London, England, Kentish Town Forum
Opening Bands: Mexicolas, Part Chimp
Having witness a great gig last night it was good to see and hear them start the set on a more lively
note with Nirvana – probably the best song to open any gig. This is the first time they have played
at the Forum – formally known as the Kentish Town and Club Club which has been a main stay of the
London gig circuit for many years and is the most northerly of the classic style converted theatres.
Holding about 2500 is it half the size of the Brixton Academy which has been their mainstay London
venue since 1986. But this venue suits The Cult down to a tee and with a 3 night stand gives them a
chance to take each night and give it a twist. Friday night we had Billy get on stage with Theatre
of Hate for the first time in 25 years which was a very significant moment for any true Cult fan and
it was a great number too – the added extra twist was seeing Ex Cult member Craig Adams playing bass
too. With another sell out night the crowd was once again well up for a good night and Ian and Billy
did not disappoint which in turn raised the level of atmosphere even more. It surprises me that they
have not chosen one of their British dates to film for live DVD as I would have to be biased enough to
say it would make for a much better live show all round to see again and again. The crowds here take
some beating when they and the boys are on the top of their game and tonight they all most certainly
were. Highlights including Billy sacking of Revolution from Friday night to give us Spiritwalker, Rise
which proves older bands can still write great music and blistering Pheonix which had been moved from
middle of the set to the encore – a much better place for it.
I’m waiting impatiently for tomorrow’s gig at the 100 Club – I think they have wanted to play here for
a while. After all this is the venue that probably started it all for them being the home to the Sex
Pistols and the whole punk movement back in the 70’s. If tonight is anything to go by there will be a
couple of hundred very lucky people (including myself) making their way home from Oxford Street tomorrow
night.
Keith H
As a very loyal Cult Fan, It hurts me say The Cult are leaving in the past too much. They only played a
couple of new songs off the new album. Was there any reason for this?
It reminded me of Greatest Hits gig with a new album on the way. I've been to 10+ Cult gigs and they seem
to play the same set list, when there is no need when they have so many great songs. And Ive notice they
never play anthing of the album The Cult, which I think is they best album to date
Adam
With a look that can only be described as tanned exasperation, it took ten songs for Billy Duffy, the
Cult’s guitarist, to air his grievances. “I don’t see how you can sit down during a rock show of this
magnitude,” he said, momentarily forgetting that he was addressing a few hundred people on a balcony in
Kentish Town and not a packed Shea Stadium.
From the stalls your sympathies lay with both sides. Live, the Cult’s unreconstructed rock noise has always
thrived on a certain amount of reciprocation. On the other hand, 23 years have elapsed since She Sells
Sanctuary, the song that completed the group’s transition from Goth-rock outsiders to Led Zeppelin’s
natural heirs. None of us is getting any younger, and the urge to sit down – especially when you’ve already
spent three hours trying to squeeze into your old Goth finery – must be hard to resist.
For a fortysomething rock star, the onset of middle age brings hard choices, and no one seemed more aware
of the fact than Ian Astbury, the Cult’s frontman. Accede to the demands of your ageing larynx by staying
in one place? Or breathlessly pace the stage in the effort to put on a show? In Lil Devil Astbury took
the former option. His long stint as Jim Morrison in a touring version of The Doors served him well here.
If you removed your spectacles Astbury’s predatory mike-stand technique was clearly the result of hours
watching footage of the young Lizard King. But the more physically the singer attempted to work the crowd,
the more his voice struggled. Spiritwalker, the group’s magnificent 1984 single, failed to take off, while
Astbury’s concerted rabble-rousing on Dirty Little Rockstar, their new single, got the better of him. As
early as the fourth song – another new tune called I, Assassin – Duffy confessed that the five musicians
on stage were being beset by “technical problems”.
And yet, for all these difficulties, there were moments of brilliance – accentuated because they often
came from unexpected corners of the group’s back catalogue.
Exhumed from that brief “postMadchester” period when all rock groups were expected to acknowledge some sort
of dance-music influence, Astbury wielded maracas in the 1992 single The Witch while his musicians turned
in a more effective version of what the Stone Roses were trying to do with their Second Coming album. Sweet
Soul Sister benefited from a sustained eruption of wah-wah guitar and a melody that shared more than a little
DNA with vintage Guns N’Roses.
Whatever the ups and downs so far, there was no screwing up their first and most enduring hit. Even with
Astbury all but hoarse from the efforts of the previous hour or so, the audience in NW5 made a good fist of
redeeming itself in the eyes of the band it had paid to see, singing every note of She Sells Sanctuary in
unison. On the balcony they finally stood up – though by this stage Duffy could scarcely conceal his desire
to occupy one of those newly vacant seats.
Pete Pahides - The Times - 3/5
Setlist:
Nirvana
Electric Ocean
Lil' Devil
I Assassin
The Witch
Savages
Spiritwalker
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Rise
Fire Woman
Dirty Little Rockstar
Wildflower
She Sells Sanctuary
Encore:
The Phoenix
Love Removal Machine