Potential t-shirt design

From Taylor. Nice.

Cake, concerts, and cameras

Last Tuesday I went to see Cake at the SF Fillmore with the gf. I have to say, I saw them a few years ago at the Fillmore and thought they were pretty mediocre--surprisingly, given that I love Cake and had heard only good things about them.

This time, they didn't disappoint. They played some really welcome but unexpected treasures ("Mexico," "Jolene," and even "Comanche"), their singer John McCrea was pretty hilarious, and they jammed in surprisingly funky ways (especially on "Jolene"). Unfortunately, they didn't play one of my very favorites:



Anyways, one of the most interesting parts of the night was when the gf tried to take a picture of the stage with her iPhone. On the way in the door, they had asked us whether we had any cameras, etc., and of course we said no. Pretty standard.

It did strike me as odd that no one was taking pictures--normally at a concert, you can see the phones of everyone in front of you as they frantically snap photos. I hadn't seen a single person try yet. And within seconds of hoisting her phone up, the security dude was in her face with his flashlight, (politely) asking her not to take a picture. The same happened to a few other people during the show. As I understand it, a venue's strictness with stuff like this is generally based on instructions from the band.

While I do understand that artists are wary, I couldn't help be puzzled a little. Audio and video recording? Sure, you might not want bootleg live recordings floating around. But photos? They don't really steal any of the show, except a personal memory of the stage and the room.

But, then again, Cake isn't your typical band. Their website has an "Advice" page where fans can write in with questions. When I checked just now, the answer was to a father concerned that strangers like to oggle his hot daughter. They also have a weekly poll: "Would you rather die doing something you love or die doing something you're not so crazy about, but two years later?"

Cake is definitely old-fashioned, musically and otherwise. I definitely respect them a lot of their music, but this confused me.

Too late at night for me to speculate on a rationale, so suffice to say for now that I loved their set. They started exactly on time (8:00 pm on the dot), didn't have an opener, played two sets with an intermission (like taking a break between sides of a record, McCrea explained), and they rocked. Word.

-Dean