Amsterdam, Holland, Melkweg
Seeing the band in Holland twice in the past (in 1983 as Death Cult and in 1985), it was about time
to go to a Cult concert again. I went to the gig on Saturday alone, because no one from my friends
and relatives wanted to go with me. The show on Saturday was so good, that I decided to go to the
second concert in the Melkweg too.
This was possible because the second show on Sunday was, contrary to the first one, not sold out.
I persuaded my brother-in-law to go with me, because otherwise he would miss a legendary concert
from a legendary band.
It was a dark and rainy night in Amsterdam and as we approached the venue I wondered were all the
people were. What a difference with last night. Fortunately a lot of people were already inside and
I guess by the time The Cult started (at 9.00 p.m.) the place held about 750 people (capacity crowd
is 1000).
As the first song was 'Nirvana', which according to this website, they did not play very often on
this tour, I felt the setlist was going to be very different from the one last night. And it was.
More than half of the songs they played Sunday night they didn't play Saturday night .
From the second song onwards the crowd went wild. The band felt the great response from the audience
and reached an even further high than last night.
Ian didn't talk much, but was very concentrated on his singing. At a certain point he asked the
audience "Which of you were here last night?" Maybe 50 hands went up, and Ian continued by saying
"We're gonna do some different songs for you".
Even less hands went up a little later, when he asked "Anybody got our 94/95 album?". "The next song
is from this album", he added.
Most of the talking was done by Billy, who was in a good mood. He only had one argument with his
guitar technician all night. His mood got even better during the concert. This was the effect of the
fantastic atmosphere in the Melkweg. A spiritual atmosphere which was created by the interaction of a
great band with a great audience.
Surprisingly the last regular song was "Love Removal Machine", which was not saved for the encores.
When they returned for the encores Billy said "We're gonna do a song we never played live before. So
you are the first ….." It was the new single from the "Born into this" album.
After a powerful version of "She Sells Sanctuary" as a third and final encore the concert was over.
Ian introduced the band members and as they left the stage Billy walked to Ian's microphone and said
the final words "You were the best audience from this tour …..by far!"
What more do you want?
Maybe one thing. I wished the concert was longer. Including the interval it lasted one hour and 25
minutes. But we knew beforehand they would play 17 songs. And 17 songs of pure Cult is an experience
we will never forget.
Luuk Versluys, Zwaag, Netherlands
Yes, this Sunday the guys rocked the cold and rainy Amsterdam and the show was perfect ! I've been
waiting for this concert since 1994 when I saw the band for the last time in Italy. I picked up a
low cost flight and stayed in a cheap hotel in the city for a weekend, just to see The Cult playing
at Melkweg, a fashinating venue along a waterway in downtown.
They played live for the first time the song "Illuminated", Billy told us we were the "first" audience,
great ! It's one of my favourite songs on "Born into this" and it sounded incredibly hard-rocking. Ian's
voice was really "full" and inspirated, I also appreciated the drummer John Tempesta: he's a rythm
machine!
About the setlist, they played a lot of different songs compared to the Saturday show, I shivered when
they played 83rd Dream with the good old "Gretch" guitar, I was just 2 mt. far from Billy. Ian asked
people who has got the album "the Cult" of 94 before playing "Gone", I saw only a few hands, sigh.
During the band's rest before the encore, they projected the shots of Burma riots along with the song
"tiger in the sun", as you can find on youtube. Good choice.
I loved the audience: people of every age singing the same "old" songs and a "pogo" dance during the
last songs completed the atmosphere.
Peace,
Gabriele
Setlist:
Nirvana
Lil' Devil
Sun King
The Witch
Born into this
Fire Woman
Peace Dog
Gone
Rise
Revolution
Wild Flower
In The Clouds
Dirty Little Rockstar
Love Removal Machine
Encore:
Illuminated
83rd Dream
She Sells Sanctuary