The Cab on April 11th at The Pageant, Saint Louis

I had a minor panic attack on the way to The Pageant on Saturday, a few things stood in the way of getting inside in time to see the openers:  a traffic jam and a friend without a ticket to a sold-out show.  The traffic, finally allowed us to dodge enough 13 year old girls to park and the friend ended up paying $50 to a scalper for a ticket.  But, I would argue that the show was worth every penny spent.

We got inside just in time for The Cab to hit the stage.    Alex Deleon (lead vocals) oozed vocal confidence, fully utilizing his wide range.  His voice brings to mind Justin Timberlake's off his album "FutureSexLoveSound."  He sounded fresh, despite the Cab's recent tour heavy schedule. Right now they are on the Wonka Candy Bamboozle tour.  Their set was filled with most of the fan favorites off their only album to date (Whisper War) including "That 70's Song", "Bounce" and several others.  They somewhat surprized me when they played "Disturbia", the recent song made famous by Rhianna that they recorded for the new Pop Goes Punk album.  "It's time to get a little bit creepy,"  said Deleon before tackling the song.  It was fun, and the song still held its dark pop feel.  Without guitarists' skillful Ian Crawford's additions however, the song wouldn't have felt like The Cab's own interpretation. Crawford's soloing glistened as a high point in the set as he seemed to channel a Hendrix/Clapton/Mayer-esce energy when he stepped forward onto the higher end of the stage.  The Cab got the crowd in the right mood for the rest of the bands, Deleon urging them on the whole way "Are you ready to dance, this song, its called That 70's Song!" 

This picture of Ian Crawford and me (thanks Louis!) was taken after the show.  I was amazed at how he seems much larger on stage with a guitar - but he has a huge personality and was a really nice guy.  He was taking time to talk to everyone and even asked me what my blog address was cause he said he wanted to take a look...too bad I was so starstruck I almost blanked on what my web URL was!

More posts (and photos!) to come about the Forever the Sickest Kids and We the Kings performances!