  I was sure the crowd would go insane for the song and maybe they did up front, but the reception was about the same as every other song–vey good, but I expected explosions of cheering.  I’m guessing that Fake Fans like me only like this song and real fans have other songs that are their faves!

After Lemon Boy I headed back to chill with the fam.  It was a beautiful night–the heat had blown away and since it was July 3rd, there were fireworks behind us.  People were walking all around, looking at fireworks, just chilling it.  The end of the show turned into a lovely evening out rather than how I go to a concert and it was really delightful.

It seemed like a lot of people were leaving early, and maybe they were or they were just walking around the grounds of the Mann, which has lovely views and sound that carrier (mostly) really well all over the campus.  Once you head over to the bathrooms, though, the sound starts to echo off of the Pavilion and it sounds really crazy–I can’t believe there were people sitting over there.

When it was time for “frog”, someone came out in a frog costume and hopped around the stage,  Robbie seemed especially delighted by that.

And when he played “Home” and wore a trans flag, the crowd was rapt.  It was a very sweet moment.

I am really fond of the song “Boys Will Be Bugs”–super catchy and sweet but funny and vulgar “I’m not very strong but I’ll fuck you up if you’re mean to bugs.”

They took a short encore break and came back to play “Devil Town,” a song I didn’t know from his first album. I loved it, it rocked and was a ton of fun.

It turned out to be a great show overall–not what I was expecting but super fun in a very different way.  And it was lots of fun to be with the whole family.

 

SETLIST

1. let them know they’re on your mind ≥
2. 1994 ∼
3. heart attack ∼
4. Sweet Tooth §
5. worm food ∼
6. fall in love with a girl ∼
7. Pigeon Ô
8. Lemon Boy Ô
9. Green Ô
10. a kind thing to do ∼
11. alone ≥
12. frog ∼
    
13. Juliet ∇
14. Guilty ϖ
15. Home ¶
16. Boys Will Be Bugs ∇
17. obvious ≥
18. Devil Town ©