The Cult came on at about 9:30 and opened with Horse Nation. Pretty good opening song, it flowed well and I thought was a really good start. They started off with 3 older songs, Horse Nation followed by Rain and Nirvana. I enjoyed Nirvana as well, but I'm quite partial to the Love album. Before the next song Ian talked about Paris a little. He said the barbarians were at the door and someone from the crowd yelled "fuck you". I was thinking, what the hell, and was a bit worried that this would set the tone of the concert and not in the way we would like. Ian did take it like a pro, gave a quick comment but let it go. Lucifer was next. After Lil' Devil then they finally got to the new song, Dark Energy. I thought it was well done, though you could tell that the crowd were a little unaware of it. The crowd seemed a bit confused at first but warmed up as the song went. I was excited that we got to hear it.
I thought Gone was pretty good, they really extended it out a lot longer than it usually would be. I think it was said at previous reviews that Ian didn't curse at all through the song, which was a bit strange, but did not take away from it at all. Speaking of Ian he had a lot of banter this night. And being in a proper theatre, it was actually possible to hear pretty much everything he was saying. He talked about Paris, texting, Trudeau and the crowd. He actually went off a lot about texting. Personally, I feel there is no reason we should be texting at a concert. I do appreciate when people film things, but I don't like doing it myself as it is not the experience that I want from the show. I wonder if the band were ever to film a show and offer it up for download (nominal fee), that it may stop the filming. Even if they had a single camera from the soundboard that covered the stage, it may be enough for people to say that they have no need to film because they'll be able to get a much better version from the band. Just a thought.
They covered a lot of songs, including Wonderland which I have not heard live very often. Perhaps only once or twice before. The encore was the Phoenix and Love Removal Machine.
The new guys were pretty good. Grant had a quick chat with us after the show and expressed his interest in sticking around a while. he said he was a fan of the band. I did not speak to Damon, but he looked like he was having a good time. Interesting set with him as an addition, and it's cool to see a multi-instrument musician added to the mix.
After the show we waited to meet the band by the buses. It was damn cold, you had to be die-hard, let me tell you. Billy came out and was happy to take photos and autograph things. Ian came out much later and autographed things and just talked. About Paris, texting, cell phones, first nations, all sorts of things. He mentioned that the band spent a lot of time at the border coming North, I think he said 2 hours. He mentioned that because he's not Canadian nor American it caused delays. Apparently he was asked his religion at the border. He said he responded with "all of them". That sounds a bit intrusive in my opinion, I really hope that this is not where we're going with respect to travelling out of country. We also asked about the new album and world tour. He said they were currently booking UK/Europe now, but the events in Paris have changed the playing field. He said he did not know what would happen because of that but implied that safety was the most important thing. I almost felt that he was suggesting that the band may not leave North America to tour in 2016, but I could be reading more into it than he was saying. I hope I am wrong in that feeling.
All in all it was a good time. Met a lot of people that I see at concerts and caught up. If you're on the left coast, you should hit these shows if you can - worth it on many levels.