Koprivnica, Croatia, Drava Rock Festival
The Cult had great show in Croatia. Boys are in great shape, especially Billy ( I was so surprised).
The sund was terrific and new The Cult's members are wery good.
Valentina - Zagreb
So it finally happened! Seeing The Cult at home. Regardless it was a
festival gig, and that the festival wasn't in Zagreb but in Koprivnica, a
small town in the north, and that they didn't do the complete set, I must
say it all went very very well! Absolutely all reactions of anyone who I
talked to after the gig are positive! People were stunned with their
performance and energy! Especially the ones who saw them for the first time.
The initiation passed with the up most positive grade, and I hope that this
will bring them to a headline gig in Zagreb when the promotion of "Born Into
This" comes to Europe later in this year, or in 2008. The good voice will
spread among the organizers who weren't there yesterday, or were maybe a
little bit sceptical.
I was right in the front when the Clockwork Orange intro started. It wasn't
dark yet, it was kinda like sunset sky in the background. The scene was
something to remember, as they walked to the stage, with that purple/blue
sky behind them... Billy started the Horse Nation and the charge in the
audience was really perceivable. I of course was excited as a happy child,
always the feeling that I have at the beginning of their show. Ian sang
really clearly and you could really hear how he was trying to sing Horse
Nation with a lot of passion mixed with charisma, a combination that only he
can do with his voice, really!
There is something that haunts you when you listen to "And they come, And
they come..." or "the whole world is coming from the wrong directions". Of
course, with Billy waving his hand like a windmill when Ian sings this other
verse, well, that's it, that's The Cult energy live, that's the essence of
their magic. And they can transform it in so many ways. It's the same thing
in Spiritwalker, it's the same thing in Sanctuary, it's the same thing in
Edie or Wonderland. They are the masters who have this magical energy in
their control, they know it, and they don't like to show off too much, and
either you dig it or you don't.
Ian mentioned a couple of times that John Tempesta has his roots in Croatia.
Nice! The thing that almost scared me was when the power went off, it was
when Fire Woman started. They all looked at each other and started to make
fun of that situation... "Too much rock for Croatia". The problem was solved
quickly. Fire Woman was TOTALLY welcomed by the audience! The band liked how
we 'handled' their music, there wasn't any Ian's comments of how we're quiet
or anything like that. We were hungry and got what we wanted. A new song "I
Assassin" was also performed, and it sounded brilliant! They certainly know
how to do it!!
The thing I didn't liked is this, The Cult didn't get the space they needed,
10 or 20 minutes more would be the peak of the whole evening. Despite that,
they were magnificent, but there wasn't Revolution, Peace Dog... I mean, why
the hell did the Scorpions have to play for so long, they (not Scorpions,
the organizers) could have easily given The Cult a few extra minutes.. As I
heard, it didn't go as planned with the line-up, Nick Oliveri & the Mondo
Generator didn't play at all because their vehicle broke down somewhere on
the way to Koprivnica. But Nick was there, he was standing with Chris and
Mike after the gig, when The Cult were leaving to Zagreb to a hotel (yes, I
got to 'the boys' again, it was easy, but it took a long time to wait for
them...).
The encore was She Sells Sanctuary and the crowd went wild! Amazing!
Boris Sokolic
Setlist
Horse Nation
Spiritwalker
Fire Woman
The Witch
Edie (Ciao Baby)
I Assassin
Rise
Rain
The Phoenix
Wild Flower
Love Removal Machine
She Sells Sanctuary