Cage the Elephant performs at The Anthem on Dec. 3, 2019. (Photo by Kyle Gustafson)

It’s been a good year for Cage the Elephant fans in DC. The band has been through town twice this year, playing Merriweather over the summer with Beck and Spoon and also headlining the recent DC101 holiday shindig at The Anthem. Add in October 2018 performance at the new Entertainment and Sport Arena, and that’s three shows in just over a year. Not too shabby.

The Dec. 3 show at The Anthem was thematically and musically not too different from the Merriweather Post Pavilion show. Lead singer Matt Schultz shed multiple outfits and multiple masks during his typical-for-him livewire stage performance, and the band stuck mainly to the same set, with just five different songs being played from their thunderstorm-shortened summer set. But let’s be clear: Cage puts on an amazing show that’s certainly worth multiple viewings. One welcome difference from the summer set was the presence of guitarist of Brad Schultz, who had to drop off the band’s summer tour due to a herniated disc in his neck.

Last month, Cage the Elephant received a nomination for Best Rock Album at the 62nd Grammy Awards, following the release of their fifth studio album, Social Cues (RCA Records). (The Grammy Awards will be presented on Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles.) The band previously won 2017’s Best Rock Album Grammy for Tell Me I’m Pretty, and they were nominated in 2015 for Best Alternative Music Album for Melophobia.

Stream Social Cues by Cage the Elephant on Spotify:

Cage stuck largely to Social Cues and Melophobia in their show at The Anthem. D101 is back at it with their holiday shows on Dec. 12 with Mumford & Sons and Cold War Kids at The Anthem. Cage has a few more holiday shows on their schedule before shutting it down for the year. They head to Europe in early 2020.

Here are some photos of Cage the Elephant performing at The Anthem on Dec. 3, 2019. All photos copyright and courtesy of Kyle Gustafson.