Dallas, Texas, Glass Cactus
Headlining, Opening Band: Bangkok Five, Strays
Cult show in Dallas at the Glass Cactus on Oct 27th. Great Show, Great Venue. Even Ian
commented after a few songs, "Wow. Someone spent some money in this room."
First opening act was "The Strays". Pretty much just Straight-ahead rock. No frills.
Not bad, but nothing horribly memorable. Typical 3rd string opener. Next up were the
Bangkok Five. I had never heard of them, but their set was great. High energy, and lots
of fun. Band sounded tight, and they were having fun during it all. If they can keep up
all their live acts to this caliber, then they'll win over more than a few fans. Sound
was crisp.
Next up were, of course, Billy and Ian. what can I say except awesome. Billy's guitar
sounded sufficiently "fat" as he might say, although he complained of the mix being off.
Regardless, the sound was really good and it was LOUD. Very LOUD - ears were ringing for
2 days afterwards. "Electric Ocean" got everyone jumping, and the acoustic versions of
"Star" and "Edie" were akin to a religious experience. After Billy mentioned that the set
list sounded exactly like the last time they were in town, they gave "King Contrary Man"
was a nice try. When the band abruptly stopped, however, Billy said that's what they get
for trying something new and not soundchecking before the show after taking some time off.
They completely redeemed themselves with "Hollow Man", though. This was a welcome departure
from the usual set list. Ian was his usual self with his betwee-sing banter, and there
were more than just a few laughs from the crowd. Overall, a great night. They've proven
again that they can rock hard and loud and that there isn't really a bad song in their
catalogue. Everything they do live is incredible.
can't wait for the next go-round
Matt
The Cult put in a great show at a nearly brand new venue in Dallas, with a couple of rare songs
thrown into the standard setlist for good measure. Ian appeared to be having a great time, despite
the fact that his vocals were barely audible- his mic needed to be turned up about three times
louder than it was. The band did an impromptu acoustic rendition of Star. Billy commented that
it was the same setlist they had played the last time they were in Texas before launching into
(most of) King Contrary Man. ChuckSevenEagles was standing directly behind me, and when they began
that song I turned to him with a look as if to say "What the hell?", only to find him just as
puzzled as I was. It wasn't until part way through the first verse did we realise what song it was.
Two thirds of the way into the song the band stopped as Billy said "We're just going to play the
bits and pieces of the songs I still remember"?!?! They followed that song up with a great
rendition of Hollow Man, before going back to regular songs. Wonderland was most impressive, I
always thought that song was mediocre on the record, but sounds great live. Even the silly
ending ("earth god mother, he dog brother" repeated endlessly) works well live. If only they
would play more from the Ceremony record this time around, and the 1994 Black Sheep record.
I managed to score a 'guest' pass, and after the show went backstage with Chuck Seven Eagles,
"Blondie", and others to meet the band again. At the end of the night I walked away with a
setlist singed by Ian, Billy, and John Tempesta, with handwritten notes by Billy specifying
which guitars are to be used for which songs and chord changes used during the show- I'll try
to get a good photo of that and post it here shortly. Speaking of photos, there are a couple
of photos of me with Ian, Billy, and I think Chris floating around out there somewhere
Overall, a good time was had by all, and me and my recorder have several more shows on this
tour to take in.
But the god awful Bangkok Five bids fair to be the worst opening act The Cult have ever had.
Rick/ Ho. J.
Setlist
Lil' Devil
Sweet Soul Sister
Electric Ocean
Spiritwalker
Revolution
The Witch
Rain
The Phoenix
Star
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Fire Woman
King Contrary Man
Hollow Man
Wonderland
Wild Flower
Peace Dog
Rise
Love Removal Machine
Encore
She Sells Sanctuary