That meant the Cult had a tough act to follow in terms of crowd response, but Ian Astbury and his colleagues are experienced enough to know exactly how to whip an audience into a fervour. Astbury, in particular, oozed genuine stage presence and following his stint in the revamped Doors now echoes Jim Morrison's rock-god stylings more than ever, all shades and a fur-lined jacket, while guitarist Billy Duffy went through such a repertoire of guitar-hero poses that you imagine he drops into them offstage too, perhaps occasionally head-banging and thrusting forward while doing his shopping.
Such an adherence to rock protocol can hinder some bands, but the Cult cut such confident onstage figures it was an enjoyably rowdy gig. New album Choice of Weapon delivered a handful of tracks that mostly fitted neatly in with the past, turbo-charged likes of a terrifically grooving Nirvana and the I Wanna Be Your Dog guitar growl of The Phoenix.
Not all their material had such aggressive verve, however, with the big ballads of Embers and Life Is Better Than Death proving particularly cumbersome. Similarly, although Astbury was consistently charismatic, even his motions couldn't lift a late set lull of fairly similar, chugging rock that dragged matters down, before versions of Spiritwalker and Wild Flower proved elemental enough to restore full-on excitement.
Went to see The Cult at Glasgow Barrowlands, was really looking forward to seeing one of my favourite bands of all time. Love the new album, although looking back the clue was there, that is the unmistakable fact the Astbury's voice has gone. He struggled from the first song, at first I thought it was the sound system but then realised he had no voice. You can always tell when the singer is struggling when he only tries to sing one word from each line of the song. I was gutted, having waited for this gig and forked out over £30, felt totally ripped off, if you can't sing live then don't go on tour and pretend you can to try and re-capture lost glories. It could have been anyone trying to sing Cult songs, Astbury is unrecognisable and I feel for the band who were belting out the tunes only to have them ruined by the attempted singing. I have never left a gig before the end, but I could not wait to leave that sad excuse for a gig.