Coney Island High, New York, New York

Last night I saw the band at Coney Island High in New York City. Ian strutted on-stage in this small club wearing black jeans, a screaming red button down collared shirt (replete with cufflinks), a huge western-style silver belt buckle, slick-back short hair, and yellow shades. Definitely a departure from the headbanger/Native Americanesque Cult regalia.

The band sounded great, and as other people reported, were tight. Ian kicked off the show by reading a passage from Alan Ginsberg's "Home" after the crowd listened to an extended play of Jack Kerouac reading some of his own work.

Ian was Ian...meaning he had the same on-stage presence (and somewhat antagonistic attitude with the crowd) he always had. His sense of humor is intact, though. He kept urging the crowd to react more, but the kind of set this band plays really doesn't lend itself to incite an audience to go nuts -- until the end, that is.

They played one Cult song: The Witch. For me, the highlights were Brother Fights, and Bodhisattva. The Barbarians closed the show with a cover of The Beatles' Helter Skelter.

If you plan on seeing this band, see them while they're still doing small club gigs. They're much better suited to that environment, and I can tell you that I had no problem getting right up to the front of the stage. Ian got right into the crowd's collective face during the gig, even sharing the microphone with some very happy audience members.

No...they're not The Cult. But they ARE worth seeing!

Mike Simonoff, NYC - sventana@aol.com