Birmingham, England, Carling Academy Birmingham

Opening Band: Theatre Of Hate, The Haze

Any rock gig at the Brum academy is immediately helped by it being one of the best venues in the UK, only Brixton Academy is better.

I have been a Cult fan since back in 1984 and have supported them through thick and thin ever since, so it was inevitable that I was going to show up somewhere on this latest tour.

Theatre of Hate were and still are dreadful. Spear of Destiny weren't much better. It was quite shocking to see Kirk Brandon up on stage, he still had that peroxide 80's haircut. It was a relief when Billy Duffy appeared at the end to play guitar on that Westworld track, as it meant that the end of this drivel must be near.

The Cult were on form however. I had them written off as a nostalgia act back in 2006 when they last played Birmingham, but tonight they were excellent. The new stuff sounded vital and energetic and I forgot that we were watching a couple of blokes in their late 40's.

Ian's voice was a little shakey to start off with but he soon warmed up and I was struck by Billy's fantastic guitar playing. The Phoenix and Electric Ocean were spectacular and Lil' Devil grooved along very sweetly. A 10 legged groove machine.

The set was a little too American for me. Dumping Edie for Zap City and Fire Woman for Love would have been cool and more England friendly.

The highlights for me was a storming run through of Sun King, one of my personal favourites, and Love Removal Machine. Magic!

Laters.

Ian

Setlist:

Spirtwalker
Rain
Lil' Devil
Diamonds
Peace Dog
Sweet Soul Sister
Savages
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Sun King
Dirty Little Rockstar
Horse Nation
Rise
Wild Flower
She Sells Sanctuary

Encore:

The Phoenix
Fire Woman
Love Removal Machine