Being at a gig, concert or festival gives a feeling unlike any other. There’s something so amazing about being at a place where hundreds or thousands of other people have come together for the exact same reason as you, to be entertained and to forget about anything else. Some of the best times in my life have been at festivals, or in a small pub listening to a band.

I want to get across to anybody that is reading who may never have been to a gig that it is something you must do at least once in your life. Go with some friends, have a few drinks, be as close to the front as possible and have a sing along with everyone else.

It is with this concept that I went to go Cage the Elephant back in my hometown when they performed on their worldwide tour. This was a band that me and my mates had found some years back, but had never the chance to go see, so when the dates were announced we jumped on the idea.

For those of you who don’t know the band, they’re an American rock band from Kentucky. They have changed their sound somewhat through the years, but they still remain focused on rock and blues. It was at the release of their fourth album ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty’ that I went to go see them, an album which I had listened to and personally didn’t prefer as much to their older work. I didn’t find it as raw and original as their previous work, with the album having been produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, an influence you can certainly hear within the album. I was nevertheless excited.

The venue was the Unity Works in Wakefield which has since recently closed down. With its high ceilings, bar at the back and decently sized stage it’s a perfect place for a band such as this one. It allows for the atmosphere to feel cramped yet not claustrophobic, you feel close to the band as you can almost touch the stage, and when you sing along it seems as though the band can hear your individual voice. Lead vocalist Matt Shultz has a presence on stage which just makes you want to jump and flail and down your drink, his energy never seems to cease and rubs off on the crowd. From their opening song ‘Cry baby’, a bluesy, bass rattling number from ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty’, to their closing song ‘Sabertooth Tiger’, which is just pure noise and unadulterated rock, their entire set had the crowd going from start to finish, all whilst the floor became drenched in more and more Red Stripe.

The heat and haze built throughout the room, I came out of the crowd at one point drenched form head to toe, just for a bit of respite before diving back in for a group sing-a-long to ‘Shake Me Down’. And this is how it was all night, the crowd being whipped into a frenzied mass and not being allowed to stop all night until we were herded out of the venue, sweating, singing, drunkenly shouting but most importantly, satisfied on a Friday night ready to go out into Wakefield.