Program Council to host band’s concert Sunday night on eve of new CD releases
If the first 10 seconds of Cake’s song “The Distance” don’t ring a bell, then you’ve probably been living under a rock for the past 11 years. Never fear. Whether you know the lyrics or not, Cake will be performing the classics this Sunday at the Coors Event Center.
Presented by Program Council, the Sacramento, Calif. based band will rock out at Coors Event Center at 8 p.m. on Sunday. The band started in 1992 when lead singer John McCrea formed a group that played a mixture of country, hip-hop, jazz, college rock and funk. This style is complemented by Cake’s signature sound: McCrea’s unique style of speak-singing.
Cake has produced five full-length albums over 11 years, including two platinum albums, “Fashion Nugget” (1996) and “Prolonging the Magic” (1998) and one gold record “Comfort Eagle” (2001).
The band is currently working on their next album, but is releasing two other albums in the meantime. The first is “B-Sides and Rarities” which will be released this spring. The album will include unreleased tracks as well as covers. It starts off with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” and is in good company with Barry White’s “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up.” Cake is known for their cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” The limited edition “B-Sides and Rarities” album has a scratch and sniff album cover which adds to the band’s uniqueness. The second album, “Live at the Crystal Palace,” is due out this fall.
Opening for Cake is Denver’s own Hot IQs. The perfect indie rock cocktail: the Hot IQs are a mix of The Strokes, Weezer and Franz Ferdinand. The two-man, one-woman, band play lively shows complete with a song devoted to tight pants that really gets the crowd going. Elaine Acosta, a former Radio 1190 DJ, rocks out on the drums with her long hair thrashing. Although completely different from McCrea’s sound, lead-singer Eli Mishkin uses his unique voice to set the band apart from other indie rock groups.
The Hot IQs will open for Cake Sunday night at 8 p.m. Tickets are still available: $16.50 for students at The Connection in the UMC, $27.50 for general public through Tickets West or $30 the day of the show.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Jenny Bergen at jennifer.bergen@colorado.edu.