The Cab 6.27.26 Irving Plaza NYC

Words & Photos by Keeyahtay Lewis

The Cab At Irving Plaza: Proving that a band can come “Back From The Dead”

14 years. It’s been 14 years since The Cab have been headlining shows and playing to packed crowds. But on Saturday night the band headlined 1 of 2 sold out shows at the legendary Irving Plaza. The “Back From The Dead Tour” is aptly named, and the line around the block before the doors even opened showed that NYC had waited too long to see the band play again.

The show opened up with CARR, the pop-punk singer Carly McClellan. Her songs are filled with innuendos and tongue in cheek lyrics and the crowd absolutely ate it up. At one point she spoke to the crowd thanking The Cab for bringing her on tour, and she said “all bands should bring female bands to open!” The screams echoed back from the audience- it seemed like they all agreed.

Up next was Paradise Fears. Much like The Cab, Paradise Fears have been around for almost 20 years and have spent part of that time on and off hiatus. At one point singer Sam Miller said they were back, playing cities they haven’t played in almost a decade. Their set was super fun and they got everyone ready and fired up for The Cab.

There was a brief change over before The Cab took the stage, and you could feel the excitement building. All of a sudden the first notes of “Ultima Ratio Regum” floated over the crowd as the band slowly took the stage. The place exploded. Still in darkness, singer Alex DeLeon jumped, the lights shot up, and the band ripped into “Locked and Loaded”. The song is a high energy ripper, and it set the tone for the whole night.

Their set was infectious. During their third song “Back From The Dead” DeLeon sang “Yeah, what’s your friend’s name with the blue hair?” And bass player Joey Thunder took center stage- shaggy blue hair on full display. Later he sang, “Yeah, what’s your friend’s name with the tattoos?” And he actually pointed at me and smiled. My hand tattoos and arm sleeves on full display. Nice touch, Alex.

A couple of songs later DeLeon mentioned that The Cab has always been described as “a boy band with guitars” before launching into a medley of “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” / “Baby One More Time” and “It’s Gonna Be Me”. I didn’t expect that but it was clear that everyone in the packed room loved it, singing along to every word.

A few more songs in, DeLeon had to pause to fix his in-ears, but he bantered with the crowd the whole time while the tech tried to figure out what was going on. As soon as it was sorted they played “Every Universe”. Before this he announced they hadn’t played it in a few weeks but, “We are playing because it’s sold out and the person it’s written about is in the room”, before pointing up to his wife in the balcony. Later on they played “Take My Hand” and the crowd absolutely lost their minds when Cassadee Pope came out to sing with the band. I don’t think anyone thought that would happen.

It certainly did not feel like The Cab have not been headlining shows for 14 years. Overall they just seemed like they were having a blast. DeLeon spoke at one point about his vocal issues and how he had to relearn to sing. About a decade ago he had scarred and severely damaged his vocal cords on tour with Maroon 5 and he didn’t think would ever be able to sing again. This whole night felt like a triumph. The new record did not come easily, DeLeon and the whole band had to put themselves back together again. Headlining their first of 2 sold out nights in NYC, I am so glad I got to see the joy they all shared on stage.

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