Watch Cage the Elephant Serenade The Basement East With an Acoustic 'Trouble'

Grammy-nominated local-by-way-of-Kentucky rockers Cage the Elephant played an acoustic set at an ugly-sweater-themed intimate charity gig at The Basement East Thursday night. Seeing as how the band's last local gig was headlining Ascend Amphitheater in May, The Spin grabbed our ugliest Christmas sweater and headed across the river.

Navigating our way through a growing sea of light-up sweaters, Santa hats and reindeer antlers, we checked out the silent auction in the back of the Beast, where fans were frantically scribbling down bids on signed CtE swag. Proceeds from ticket sales and the auction went toward a tuition assistance fund aimed at diversifying the socioeconomic background of students at NIA House Montessori.

“Feliz Navidad,” CtE singer Matt Shultz said, greeting the crowd when his band took the stage.

It was fitting that Cage played its last show of the year at a small(ish) club in Nashville — the adopted hometown that's played a major role in shaping the band's career. Despite getting the Unplugged treatment, the first few bars of an opening “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” reverberated throughout the venue as the crowd — The Spin included — danced frantically enough to shake the floorboards. Normally, Shultz prances about the stage like an electrified Mick Jagger, but he seemed more reserved at this gig — he even refrained from stage-diving.

The band cycled through some of our favorite songs — from “Spiderhead” to “Trouble” to “Back Against the Wall,” we sang along unapologetically while Shultz intermittently pointed the microphone to the crowd, as captured in the video above. At the end of the set, guitarist Brad "The Dad" Shultz led members of the opening bands through an all-star-jam-style cover of CCR's “Have You Ever Seen the Rain." 

“That was garage style,” the guitarist told The Spin backstage after the show, later adding, "I’m doing delicious,” as his brother closed out the night with a vodka-fueled DJ set.

Those words accurately summed up a night that began with Dan Luke and the Raid. When we heard the band was from Bowling Green, Ky., we were hopeful. Growing up in the same scene that birthed Cage the Elephant must have had a good impact, right?

Wrong. The overdone reverb washed out the singer’s cacophonic crooning, making the vocals sound wobbly and flat. As the set went on, we hoped it would reveal enough redemptive nuances to overcome the dude's caterwauling. Didn't happen. The drummer was good, though. He definitely lit a fire under the band that injected some life and energy into the still-pre-gaming crowd.

Following a change-over filled with Christmas music, fellow Bowling Greeners Morning Teleportation were up next. And in proper Nashville style, we vibed out to the band's sprightly, proggy indie-psych with deadpan expressions and eyes glued to the lead singer.

Soon the atmosphere shifted and the lights dimmed as Rayland Baxter, fresh off a national jaunt opening for The Lumineers, took the stage. The singer, appearing solo at first, was sporting a red beanie and a poncho that looked like the drug rug from The Spin's college crash pad, which we suppose counts as an ugly sweater? “Welcome to your own living room,” Baxter bantered, before warming the crowds' collective cockles and bringing out our tender side with his vulnerable vocals and delicate guitar strums. “I’ve never done that,” Baxter said before his band joined him on stage for the second half of the set.

So, who won the ugly sweater contest (along with a gift card to M Street restaurants)? Not to bury the lede, but from the fellas, the winner was a very bushy bro rocking a sweater with a DIY Christmas tree cutout exposing tendrils of chest hair. Below the cutout, his sweater read, “And a partridge in a hair tree.” From the ladies, it was a Pinterest-worthy handmade ugly sweater that took gold. The focal point — a cat, surrounded by an artificial wreath, poinsettias and felt stockings.

Cage the Elephant set list:

"Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked"

"Spiderhead"

"Too Late to Say Goodbye"

"Cold Cold Cold"

"Trouble"

"Back Against the Wall"

"Shake Me Down"

"Telescope"

"Cry Baby"

"Cigarette Daydream"

"Come a Little Closer"