The Cult - Main Street Armory, Nov 7/2009
Rochester, New York, Main Street Armory
I've been a fan since 1989 and this was my first Cult show. Let's just say it was different than I expected. Not better or worse, just...slightly bizarre.

Highlights for me were:

Big Neon Glitter - I get transported by the groove every time I hear it.

Love

Brother Wolf, Sister Moon - Billy stuck his tongue out (!) during the pause in the music

Hollow Man - jumped out and grabbed me much more than on the album

She Sells Sanctuary - amazing energy level from the band and the crowd

Electric Ocean - I was completely surprised they played this, especially to kick off the non-Love part of the show

Sun King - one of my personal favorite Cult tunes

The show seemed very under the radar, as the only way I knew about it was that my wife had heard about it on the radio the day of the show. Imagine if I had missed a Cult show in my own city after waiting 20 years to see them!

The result of the (non) promotion was a crowd of probably less than 1,000. The Main Street Armory is just that - a 100-year-old armory in downtown Rochester that looks like a cross between a castle and an insane asylum, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rochester_Main_Street_Armory_-_Exterior.jpg) and I got the feeling that it wasn't up to the standards of the band. Toward the end of the show, Ian asked the crowd what we thought of the place. We cheered and he replied to the effect of, "It's a very interesting place. It smells like shit downstairs." It very well could've been guano, because I actually saw a bat flying up and down one of the staircases into an unlit area beneath the venue. "Interesting" was right.

The band turned in an energetic performance, but tensions were high throughout the show. Billy yelled and gesticulated at the drummer a few times as well as at people offstage. Toward the end of the show he kicked over his mic stand in frustration. Ian ran offstage for about 30 sec during one song and mentioned later on that the band had been touring for three (?) months, and that the strains were starting to show. Seeing their frustration took me out of the experience a little, but highlighted the fact that they were real people standing up there, not simply the characters their personalities and history have built around them.

I don't know if the anger was directed at the venue management and staff, the audience, within the band, or all of the above, but it affected the performance as Ian said Love Removal Machine would be the last song of the night.

No Horse Nation and Spiritwalker. After seeing that was their encore at previous shows I am completely jealous. Dreamtime is one of my favorite albums, and it wasn't represented anywhere in the setlist I saw.

Instead, the house lights went up and I walked out, satisfied after 20 years, but wondering how my experience might've been different if I had seen them at another stop on the tour.

bthalligan
Setlist
Nirvana
Big Neon Glitter
Love
Brother Wolf; Sister Moon
Rain
The Phoenix
Hollow Man
Revolution
She Sells Sanctuary
Black Angel
Encore
Electric Ocean
Wild Flower
Sun King
Rise
Dirty Little Rock Star
Fire Woman
Love Removal Machine