Warfield, San Francisco, CA
I was at one of the Cults last shows last year up in San
Francisco. Feb 17th at the Warfield. It was really a great show because the
Warfield is a small venue
with great acoustics and basically a cozy and friendly atmosphere. Well it
didn't take long for the Cult to change that around. I happened upon this
show by accident actually, just walking around Market street when I noticed
that The Cult was going to be there the following week. So I returned to
Frisco the next week only to find out that the show was sold out. But the
front booth said they were going to be selling extra tickets at 6:00 pm.
So I was in line at about 1:00 pm and I was second in line and we had about
500 people in line behind us. Turns out that they were only selling 15 pairs
of tickets. so I felt I felt I really lucked out. Especially when I got
inside and found my place at the edge of the stage. The Warfield is
definitely one of the best places to see the Cult. The show was great, and I
and I'm sure everyone there that night could still feel Ian's pain when he
sang about Edie. After asking "Why did you kiss the world goodbye" he
screamed to her
"Fuck You" and the whole place just kinda fell silent as if in disbelief.
SP - BettOrNot@aol.com
After standing for a God awful long time, the lights went out and the drum
intro for Nirvana started playing. When the guitar kicked in, a single
light was on Billy Duffy in black leather jacket. Right before the vocals,
Ian runs out on stage dressed in a Ford car mechanic's outfile with the
name 'Ian' written in an oval patch on the upper left of his chest. After
Nirvana, they played Lil' Devil and then Spiritwalker
(just like the Live at the Marquee show). Ian was also wearing a large nose
ring in his left nostril. Before Black Sun off the album: The Cult,
Ian told a story about how the song as inspired: When he was a teenager in
high school, he used to get the shit beat out of him by older kids because
of his eccentric attitude and his blue hair.
Before Edie, Ian told a story about how Rolling Stone magazine had printed
a good review of the Sonic Temple album, but that Edie was a poor attempt
at an introspective song. That is the reason, he said, that they always play
it at every show. Also during Edie, Ian was off stage singing part of it to
his wife and kid.
Amid all the crys between songs for 'Southern Death Cult', some guy at the
front of the stage was screeming to Ian: 'Indian! Indian! Indian!'. Ian
turns his head, looks down, smiles at him, and says: 'Play Indian? Oh no no-
far too depressing.'
After the last song, Ian said to the crowd: 'If you want to hear our music,
you've got to let us know' and then they all walked off stage. When they came
back, there was a blue light shinning through the middle of the stage. The
intro guitar strings started when then drums kicked in, Ian stood in the blue
light, spread his legs, bent his head back, and sprayed water straight up
in the air. In the blue light, this looked really impressive.
During the show, they played some song I had never heard before, and I own
all their published work. They didn't say what the song was called.
Overall, it was a very good show: at the Warfield it was very upclose and
personal.
memnoch@vnet.ibm.com
At this show my friend (and drummer) and I fought our way to the front of the
stage. I was carried away by the current of raving mad fans (this was one of
the best shows I've seen) but my friend was able to stick it out up front.
Towards the end of the show Ian was flirting with the girl next to my friend
and during the bridge of fire woman Ian got down on his knees and was
interacting with the crowd (and this girl) right in front of my friend, but
when Ian bent over to give her a peck on the cheek his suade leather pants
tore all the way along the crotch. Needless to say my friend was less than
enthusiastic about meeting "Ian" so he averted his eyes, Ian apparently found
this wildly amusing and leaned back on his hands while still down on his knees
and no more than 2 feet away from my friend. Seeing as how a perfectly hetero
man can still be curious about the endowment of a rock star my friend found
himself peeking and then laughing histerically at the joke Ian was playing on
all the girls. You see Ian was wearing black sweat pants under his leather
pants. My friend felt uncomfortable nonetheless but for his first cult concert
(and hopefully not the last) it will certainly be memorable.
Brian McClanahan - bmccl@hotmail.com
Apart from the Holy Barbarians tour (where I was fortunate enough to meet Ian and
get two autographs), the only Cult show I saw was on the self-titled album tour in
'95. I was extremely pleased that they included The Witch, Coming Down,
and Black Sun. I would have passed on happily that night if they had included
Real Grrrl, White, Heart Of Soul, and my all time favorite,
American Horse. Perhaps on an upcoming tour. I'm new to the net and very
pleased to hear The Cult are back together. The night of the Holy Barbarians
show will be unforgettable: Ian was very polite when signing the autographs, and
when I told him how much I loved American Horse, he looked at me straight
faced and said, "So, you liked that one, huh?" I was also pleased and surprised that
they included a slower, and sinister version of The Witch (the only Cult song
of the night- Ian said he felt that this was more of a Holy Barbarians song). "Feather
in his mane, showing no fear of a twisted shady fool... truth's mighty clear, forever
on and on... never break the spirit of the American Horse." Ecstatic that they're
back, Musically yours, "The Phoenix"
The Phoenix - doctoromana@Prodigy.net
I was fortunate to see the band on this tour (I discovered them late). Two things
stood out, which are connected, in a sense: Ian spoke of his childhood when he used
to be periodically assaulted for his flamboyant dress, and affection for rock and
roll, stating that he was "simply happy with my music." He said this prior to
Black Sun (a song of strengthening of character, despite abuse). Secondly,
prior to the encore (a transcendental She Sells Sanctuary), Ian encouraged
us all to "never be afraid of expressing our art" since it's a "Fucking wasteland out
there." I was, and still am, very inspired by this unique, and exceptional band, and
these two comments from Ian only serve to encourage my efforts further (my profession
is music therapy, wherein I have used songs from The Cult for lyrical analysis on
myriad occasions, e.g., American Horse to discuss Native American issues,
such as strength of individuality in the face of adversity; Black Sun to discuss
alternatives to violence in retaliation of abuse, etc.) Looking forward to their
return to Northern California, as well as all of the recorded projects due out.
"Paradise takes time!" Sincerely, "Spiritwalker"
American Horse - doctoromana@prodigy.net