CAVETOWN: LONDON, UK - 11.12.21
On the eleventh of December, outside of London's Roundhouse stood Cavetown fans dressed in frog hats, doc martens, rounded glasses, and elf ears and huddled together beneath pride flags to shelter from the gentle showering of rain. However, not even the weather cast upon London that evening could lessen their high spirits as they eagerly awaited Cavetown's performance.
The interior of the distinctive spherical venue, originally built as a railway turntable in 1846, featured mesmerising cast-iron columns arranged into the shape of a halo, circling the outer edge. The pointed ceiling was intricately woven with stage lighting and beams, which incorporated both the modern music venue features and the original architecture of the railway turntable.
As the room began to fill, the supporting artist Sara Kays and one-man-band Andrew Tufano walked onto the stage to be greeted by an adoring audience and illuminated with pink and yellow spotlights. The crowd erupted into applause as Sara began to sing her first song titled 'Home For The Summer', which started with isolated vocals, complemented by the gentle and delicate fingerpicking of her guitar strings. At the turn of the first chorus, Andrew joined in on vocals which produced beautiful harmonies that had the power to raise goosebumps to the surface of arms and send tingles down spines.
By the end of the song, the audience were clapping along to the beat, which created an intimate moment between everyone present in the room that evening. Despite the vastness of the venue, her set shared the same warm and cosy atmosphere of a campfire singsong. Sara's next song was written about being chosen last as a child, a painful memory shared by so many. The sound of the honeyed ukulele and innocent lyricism created a sense of childhood playfulness and wonder.
Midway through the performance, Andrew, dressed in pink cow-print trousers, held up a tiny cow stuffed toy to the audience and explained how they needed their help deciding on a name for him. They gave two options: Diablo or Cheese, and by the high decibel screaming and cheering from the crowd for Cheese, it was evident which name had won them over.
The song that followed the wholesome naming contest was written about struggling with body image. The introduction was gentle and profound, and the sound of Sara's guitar enveloped the entirety of the venue. Lyrics such as "I'm chasing a body I know I'll never outrun" and "I wish I was smaller than this" faultlessly portrayed the disquieting reality of poor body image and eating disorders. The haunting and poignant nature of the song instigated the audience to fall into a deep silence. The energy that orbited around the room picked up with a cover of 'The Climb' from the Hannah Montana movie. Sara explained that it was the first song she ever sang in front of an audience and its inspiring lyricism felt hopeful following such a raw song depicting poor body image.
After taking a photograph with the audience, she performed her final song, 'Remember That Night.' The reflective track told the story of a difficult breakup which was exceptionally authentic and dismantled the destructive idea that healing is linear. As Sara and Andrew exited the stage, the supportive and adoring crowd cheered and clapped in appreciation as an audience member screamed "goodbye cheese," which brought a smile to everybody's faces.
As the crowd fervently anticipated Cavetown's entrance, they passed the time by complementing each other's colourful outfits, counting down the minutes in excitement and putting memes on the screens of their phones and raising them above their heads for everyone to see. It was evident how much they all adored Cavetown by the way they would all scream at the sight of a slight curtain movement or when a sound technician would be mistaken for him. But nothing can be compared to the level of audible love and elation that could have been heard from a mile away as dim, warm backlights created an orange cast that illuminated the venue for Cavetown's entrance.
As he bounded onto the stage, wearing shorts cut off at the knees, a cream knit jumper and a brown hood with sewn-on animal ears, he could not keep the smile on their face as they began the opening song titled 'Fool.' It started slow and gentle, but once the beat picked up, the crowd went completely wild.
The song to follow was fan favourite 'Boys Will Be Bugs', accompanied by sinuous green and pink lighting reminiscent of the northern lights. The crowd screamed the lyrics "I feel stupid // I feel ugly", which brought a huge smile to Cavetown's face. The song, written about toxic masculinity and the expectations of being a teenage boy, was bouncy, playful, and innocent-sounding.
Once the track came to an end, Cavetown checked up on the audience and to ensure they were safe and happy, he asked them to put their thumbs up. "They look like wormies", he exclaimed with a giggle, looking outwards at a sea of thumbs.
On the stage sat neon signs, one shaped like a dog and the other a flower blooming from a soil, both of which are illustrations that decorate the cover of their latest EP, Man's Best Friend. During the next song, 'Guilty', the signs lit up green and pink and stage lighting illuminates the backdrop: a mossy hill under a starry night sky.
In Cavetown's discography, motifs, metaphors and mentions of nature and animals frequently appear, which was mirrored in the staging. An example of this could be seen within the song 'Green' in the lyrics "a big fish swims past your rod" and "I see your eyes in flowers." The introduction of this track, written about an ex-partner that holds a warm place in the narrator's heart, was slow and gentle, and the soft guitar strumming had a sweet disposition. The goosebump-inducing harmonies filled the venue, as did the green lighting.
Midway through the song, juxtaposing the choir-like start, an electronic beat changes the atmosphere in the room. Cavetown's songs are highly visual and descriptive, and everything is personified: items like the shirt in this song was given a soul. For the next song, 'Ur Gonna Wish U Believed Me,' beams of light hit Cavetown like sunlight through trees on a summers evening, and the heavy drums could be felt as deep within the chest as the lyrics.
The penultimate track was an incredibly therapeutic song that normalised self-love and acceptance titled 'talk to me.' Through this song, a safe space was created and the rainbow-coloured lights that encircled the entire venue nodded to their mainly young LBGT+ audience. The ending felt like a lullaby which brought many audience members to tears as they formed hearts with their hands and held them up towards the sky.
After joking that the crowd wouldn't know the last song, Cavetown began to sing one of their most beloved tracks, 'This Is Home.' The audience sang along with every word, nearly as loud as Cavetown himself. He grabbed a trans pride flag from the audience and proceeded to dance across the stage with it clasped tightly to their chest as he pointed the mic towards the crowd for "get a load of this train wreck." The powerful significance of this song to so many people present that night was heart-warming.
At the song's end, the stage went dark as Cavetown and his band ran off the stage. However, after a few minutes of the crowd chanting his name, the lights became bright again as they returned for one final song, 'Devil Town.' The track's high energy was unparalleled, and the flashing red and white lights were in time with the songs fast-paced rhythm. As the show drew to a close and Cavetown waved goodbye, bubbles began to fill the venue, which was an extraordinary way to end an extraordinary night.
PHOTOS BY EMILY YOUNGWORDS BY RACHEL WONDERS