You can say a lot about the band, Cake, but you can't say it doesn't take its rocking seriously. In fact, they didn't even crack a smile during their sold-out concert Friday night at the Pabst Theater. And in between backhanded compliments to the crowd, the Sacramento, Calif. band nailed 90 minutes of its best material, note for note.

It was unfortunate, then, that front man John McCrea, clad in his usual trucker cap, wrapped up the show by telling us that even though mankind has no hope, here's "I Will Survive." It got a little old when he thanked, sort of, the audience for its participation: "You're a great crowd, in terms of singing," he said. Thanks.

It was hard to tell if McCrea was kidding, and if he wasn't, he certainly didn't seem like he wanted to be in Milwaukee. If he was, he should win an award for best dry humor in a rock band performance.

But take the attitude out of the equation, and Cake put on a rock solid concert that, at times, sounded exactly like listening to the CDs. They rarely expanded on a solo, save for some extended audience participation in "No Phone" off their new album, "Pressure Chief."

They played several tunes off their new disc, all dead on, of course, including "Wheels" and "Carbon Monoxide" during the short encore.

But the biggest cheers came from songs off their 1996 effort, "Fashion Nugget." The enthusiastic, but mildly insulted audience, sang along to "Frank Sinatra," "Stickshifts And Safetybelts" and the racy "Italian Leather Sofa."

Cake opened with a rousing rendition of "Sheep Go To Heaven" from "Prolonging the Magic," and sounded enthusiastic with "Satin Is My Motor."

They glossed over their previous album, "Comfort Eagle," playing only "Love You Madly."

Every song was perfect, note for note, and trumpeter/keyboardist Vince Di Fiore was particularly impressive. But something was obviously bothering McCrea, and it would have been nice if he could have let it go before stepping on stage. His pessimistic message was a downer and didn't jive with Cake's energetic and funky music.

New York hip hop trio Northern State opened for Cake, and could best (or most easily) be described as a female "License To Ill" era version of the Beastie Boys. Full of energy and rhymes, Northern State bounced across the stage, clearly enjoying its half-hour crowd warm up. What these long-time Long Island friends lacked in name recognition, they made up for with bubbly enthusiasm. The best compliment one could pay them is the three women seemed like real people, rapping on stage. Unfortunately, that's also the biggest criticism, since it's less than believable to hear three suburban white women talking about life's challenges.

Don't count on Northern State to take the rap world by storm, but don't count them out, either -- they put on a fun show. Musically, they didn't hold a candle to Cake (and who expected them to?). But at least they sounded sincere when they thanked the crowd for making the trip.