Cage the Elephant performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on July 2, 2024. Chloe Catajan/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Cage the Elephant shows are not for the faint of heart. Flames, flashing LEDs and a BPM over 150 were in full force within the first song at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Tuesday. Frontman Matt Shultz stayed in constant motion across the stage, as bandmates Brad Shultz, Daniel Tichenor, Jared Champion, Nick Bockrath and Matthan Minster packed a heavy-handed punch with their rhythms.

Cage the Elephant.

Should there only be one takeaway from the performance, it’s that Cage The Elephant’s music isn’t meant for just listening. It’s meant to be lived. And without fail, the Kentucky band and fans were all in.

The set’s pacing matched the group’s nonstop engergy. Banter was kept to a minimum while the Shultzes and company jumped straight into each song of their 21-song run. Within 20 minutes of the start, the band already covered ground across Social Cues, Tell Me I’m Pretty, Melophobia and it’s most recent release, Neon Pill.

Eight dates into the band’s tour, the show marked the band’s first in the Bay Area since BottleRock Na0a in 2021. Cage’s return featured a much larger production than in the past. Songs like “Cry Baby” and “Cold Cold Cold” had the room saturated in shades of blue, while “Good Time” and “Ready To Let Go” brought out deep reds. Some lights pulsed, while others flashed in alternating patterns, often to punctuate a hard-hitting riff.

Cage the Elephant performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on July 2, 2024.

Brad Shultz, Tichenor and Bockrath stayed up front and drove each cut with fiery and gauzy garage-rock tones. And from the risers, Minster and Champion were precise with their beats, rounding out an epic wall of sound.

“San Fran, it’s been a while. It’s almost like a family reunion,” Matt Shultz said to a beaming audience before “Ready To Let Go,” as the band members changed instruments.

But even beyond banter, Shultz kept the crowd engaged. Between shimmying across stage, doing the Carlton dance, leaping up or onto monitors and singing to directly to attendees in the front, his stage presence was one of a kind. His vocals stayed strong and compelling, too. Attendees matched his energy, jumping and throwing their hands in the air.

After playing “Good Time” early in the set, Cage went on to play just a couple more songs off the new record. Title track “Neon Pill” and “Rainbow” were met with a sea of raised hands and swaying arms. From there, much of the set focused on releases from 2013 to 2019.

Nostalgia was in the air on “Trouble” and “Telescope,” especially with these arrangements. A refreshed lead guitar riff on the former made it sound even more like a coming-of-age anthem than it already is. Meanwhile, “Telescope” was equal parts tender and electric.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but I had a really tough past five years and it’s a miracle to be alive right now,” Matt Shultz said before the Tell Me I’m Pretty cut, referencing the subject matter of the new album. “I’m blessed to be with you all tonight.”

“Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” and “Shake Me Down” were the only songs off the self-titled album and Thank You, Happy Birthday to make the set. The latter was the first of three encore songs.

Cage the Elephant ended the night with two classics from Melophobia. Fans nearly overpowered the band singing “Cigarette Daydreams.” The grand finale was, “Come A Little Closer,” with plenty of pyrotechnics.

Bakar performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on July 2, 2024.

Bakar and Willow Avalon opened the evening with performances that showed off their distinct sounds.

English singer Bakar, (Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr) brought a genre-bending set. He wore a shirt that read “Cage The Bakar” and started his set on a riser, his silhouette backlit by blue lights.

While a large part of his performance leaned into chill hop, TikTok hit “Hell N Back” mixed in bluesy and soulful vibes.

Bakar’s vocals were earthy and captivating on top of a bumping backing track.

New York’s Willow Avalon filled the first slot of the night with country serenades. Wielding a red Fender Super-Sonic at a flower-adorned mic stand, the “Southern Belle raisin’ hell” lived up to her own description. Songs from her 2024 release, Stranger, layered soft-pop-infused twang, and her vocal tones were sometimes reminiscent of Dolly Parton or Jewel.

Follow Chloe Catajan at Instagram.com/riannachloe.