London, England, Kentish Town Forum
Opening Band: Theatre Of Hate
Note: Billy joined the Theatre of Hate to play guitar on the song Do You Believe In The Westworld?
Permission to say ‘fuck yeah’
I have seen The Cult approx 100 times since 1985 ish, I am fully aware of the talent that Billy and Ian have
but I don’t remember being present when they played so well as they did tonight.
Rather bizarrely, Mr Duffy popped on stage to play guitar on the last song played by support band ‘Theatre
of Hate’ which probably 5% of audience understood the importance of. ‘Twas very special for me anyway. Bill
has a stage presence which is not fully appreciated until Ian isn’t there, which a lot of fans I spoke to
later found rather awe inspiring.
I will say no more to explain how good The Cult were this evening, other than to say that Ian was totally
‘in the room’ and Bill didn’t lose his temper with Ian or his rig.
I saw them 4 times last year and although Ian nearly achieved total awareness some of the time, he was still
talking bollocks (nonsense to you foreigners ;o)) at every opportunity between songs and Bill is noticeably
distracted by Ian’s twaddle and his own guitar rig based technical problems. Bill can shut Ian out but he
doesn’t deal with quality control issues well…perfection is a real stoopid middle name.
Tonight’s turn was AWESOME. Sonic Temple perfection with a raw edge but professional all at the same time.
Ian remembered that he had to sing ‘most’ of the words which makes Bill happy, which in turn makes the
audience really happy coz Bill plays well. If only Ian had understood that during the 1990s things may have
been a little different.
No unusual songs, no acoustic stuff, just good old fashioned full tilt, balls out Cult. Dirty little Rockstar
was good to hear live but the rest was the usual back catalogue stuff played with a really special glint in
their eyes. Ian said he was ‘back’ on their last DVD release and I said ‘whatever’ but tonight I enjoyed his
work fully and I haven’t done that for some years. If you read this Ian...Yay!
I remember hearing Ian tell me many moons ago that they would never play Sanctuary live again because the band
were sick and tired of it…WRONG, it sounded fresher tonight than I’ve heard it for some time.
All the usual suspects, setlist-wise but no Spiritwalker which would have fitted in well tonight. Everything
they played just sounded that little bit better.
All in all, a really strong night with a very friendly crowd enjoying The Cult at their best. Even the moshing
was fierce but polite. If I didn’t know Ian was an old git, I’d think he was a small excited puppy after
tonight’s performance. Bill was better than ever (if I was a girl, I’d do him) and the rest of the guys did
their job extremely well.
We’re off to the 100 Club on Tuesday 26th Feb which should be a better gig due to the small venue size (personal
interaction etc) although I’m not holding my breath coz tonight kicked some real serious bottom.
Single letter review…A.
Probably the best Cult gig I have seen since 1989 which is only out of 20ish gigs but good things are going on
with Billy and Ian at the moment which make the live experience quite special.
Get some fecking tickets.
Dave W
From an original single date on the 22 of Feb, the CULT presence in LONDON has now turned to four shows. Now, that's
what we call 'phenomenal popular demand'!
THEATER OF HATE opened that night and, much to the crowd appreciation (as well as Ian's), Kirk BRANDON has lost
nothing of his specific voice. It was also a pleasure to see one time CULT member (as well as THE MISSION) Craig
ADAMS on bass. But the biggest cheer came when Billy DUFFY joined the band (Billy being a former member) on their
last song, the legendary DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE WEST WORLD,
On to the CULT who offered a magnificent, down to earth but charismatic show. Ian repeated on a couple of occasions
that being there "was a miracle". From opener SUN KING to finisher LOVE REMOVAL MACHINE, the track list was very
much a greatest hits approach, as DIRTY LITTLE ROCK STAR appeared very late and BORN INTO THIS was the first song
on the encore. No acoustic song. We feel it is an excellent time to see the CULT as the band has clearly found its
balance and appears to be more powerful than ever.
Vincent & Olivier
Setlist:
Sun King
Lil' Devil
Electric Ocean
Sweet Soul Sister
The Witch
Revolution
Rain
Peace Dog
The Phoenix
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Fire Woman
Dirty Little Rockstar
Rise
Wildflower
She Sells Sanctuary
Encore:
Born Into This
Love Removal Machine