First in line with my friend, the vivacious Nancy, at the Playroom in LA. I am front & center, Nancy at her usual post in front of Billy. Ian's hair is 1/2" long, Billy is sporting Korn looking shades, Matt is blonde & tan. Martyn has that cocky toothless grin, and Mike still hasn't taken off that cowboy hat from last tour. I knew something special was happening tonight when I saw that big white Gretsch at stage right. There is less than 200 people at the unannounced show. Zap City is the surprise opener. Most of the Hollywood celeb crowd is at the fringes of the hall, no bigger than an oversized living room (cap: 300). They had no idea of what the song was. Then came a run of hits: Lil' Devil, Sweet Soul Sister, In The Clouds (a powerful live delivery), Edie (Ciao Baby), Peace Dog and a groovy rendition of The Witch. The boys downshifted for Painted On My Heart, from the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds". Then, Ian's mood changed; almost as if he had gone into a spiritual trance, the sort of which I had not seen since the ELECTRIC tour. His eyes glazed, sweat dripping onto his trademark leather pants, the band raged into Nirvana, and followed with Rain. Someone yelled "SAINTS ARE DOWN!", and Ian coyly, almost teasingly, sang into the mike, "I AM HERE TO GET IT ON WITH YOU TODAY!" There was no other nod to their great self-titled last record, nor was there any mention of CEREMONY during the show. A new joint, Breathe was introduced, and the song rocks. I think the band waited for an extra moment after the song to feel the sparse crowd for reaction. Ian promised the new record in February. We made as much noise as 200 people possibly could in appreciation. (The poseurs sat impassively and pulled on their clove dags.) Then came Fire Woman (the only song EVERYONE knew) , and Wild Flower. She Sells Sanctuary is such an awesome song live, and the band then left, stage left; Ian imploring, "If you want us to come back, let us know!" We did. The band was back onstage in five minutes to please the Children. Nancy & I exchanged an unspoken glance of approval. The Warrior Spirit inside Ian reared itself; the band launched into Horse Nation, and Ian danced with tribal exuberance in a circle onstage, tambourine getting the hell slapped out of it. Ian said, "That was a song by a band called DEATH CULT". The tears and goose bumps came as Matt started the opening beats to Spiritwalker. Ian danced and pranced; LET THE SUN SHINE ON ME AS I SING THE LAST SONG; I WILL GIVE YOU EVEN MY BODY - SPIRITWALKER. Ian eyed the small gathering of his truest fans at his feet. (We know, WOLFCHILD, we felt it too,..,) The finale was, as Ian called it: THE LUB REMOOBAL MA-CHEEN. And we danced. Matt passed his stix, Billy tossed a handful of picks (THE CULT on one side; the logo of the Manchester City Football Club on the other). I caught one and nabbed a set list. The band seems happy and mature, excited about the Page/Crowes gigs, their headlining Summer Tour, and the impending new record. I depart for tonights gig. PEACE

MadMadMikeInLA - madmadmike@knac.com

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When the doors opened at 8:30pm there were iterally 20 people in the club, total. The opening band didnt start up till 11pm because of the low turn-out. The Cult got on stage at 11:50pm. The set list was killer. They opened with Zap City. Songs included: (an electrified version of) The Witch, In The Clouds, Fire Woman, Nirvana, Painted On My Heart, Lil' Devil, Rain, Edie (Ciao Baby), Breathe (a new song), Sweet Soul Sister, and She Sells Sanctuary. The encore was totally cut for the die hard fans. The encore set included: Horse Nation, Spiritwalker, and Love Removal Machine.

Billy Duffy had his usual stoic face through the whole gig. A few times during the encore I did catch him smiling at Ian though. Rumors were true about Ians shaved head (baldness on Ian wasn't flattering). Ian also had some new tatoos on the fore-arms. One looked like a tiger, the other looked like a dragon. I also spotted one of the ZZ top guitarists in attendance.

...peace

Went to last night's show at Scream too. Wow! Whatever tentativeness or nervousness they might have had on Monday night, were completely gone last night. I have seen the Cult roughly ten times, and this was by far the best set I have ever seen them do - full of energy and raw aggression. The only downer was that they played the exact same set as Monday night, which isn't all that bad because they played some of their best songs, as well as some rarities. Anyone who makes it to their show on the 15th with Jimmy Page and the Black Crows should be prepared to hear: Zap City (they opened with it for the past two nights), Nirvana, Lil' Devil, Edie (Ciao Baby), Painted On My Heart, Wild Flower, Peace Dog, She Sells Sanctuary, Fire Woman, Spiritwalker, The Witch, Rain, In The Clouds, Sweet Soul Sister, White and Love Removal Machine. I wish that they had played Heart Of Soul or anything from 1994's album "The Cult" (would have loved to have heard a live version of Star or Coming Down), but believe me, I'm not complaining - I had a rocking good time both nights. No one rocks out like the Cult!

Thanks for the tip. I talked to the people at the playroom around four months ago when you first posted that they may play there and never heard back. Last night's show was sweet. Small venue, good crowd (I didn't see one fight) and a long set with great old songs. The whole band was having fun, they sounded great, and ending the show with Love Removal Machine really rocked. I'm going to ditch the show at Verizon because as an opening band, it will never ad up to last nights show.

Thanks for the tip. Best 20 dollars I ever spent.

Zap City
Lil' Devil
Sweet Soul Sister
In The Clouds
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Peace Dog
The Witch
Painted On My Heart
Nirvana
Rain
Breathe
Fire Woman
Wild Flower
She Sells Sanctuary
Horse Nation
Spiritwalker
Love Removal Machine