Large Local Fan Turnout At Recent New Album Signing For Cage The Elephant's "Social Cues" At Mellow Matt's Records & More In Bowling Green, Ky.

   

   Cage The Elephant and I go way back in Bowling Green during their early days before their second album release in 2011, "Thank You, Happy Birthday.'

Cage The Elephant

    Since CTE is from Bowling Green and my son, Tony Smith, who is also a Bowling Green musician, songwriter and producer and who now lives in East Nashville,  he became friends with CTE band brothers, Matt and Brad Shultz, earlier in their early days of the band's beginnings and eventually "Sleeper Agent," was formed (Tony's former band) and the rest is history. And that's another story to tell in of itself one day. However, the first time I saw CTE perform was at the second annual "Starry Nights Music Festival" in Bowling Green (which is now defunct) in the October of 2010. I was blown away by the band. (see video below) In the meantime, here's a little info about that time period during CTE's history with Sleeper Agent and the Bowling Green Music Scene on their Wikipedia page. I like to call it the "Heyday of the Bowling Green Music Scene":

Sleeper Agent

   'The group's audience expanded widely throughout 2011. Although they were formed in the 2000s, the band earned the top spot in Rolling Stone's "Reader's Poll: The Best New Artist of 2011". The band Sleeper Agent, another Bowling Green music group and close friends with Cage the Elephant, came in second place. The magazine also named Thank You, Happy Birthday as the 15th best album of the year. That year, Cage the Elephant and Manchester Orchestra embarked on a co-headlining tour with Sleeper Agent as the opening band. In January 2012, the band released the album Live from The Vic in Chicago, recorded during their 2011 tour, and also toured with the Big Day Out music festival."

   Even though that is a long and interesting story especially on Sleeper Agent's part as far as I'm concerned, I will stay focused in this particular blog segment on CTE's recent new album signing for "Social Cues" at Mellow Matt's Records and More on Smallhouse Road in Bowling Green which was a grand experience for CTE local fans and the Bowling Green Music Scene from all appearances while I videotaped the event from the outside of the building and in the parking lot as well as the grass.

CTE's New Album, "Social Cues"

    Mellow Matt's is a small record store with not much space in a strip shopping mall. However, Matt and his staff somehow manage large crowd turnouts in order for fans to get autographs on records and CD's from famous bands such as CTE. It's also where Sleeper Agent had their second release album party in 2014 for "About Last Night." The crowd for Sleeper Agent was not quite as large as CTE's but they nonetheless they had a good turnout and that was Matt's number one album selling album for the year he had claimed. Actually, this was CTE''s was second new album signing at Mellow Matt's. The first one was a couple of years ago at the store for their fourth album, "Tell I'm Pretty," in which they won a Grammy for "Best Rock Album in 2015. I was not able to make it to that signing. But since I have a new HD DVC camera that my son, Tony, gave to my birthday, I decided to try it out in the parking lot at the CTE signing at Mellow Matt's. There are three little short video clips that I posted below from my Youtube Channel. They are not perfect by no means but I do believe I was able to capture a little of the magic, spirit and excitement among CTE's many local fans that were lined up waiting to get inside. And hopefully, I'll get better with the camera as time goes on. (Note: I did receive Mellow Matt's permission on the phone prior the signing in order to make these video clips). I also included one of CTE performing the song "Tiny Robots" at the Starry Nights Music Festival in 2010. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the videos!

Indie Rock Sensations, Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent Skyrockets To The Top In 2011

By Galen A. Smith Sr.

BOWLING GREEN,  Ky. _ 2011 was an incredible, exciting year for both Bowling Green based indie rock bands, Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent as they zoomed into the stratosphere making headlines across the nation playing shows while on tour all across North America.  Cage The Elephant made several trips to Europe as Sleeper Agent made their way up to the "Great White North," Canada, for the first time requiring some of the band members to get passports for the first time in their young lives.  Cage The Elephant even traveled to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia for two shows in November.
     Both Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent were published several times in such publications as Rolling Stone, Spin, Guitar World and Alternative Press magazines and other magazines and newspapers throughout the year with nicely written positive articles and full color photos.  They were also written about in hundreds of Internet blogs and their songs were heard on hundreds of radio stations across the country as well as Alternative Nation Sirus satellite radio.  Both bands had albums to come out in 2011 with Cage The Elephant's second release "Thank You, Happy Birthday" on Jan. 11 and Sleeper Agent's debut album "Celabrasion" on Sept. 27.  Cage The Elephant's "Thank You, Happy Birthday," ranked No. 15 on Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2011 and Sleeper Agent's first single, "Get It Daddy," ranked No. 14 on Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of 2011.  Sleeper Agent also ranked No. 2 on Rolling Stone's Rookies of 2011.  On its first day of release, "Thank You, Happy Birthday," charted as No. 1 on the top 10 albums downloads on iTunes.  The album sold 39,000 copies during its first week in the U.S. debuting at Number 2 on the Billboard 200.
    The two Bowling Green bands also released several videos in 2011 with Cage The Elephant's "Shake Me Down"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v27TRan1SBI&ob=av2e which was nominated for "Best Rock Video" on MTV, "Around My Head," and "Aberdeen," and Sleeper Agent's "Get It Daddy,"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUF2RDHDtzM&ob=av2e  All four of these 2011 videos has received tons of airplay on cable television and elsewhere.  In December of 2011, Sleeper Agent's next single, "Get Burned" off their album was made into a video and the video was filmed in downtown Bowling Green above Labold & Sons Salvage Co. in an old, dark and dusty apartment above the store and then outside the city limits in the countryside in some woods at night.  And believe it or not, the video was directed by none other than Matt Shultz himself of Cage The Elephant!  This was Matt's debut video directorial effort.  The video is scheduled to be released sometime in January 2012. Sleeper Agent also wrote and recorded a song for Nike sportswear's video series "Always On" featuring Lindsey Harding, a WNBA Atlanta Dreams women's basketball star.  Also, on Sleeper Agent's web-site there is a video series that was recently filmed at the old Tennessee State Prison in Nashville which includes some acoustic sets and interviews where the band mates interview each other.http://theaudioperv.com/2011/12/08/sleeper-agent-debut-new-song-not-never-kick-off-acoustic-sessions-series-from-a-prison/  And finally but not least, Sleeper Agent's hit song, "Get It Daddy," is going to be featured in a new movie due in May of 2012 called, "What To Expect When You're Expecting," starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wuIltIHQXY
   Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent even toured together on many dates at big and small venues across North America in the mid-west and the west coast throughout 2011.  On New Years Eve of 2011, Cage The Elephant, Sleeper Agent, Chicago's Company of Thieves and Bowling Green's own Morning Teleportation, played before a crowd of 6,000 celebrating indie rock music lovers in the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.  Here is what one person wrote on a recent blog about Cage The Elephant's and Sleeper Agent's performance in Chicago New Years Eve.
 "Mind blowing really.  Excellent. Knew of Company of Thieves and thought they would go on second, so I missed them which sucked.  Sleeper Agent just blew me away, Cage too. Amazing f-ing rock, energy, all of it. Happy New Year!"
This past summer, Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent and a new and upcoming Bowling Green indie rock band who just recently also recorded an album with the famous music producer from Nashville, Jay Joyce, (who produced both albums for Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent's debut album) "Schools" played a secret surprise show at Tidballs.http://vimeo.com/28209254  It was said that so many people showed up from Bowling Green and the surrounding area and out of town as well as out of state, that people could not get inside and the parking lot was so packed that fans hung around just listening to the show from outside the small downtown bar and venue.  Cage The Elephant played another hometown surprise show at Western Kentucky in Bowling Green in September that was quickly organized less than a month by the Starry Nights Musical Festival team.  That night another much larger than expected crowd over 3,000 showed up on Western's campus South Lawn to see Cage The Elephant, Manchester Orchestra and local favorite bands, Japanese School Girls and Canago perform.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBSGwLCqbro&feature=related At one point, the campus police threatened to stop the show out of fear that people might getting seriously injured if fans didn't back off the guard rails near the stage. Also, Cage The Elephant went on tour with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters in the Fall of 2011.  When Cage's drummer, Jared Champion became ill, Grohl sat in as drummer for several performances until Jared was able to get back in the saddle.
Cage is set to release their debut live DVD/CD Jan 3, 2012, called "Live from the Vic in Chicago" and online as iTunes DVD download and digital audio download.  Best Buy is also getting in on the action, as the store will offer an exclusive Blu-Ray disc in stores beginning Jan. 3.  The Blu-Ray will be available via other retailers starting Jan. 17.  Directed by Wayne Isham, Live from the Vic in Chicago was taped during Cage The Elephant's Spring 2011 tour, during which the band played a two-night, sold-out show at The Vic Theatre in Chicago.  The DVD packs 75 minutes of alternative rock action, including the band playing their biggest hits to date, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked,"  "Shake Me Down" and "Aberdeen."  Fans got an early  taste of the DVD via a 30-minute version of Live from the Vic in Chicago, which premiered on MTV, MTV2, MTVU, MTV Hits and MTV.com this past fall.

    Sleeper Agent will be aboard the Weezer Cruise Jan. 19-23, 2012, from Miami to Cozumel..http://www.theweezercruise.com/  Some of the other bands that will be on the cruise besides Weezer and Sleeper Agent will dinosaur jr., the Wavves and The Knocks among several others bands. Cage The Elephant will be breaking new ground in their extensive travels in which they will heading down to Brazil in 2012.
    Apparently, the sky is the limit for these already successful two young Bowling Green indie rock bands in 2012 who are making headlines all over the world in magazines, newspapers, the Internet, videos and blogs.  They are bringing tons of attention to our fair city of Bowling Green with a population of 58,000 and all eyes are us in the indie rock world because of them.  2012 should be another amazing, incredible year as these two bands as they continue to skyrocket to the top even further!

Galen A. Smith Sr. is a native of Memphis, Tenn., and has lived with his wife, Patty, and son, Tony "Tutone" Smith who is a member of Sleeper Agent, in Bowling Green since 1988.  He writes a blog, www.acriticfromthesouth.blogspot.com    Join the Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent fan pages on Facebook at "Cage The Elephant's Facebook Fan Page" and "Sleeper Agent's Facebook Fan Page."

Cage The Elephant, A Band From Bowling Green, Ky., Makes It Big In The World Of Rock & Roll With Their Second Album, "Thank You, Happy Birthday"

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. _ I am writing this blog because I haven't been this excited about a young rock band or their music in years!

I am basically an old guy ("an old fart') to the younger generation of twenty somethings and I'm probably not supposed to like their kind of music or much less be a "raving fan" of a band at this point in my life. Just like our baby-boom generation is not suppose to be "Texting," "Facebooking," "Twittering" or "Social Networking" to our advantage like the younger generation has been doing for a while now. And I am probably not supposed to be "hip" to their kind of music either. Wrong!

I can't help it though when it comes to the Bowling Green based rock group, "Cage The Elephant," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cage_The_Elephant, from our hometown who is riding the tsunami wave of success performing world-wide, conducting interviews on radio, television and also via internet. Backed my Sony-Jive Records, this band is hitting all the points of the multi-media platform using the latest technology and marketing capabilities. They have already performed on the "David Letterman Show" twice in two years. Their latest performance was to announce their recent release of their second album, "Thank You, Happy Birthday." Their first album, "Cage The Elephant," sold an impressive half millions copies. I suppose I am intrigued, enthralled, infatuated and impressed by these young musicians. Brothers Matt and Brad Shultz, and band mates, Jared Champion, Lincoln Parish and Daniel Tichenor, are on the cutting edge of rock and roll in the year 2011 big-time; they are making the citizens of Bowling Green, Warren County and Southcentral Kentucky very proud. How awesome to have such a talented band climbing straight to the top! And realize it didn't happened overnight. This band has worked their tails off. They even lived and toured in Europe for two years prior to to returning to the States to sing. According to Matt's recent interview, the band lived in a poor section of London while performing and a man was murdered outside their apartment building.

I have a small personal connection to the band, having met both Matt and Brad in Bowling Green. I am probably even more fond of them than other bands at this point. Matt and Brad are super nice kids, very talented and sociable. I first met them at Western Kentucky University early last fall when my son's band, "Sleeper Agent" was performing on campus. They were in attendance to watch "the Sleepers" perform. My son Tony and his band have become close friends with the guys in Cage The Elephant, as have many other young musicians. It seems that Bowling Green, has become a quite a breeding ground for new and upcoming rock bands. Many of these bands perform locally at "Tidballs". I also had the chance to see Cage The Elephant perform at the "Starry Nights Music Festival" in October here. http://starrynightsfestival.com/ Luckily I had obtained a backstage media pass and spoke to them. When exiting the stage after their first set, the band greeted me again with friendly smiles and firm handshakes and remembered me as "Tony's Dad" from Sleeper Agent.

The media upbuild prior to their latest album, "Thank You, Happy Birthday," was awesome, with tidbits not only on the internet but also on Facebook. The hit song "Shake Me Down" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFo28_VbQf4appeared on their web-site prior to the album's release. It's an really big hit. Please think about friending the band on their facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/#!/cagetheelephant and the "Cage The Elephant's Hometown (Bowling Green, Ky.) Fan FB Page) http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_126764947389033&ap=1 where you can follow their career on a daily basis. During the first week of the albums release, "Shake Me Down" was number one on iTunes. And I am sure that they will break new records and charts with this album. I bought the CD version at Target on the day it came out on 1/1/11 and I have probably listened to it at least 15 times and I would predict that there are at least nine other potential hit songs on the album. My favorite songs are "Shake Me Down," "Aberdeen," "Always Something," "2024" "Japanese Buffalo" and "Flow".

Don't ask me what the songs mean or what's behind the lyrics or what's in young Matt's head. All I know is that this is a new breed of rock music that's pure art. They are like artists, brushes in hand, painting with oils on an empty canvas. It's simply amazing!