Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Revolution
Headlining, opening bands: Action Action, The Showdown
Revolution in downtown Fort Lauderdale holds 1100 people and, yes, it is a great place to see a show.
(I'd seen Dio there, Anthrax too.) Great venue with a great sound system. Besides the row of venue
speakers hanging from the sides, there is a horizontal row of speakers under the stage that act as a
sub-woofer, so the acoustics and boom are superb.
For larger shows there is an outdoor stage setup for 2500 people. I had hoped that the CULT would be
playing the outdoor stage, but lack of ticket sales put them indoors.
I was told that there were only 650 advance tickets sold and that they only expected +/- 100
walkup sales.
Very disappointing turnout.
The show started quite late due to a car-meets-power pole incident a couple of blocks away. As management
was scrambling to get generators in place, the power was restored and the crowd assembled outside were
granted admission.
An announcement was made: "By request of the band, there will be no smoking in the building tonight.
No smoking."
Many of the sparse audience hung at one of the strategically placed outdoor bar / lounges.
By the time the show started, there were, perhaps, 100 people gathered at stage front and a few leaning
from the small balcony above.
The red velvet curtains opened, and The Showdown hit the stage.
Classic horns-up '80's style rattlehead heavy metal. They played a short set that featured a couple of
their own compositions and a cool medley of songs (Metallica / Pantera) honoring their influences.
I liked 'em and will see them on tour if they pass thru town again.
Action Action. Before the show I asked Ian A how bad they were. He told me that he likes them and personally
picked them as CULT openers. (He also told me he wanted Vietnam to tour, but "one of their members ended up
in rehab, so they fuct that up for themselves".)
I had a high expectation for 'A-Squared', as they call themselves, given that kind of recommend.
Feature the noise that a car accident would make if Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Spandau Ballet & Soft
Cell were all involved.
Get it?
Now imagine the echo of that din for 35 minutes and you get Action Action.
Surprisingly, there were several girlie shrieks and a reasonable sing-along happening in the building while
they played, and they were well received.
As Action Action was striking their gear, the Jagermeister hosts came out and tossed a few t-shirts and caps.
I scored a comp ticket to see metal monsters Down, featuring Phil Anselmo, former singer of Pantera, on November 10.
My bud Mike from Orlando also gave me a gently rolled screaming *PINK* Jagermeister Music Tour poster that
he pulled from a wall and is now framed and hanging on my wall.
The CULT. Very generic set, but the sparse crowd made noise like there was a full house.
Highlight was show opener, 'Nirvana', followed by 'Electric Ocean'.
4 songs off the new record, 'I Assassin', 'Savages', 'Dirty Little Rockstar' & 'Born Into This', sounded real good
live, 'I Assassin' being the standout.
The usual stuff surrounded it; 'Phoenix', 'Wild Flower', 'Edie', 'Fire Woman', 'L'il Devil', a lifeless rendering of
'Revolution', 'The Witch', 'Rise', & 'She Sells Sanctuary', which, to me is too important of a song to be played mid-set.
'Born Into This' & 'Love Removal Machine' was the encore.
No stunners tonight; no 'Spiritwalker' or 'Horse Nation', no 'Rain' (except for the nick of a tropical storm that
drenched South Florida earlier in the day), nothing acoustic, and, dammit, they didn't play 'Outlaw' either.
Nothing from 'Ceremony' or 1994's excellent 'The Cult' album came out.
When the bottom heavy new stuff was played, unshaven bassist Chris Wyse was at the front of the stage, tongue out,
collecting attention and spotlight. His bass work was flawless and punchy. Billy D played his parts of the new songs
with class, but he was obviously second to the rhythm section. Tempesta is a monster on the kit. Dimkich stayed back
in front of his stack and was pretty much anonymous tonight.
The new songs presented very nicely and it was good to not only hear new music from The CULT, but to hear how
seamlessly the songs fit into the set. It's almost like the new stuff adds vitality to the classics.
And it was nice to know that 'Peace Dog' was left home.
The onstage sound was pretty good, which kept Billy D from getting too pissed off.
The crowd was joyous, which kept Ian in good spirits, although, at one point, he felt that the backdrop picture of the
new album cover was up for too long. He demanded that the tiger skin be put back up and glared at the soundboard dude
for half a minute until it was changed.
A small mosh pit broke out during 'Fire Woman' and another during the payoff part of 'Love Removal Machine'.
The CULT 2007 is a supurb live act, tight, happy, strong. I heard first-hand that there will be another pass through
the States after the Jagermeister tour is finished and the European dates are done.
CULT. Not dead. CFFC.
MadMadMike
Setlist