Last night, Ascend Amphitheater filled with fans ready to see Ben Folds and Cake. Cake closed out the show, performing fan favorites and even giving away a tree!
Following Folds’ star-worthy performance, a disco ball dropped and intro music started. Cake then walked onto the stage to kick things off with “Sad Songs and Waltzes,” their cover of the Willie Nelson original. It was clear they were just there to play music — jumping from one song to the next. They followed that with “Opera Singer” and “Frank Sinatra.”
“Greetings, we are Cake,” lead singer John McCrea said. “Such a beautiful, beautiful evening with Tall Heights and Ben Folds… Don’t worry about anything right now.”
The group, which formed in 1991, played a ton of songs but they also did something really unique. A small tree sat onstage next to McCrea, which seemed like a stage prop, but it was actually a gift for someone in the audience. They wanted to give it to someone who could love it and take care of it, much better than a rock band could care for it. The fig tree eventually went to an excited woman, who vowed to plant it here in Nashville.
At this point, the approximately 72-minute performance was coming to an end. “Meanwhile, Rick James,” “Sick of You” and “Never There” ended the set before their encore. During the two-song encore, they played two crowd favorites. The audience, which was sitting until now, got up to dance and sing along with “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” and “The Distance.”
Stay tuned for more news about Cake and check out our review of Folds’ set from the same night.
