Brussels, Belgium, Ancienne Belgique

Seeing how this was the first time I had the chance to finally see the band play live (after almost ten years of first getting into them, that's the thing about bands who seem to spend most of their touring schedule stateside), to say that I was anxious to witness a memorable show would be a sad understatement. Yet, having read some of the reviews posted on the web the week before the gig, I was somewhat nervous that I'd missed the band in their prime and was about to see a mere nostalgia act for beer belly-sporting, balding rockers having dug up their old Love t-shirt for the occasion, a fact that was unfortunetaly confirmed when entering the Ancienne Belgique along with about 1,500 other fans. No a capacity crowd but still. There was no opening band tonight and the band hit the stage about one hour late with an energetic rendition of Spiritwalker, which got the crowd moving and shouting in unison. The sound was good, Ian was actually singing the lyrics as opposed to shouting them and it seemed my fears had been greatly exaggerated. Second number, Rain, even reinforced this impression with the crow singing the chorus along - and some jokingly-minded punters aptly throwing their 2-euro beer into the air. Looked like the few old goths present at the gig were in for their money, too. Despite all this, a few numbers into the set, I couldn't help but feel that the band was merely going through the motions and seemed somewhat exasperated by the lack of reaction shown by the public - the average age of which must have been well into their thirties, to put it mildly. Billy Duffy kept rolling his eyes and looking at the ceiling while Ian did not interract with the crowd at all. In actual fact, the Mancunian guitarist did most of the talking, ranging from sarcastic comments addressed at the crowd ("I thought Belgians were noisy people" or "If you like the show, I suppose you could always come and see us in Amsterdam tomorrow but unfortunately, it's sold out") to saying hello to a cousin from Luxemburg present in the room. Somehow, it felt like a shame that such fantastic songs (come to think of it, not a single filler in sight) were not getting the appreciation they deserved from the crowd or the respect that they should've commanded from the band, who despite this apparent lack of consideration were playing very tight indeed - special mention goes to mister Tempesta. The show went on for about an hour, with only three numbers lifted off Born Into This and the Sonic Temple material getting the best reaction, before the band left the stage after a thunderous rendition of their She Sells Sanctuary classic, during which the crowd finally seemed to grasp the meaning of the word "moshing" (something which I would've thought was best reserved for the Electric material but still...). As was the case during the other shows of this mini-tour (whinging European fan voice), Tiger in the Sun and its accompanying video were shown as an interlude before the band hit the stage for an unexpected and superb Phoenix, before launching into Fire Womand and finishing the crowd off with possibly the best set-closer ever in the form of Love Removal Machine, which the ever-sarcastic Duffy introduced with "Now is the time to go mental". Only we didn't know if he was addressing the crowd or the band.

Gregory

I was wondering how The Cult would be after 3 times Forum and the 100 Club. I went to AB with my best friend and his wife and another very good friend. They wanted to know what brought me to go the all these The Cult gigs. We were standing next to the mixing desk. The Cult started the show at nine o'clock. The first song didn't sound quite well for me. Billy's guitar and Ian's vocals were much too loud. The mixing was getting better during the show, but Billy's guitar was for the rest of the show very loud. The audience was very quiet during the whole show, even when during She Sells Sanctuary. After She Sells Sanctuary the band went off stage and a video of the Birma was shown. I liked this idea of making people aware of what's happening in the world. The band came back on stage and played three more songs. Ian hadn't talked at all to the audience, except the thank you's. Billy introduced a few songs and it seems that he was in a good mood. I didn't see him having much troubles with the sound. After Love Removal Machine Ian introduced the band and they went off stage. The people thought The Cult was comming back again and reacted disappointed when that was not happening. My friends liked it very much, but for me it was like The Cult did want this gig to finish as soon as possible. I missed the spirit of London tonight, maybe better next time.

Hansie (Born a Rocker, Die a Rocker)

At the beginning I first tought that the venue was gonna be empty ! Show was supposed to begin at 08:00 but started at 08h45 with a full venue (2000 peoples)!

Great show, good sound ! HOT HOT HOT

Didier

Setlist:

Spirtwalker
Rain
Lil' Devil
I Assassin
Sun King
Electric Ocean
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Horse Nation
Savages
Sweet Soul Sister
Rise
Dirty Little Rockstar
Wild Flower
She Sells Sanctuary

Encore:

The Phoenix
Fire Woman
Love Removal Machine