Cage the Elephant

On Saturday night Wyatt and I went back over to Purdue to another concert at Elliott Hall of Music.  This time we saw Cage the Elephant.  We had seen part of a set by them at the last Forecastle we went to so when I saw they were coming to town, I jumped at the chance to see them.  There were two openers but we only managed to see the second one, Twin Peaks.  They were pretty good.  The energy in Elliott was great.  As soon as Twin Peaks took the stage everyone, in what felt like a sold out Elliott, stood up immediately.

Twin Peaks

Cage the Elephant far exceeded my expectations.  Sure, I was excited to see them again but I don't know I just didn't expect such a great show.  I definitely had a concert high leaving that show.  The crowd's energy only escalated as the night went on which made for the best atmosphere.  Matt Shultz, the lead singer, had such a Mick Jagger-esque stage presence.  He was fun to watch.  He and his brother, rhythm guitarist for the band, even crowd surfed a couple times throughout the show.  The band played a killer set and then returned to the stage for the encore by playing Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance."  "This next song is a song about Indiana."

Crowd Surfing

Setlist
Cry Baby
In One Ear
Spiderhead
Aberdeen
Take It or Leave It
Too Late to Say Goodbye
Cold Cold Cold
Trouble
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Mess Around
Punchin' Bag
Telescope
Back Against the Wall
It's Just Forever
Come a Little Closer

Encore
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Cigarette Daydreams
Shake Me Down
Teeth

"This next song is a song about Indiana." Indeed. @cagetheelephant killed it on this Tom Petty cover.

A post shared by Amanda Condra (@ascondra) on Mar 4, 2017 at 10:31pm PST

If you get the chance, these guys are definitely worth checking out!

St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Last night Wyatt and I attended our first concert together at the Elliott Hall of Music on Purdue's campus (our next concert there is Saturday).  We saw the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  I saw an ad for the event online a couple of weeks ago and purchased tickets on a whim.  It has been a long time since I've been to a classical music presentation and I jumped at the chance to see them in my own town.

The played two pieces last night.  The first was Piano Concerto No. 1 by Brahms with guest, Nikolai Lugansky, on the piano.  After the intermission, they orchestra performed Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich.  It was a wonderful concert.  

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this on here but I minored in Music Studies at Indiana University which meant I was taking courses in Jacobs School of Music for non-majors, or courses students of the school took as electives.  Admittedly, I ended up choosing that minor so that I had an excuse to keep taking courses like History of Rock I and a course on the Beatles.  But it ended up being such a great experience.  I also took a Music of the 70s and 80s, Jazz for the Listener, Music for the Listener (my required alternate to a performance course since I do not play any instrument), and Music Theory.  I really enjoyed all of the courses I took to complete the minor.  I even sat in on a couple of History of Rock II classes with my roommate one semester.  They exposed me to so much more music and music history than I likely ever would have had on my own.  As part of some of my courses, we were required to attend performances and write a report after.  I went to several recitals in the music school because of these requirements.  If you live in or around Bloomington, there are so many free events that you should take advantage of because I know I wish I had gone to more!