My first time in the relocated Tampa venue that moved from Ybor City to the north suburbs. It falls at just under a 1000 in capacity. An out side bar to cater to smokers/ vapers with a food truck in the back. This was the band's 6th stop on the first leg of this tour. Los Angeles based singer Riki opened , who performed her set with enthusiasm. She handled both cuing up her beats as well as providing a oddly choreographed performance, that she sold with her deliberate movements and the charisma in which they were delivered with, that compensated for her breathy singing that was somewhat pitchy, as the translation of her style that was weathered from the first week on the road. Sounds great in the studio, but translating to projecting it into a club PA is more demanding , which is why more belted rock singing works better in this environment. She was entertaining regardless.
Cold Cave has come off high profile tours opening for the Cult, and Depeche Mode. They have had to prove themselves to much larger audiences than what was gathered this Wednesday night at the Orpheum, to crowds not familiar work their work, while this evening seemed to be largely fans who knew the words. They have not been the most ardent road warriors over the years, so this helped further refine their live show, so they took the stage with a professional attitude that still upheld the band's mystique. They opened with "Prayer From Nowhere" from their most recent 2021 album. They followed this up with the title track from their debut album. This showed the kind of balanced set list, more bands could learn from. The dished out their legacy in equal portions. In researching their set lists over this leg of the tour is is some variation but staples like "Glory" are pretty consistent, which kept the crowd dancing.
The more obscure "People are Poison" did not diminish the energy, as Wesley's wife Amy Lee churned the song's bass play line.. They followed this up with " A Little Death to Laugh' to keep the cold wave vibes authentic and the mood bleak. The pulse of "Nothing is True But You" was crowd pleasing. Their older material like "Youth and Lust" holds up very well, and he sung it with compelling attitude. I have always felt that "Cherish the Light Years" is their best album, and a song like "Confetti" in the live environment certainly supported this claim. It was also one of his best vocal performances of the evening. The live version of "Underworld USA" reminded me what a good song it is.
I would have expected "the Great Pan is Dead' as the set's opener but it came late in the second half. It still worked in terms of delivery the intensity the song carries. They followed it up with another song from 'Cherish the Light Years" with "Villains of the Moon". He was every ounce as emotive in his delivery live as on the album. "Promise Land" from their last EP worked well to close out their set, as it delivered the goth club vibes. They left the stage briefly to play "Catacombs" that found the jangle of guitar cutting through more live. This was followed by the angular synths of "Life Magazine" found Amy taking over on vocals . The last song of the encore was the driving dance floor slapper "Icons of Summer". If you have not yet seen Cold Cave live and like dark music of any variety, I strongly suggest catching them when they come your way.
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