Cake never too sweet for the Tooth

Posted by pushplay

Posted: August 13, 2007 - 2:20 pm

Cake: Fans cheer Cake at the Moose's Tooth 11th Anniversary celebration.

Cake played to a sold-out crowd Saturday night in celebration of the Moose's Tooth 11th Anniversary. Daily News photographer Marc Lester took some sweet shots of the event and concert-goers Tim Martinson and Mark Gittman were kind enough to share a few stills.

Photos: Cake

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Daily News reviewer Dawnell Smith shares her account of the event below.

Cake never too sweet for the Tooth

Dawnell Smith
Anchorage Daily News

While Cake fans swayed through the Moose's Tooth parking lot screaming for "The Distance" last night, the band parsed out nuggets of irony and rock and roll, politics and bass, good humor and trumpet.

Though Cake never pandered to the crowd, the band enticed it with songs and banter that leaned from the sardonic to sweet.

More to the point, the band let loose a string of deftly played, sharp-tongued tunes that resonated through a slice of midtown best known for traffic and heavenly pie. Forget the 1996 hit "The Distance," my friends, because jams like "Sheep Go to Heaven," "Love You Madly" and "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" carried the night.

An old timer might describe Cake as akin to "The Radiators," but with a Red Bull twist and shot of Kafka headiness. Whether thought of as alternative rock or eccentric pop, Cake definitely put the Tooth on the map as the place to be for an outdoor concert in Anchorage.

As the crowd on the south side of the parking lot mobbed the stage, yowling and pumping their arms to familiar riffs and lyrics, the other half on the north side of the lot held their beers and danced, talked and kept an eye on the scene.

But maybe the forest people knew best. Whether they didn't buy tickets in time or simply couldn't afford them, they gathered in the alley with their cars, cruisers, coolers, children, lovers and dogs. Some stayed to the end, peering through the trees as lead singer John McCrae belted out "War Pigs:"

"Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses…"

And the sound of guitar echoed off the concrete walls of the mini-mall, rock and roll and politics mixing it up as a boy whacked his way through the woods with a stick, dancing all the way.

How was the show? What was your favorite cover? Were there any tunes you really wanted to hear but didn't?

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