05.30.2026 An Evening With Cake @ Beak & Skiff

The sun was still well up when talk-singing legends Cake descended upon the sold out Beak & Skiff apple orchard with their surreal brand of rock and roll. The show started at roughly 7:35, a little more than 30 minutes after the advertised start time, but as there was no opener it was probably a mercy for any stragglers coming in late after thinking they'd only be missing an opener.

Even with the delayed start, the early summer sun was still high in the sky when things got underway. The show was 2 sets broken up by an formal intermission (complete with elevator music soundtrack) and a four song encore, which wrapped early enough (appx. 9:30) that it could have been held on a school night and no one would have missed curfew. Between the bookends was a night of quirky songs, surprise moments of joy, and what must have been gallons worth of soap bubbles bobbing through the air.

For their show, Cake eschewed the usual trappings of rock and roll spectacle. There was no pyro, no lasers, and no haze converting the stage lights into ethereal lightsabers. What they did have was billowing waves of soap bubbles, one of the largest disco balls I've ever seen, and a big red "wacky inflatable arm flailing tube man." It reminded me of the kitschy vibe of the dorm rooms where I first was listening to their music, just scaled up like the head of an air brushed State Fair caricature portrait.

Greying hair aside, seeing Cake in concert is a time warp back to the early 2000's. They haven't lost a step and sound just as they did on their 1997 debut "Fashion Nugget." John McCrea conducts the audience with the skill of a symphonic conductor, blending his thoughts and political commentary with tee shirt cannons, multi-part sing-alongs that become an examination into the true personality of the crowd and even the post-intermission give away of a live honey-crisp apple tree to a lucky attendee.

All though the night turned cold as the show drew to a close, the crowd hung on their every note. While the show may not have gone as late as others, I don't think anyone felt short changed by the experience. They came, they saw, they feasted on Cake.

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