CAKE at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards | May 30, 2026
There is something apt about CAKE — a band that has spent over three decades obstinately refusing to sound like anyone else — opening a summer concert series at an apple orchard. The Sacramento group arrives at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards on Saturday, May 30 as the first act in a 14-show season running through August 23, billed specifically as “An Evening With CAKE.” The venue’s 2026 lineup also includes Wilco, Indigo Girls, Dark Star Orchestra, and Lake Street Dive — whoever is booking this series has particular taste.
About CAKE
Formed in Sacramento in 1991 around vocalist John McCrea, CAKE built their catalog across six studio albums and an aesthetic that draws from rock, funk, country, norteño, mariachi, and hip hop without ever fully committing to any of them. McCrea’s flat, sardonic deadpan is one of the more distinctive instruments in alternative rock — it doesn’t sell you on anything, which is precisely how it keeps your attention. Alongside him, Vince DiFiore, an original member still in the lineup, provides the counter-melody trumpet that is as central to the CAKE sound as anything McCrea has written.
Fashion Nugget (1996, Capricorn Records) was the platinum breakthrough, driven by “The Distance.” Prolonging the Magic followed in 1998, also platinum. Comfort Eagle (2001, Columbia Records) produced “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” which reached #7 on the Modern Rock charts. Showroom of Compassion (2011) — released on Upbeat Records, the band’s own independent label — debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. They haven’t put out a studio record since, which means the setlist is the catalog, and a deep one: recent 2026 dates have included “Sheep Go to Heaven,” “The Distance,” “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” and covers ranging from “War Pigs” to “I Will Survive.”
The Lafayette show falls between two major New York dates: Terminal B at The Outer Harbor in Buffalo on May 29 and SPAC in Saratoga Springs on June 1. Central NY lands in the middle of a Northeast stretch that is part of a 2026 North American tour running May through October.
About the Venue
Beak & Skiff has been operating in Lafayette since 1911 — a working orchard that has grown into an agritourism complex encompassing a distillery, tasting room, tavern, apple barn, café, bakery, and general store. The summer concert series brings national touring acts to the orchard grounds each year; it is the kind of setting that makes showing up early feel worthwhile. Lafayette sits just outside Syracuse in Central New York, off Route 80 in Onondaga County.
Doors open at 5:00 PM; the show starts at 7:00 PM.
Tickets
Tickets are sold exclusively through Tixr. Beak & Skiff does not honor refunds on purchases made through third-party resellers — buy direct. No pricing was listed at time of publication.