Wow, I just got back from the House of Blues, and I must say, the Cult really rocked tonight. It was my first Cult show. I was absolutely blown away. Great setlist. Matt Sorum is an incredible drummer. Ian sounded great, although it seemed that he was reading his lyrics from the stage a few times towards the end. He didn't sound too great during Fire Woman, but it was still decent. The rest of the songs sounded amazing. I really enjoyed the show. Some songs were (in no particular order); In The Clouds, Rise, War, She Sells Sanctuary, Fire Woman, Lil' Devil, The Witch, Rain, Sweet Soul Sister, Edie (Ciao Baby), Love Removal Machine, and I am sure there were a few more. Billy was a great guitarist as well. His solos were incredible. What was going on at the end with Ian? He seemed pretty pissed at someone in the crowd. There were some real knuckleheads in the crowd tonight, but for the most part it was a good vibe. I also liked the opening band, although I can't remember their name. They were really heavy. The Cult was a little late getting on, but they made up for that with a spectacular performance. If they come to your town, GO SEE THIS SHOW. You will not be sorry. Great website by the way! Very informative!

A preternatural chill in the air on an eerie New Orleans evening in the heart of the historic French Quarter, a perfect setting for The Cult to continue their assault on America. After meeting up with Nancy and friends, I made my way to the show with two of the always charming Texas Chix and the very smooth Chris, the band's bus driver. After waiting for longer than expected, Duel Of The Fates ignited the crowd and then the boys tore into Rise, a perfect opener.

Our new-century mystical bard Ian was full of energy. Dressed in his "gangster monk" outfit, sarong, vest, and bandana, he danced and beat his tambourine as he belted out song after song, stopping only to say "Thank you." Billy looked as though he was having a great time playing as he took huge bites out of the night with his various guitars. Billy Morrison is a great addition; he adds lots of character. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves until the very last song when Ian got quite pissed that security would not let anyone mosh or crowd surf. At the end of the song he said "Very well trained, very well trained," as he saluted them military style and then slammed his tambourine down on the stage and walked off as the pieces scattered all over.

All in all it was a great show despite some sound problems with Ian's mic. Some of the stand out songs were Rise, Breathe, Nirvana, Rain, and War. Needless to say I am looking forward to the other shows.

I must say they performed well. Though Ian was anti-social with his fans, I managed to get a photo with Billy!!

Well, let me start by saying that The Cult are my absolute favorite band of all time. I have to be honest though....I've seen some GREAT Cult shows and some OK ones. Anyone who has seen them LOTS of times will most probably agree. This one was really good. Not the best I've ever seen them, but they still kicked some MAJOR ass. One word sums it up...."BLISTERING." They rocked! I have to "ditto" some of the previous comments. Ian not only got pissed at the end of the show, but seemed pissed in general. I was up front and noticed he was totally in a zone. He didn't interact with the band much...the audience a little bit. It seemed like maybe he was pissed about something before they hit the stage. Lead vocals were good. He missed a lot of lyrics (like he's done often in the past.) I'm starting to think he's just tired of singing the same old songs. Sometimes he hits every lyric, other times leaving a lot out. He was "right on" on the new songs. In fact the new stuff sounded amazing on every level. In true Cult fashion they're definitely breaking some new ground with the new material. Edie (Ciao Baby) was also exceptional. Billy is still a Rock God Superhero Guitar Player. What can you say about I guy with that much talent? After the show we were talking about Ian being so pissed, and all agreed that it added to the intensity of the show. What's a rock n roll show without a little (or a lot of attitude..and angst.) The best part of the show was definitely the end of Love Removal Machine (last song)....strobes were flashing, drums thundering, guitars whaling, people crowd surfing....total mahem, then....Ian sticking up his middle finger and slamming his tamborine to the floor. WOW! Rock n Roll is alive and well folks.

The New Orleans House Of Blues staff are secretly undercover wanna-be Nazis. Regardless, Rise was flat out awesome, and it flows like a run away freight train! The revamped In The Clouds was equally as powerful. The routine songs from there on out were tight. As always, Lil' Devil was awesome, Rain was rockin', Edie (Ciao Baby) was, for some reason, it reminded me of the time it came out - with that big brand name that was sweeping the air waves from that era - POWER BALLAD. Regardless, it's still an excellent song and Billy played the leads with a bit more of a bluesy feeling, hitting one note longer than hitting a million notes as fast as possible. Several songs he did this on, and it really makes a difference over the LP versions. The Witch was excellently groove maddening, as was Sweet Soul Sister. As triumphant as Sweet Soul Sister is with the crowd, the only song truly missing was the even mightier Sun King! The new songs were heavy and fit in with the set list quite well. By far, Rise was the best of the four they played. War was good too. Another tight and short set, very similar to 'Cult Rising''s set of fast and short tunes. Ian sounded great, although Fire Woman could be outright dropped from the set list. Fortunately, Nirvana was downright awesome. Love Removal Machine was heavy as shit and down right ROCKED. The Cult are beyond good and evil - they are here.

Caught the show at the HOB again. Band was late getting on stage, but they made up for it with a great performance. Afterwards, I got the chance to go upstairs and meet Billy and Matt, as well as get autographs on an album cover and pictures. But to my dissappointment, I wasn't able to meet Ian at all. He was extremely upset because the security was really hard on the crowd. They wouldn't allow us to have a good time, unlike the show back in 1999. So, after the show he just walked out and was immediately driven away to his hotel. But good news is that the band will be back again in July (Promotional). So keep checking for the date of the show. And if you were unable to meet Ian, just like me, keep your fingers crossed for the next time. GeGe - Gegebennett@aol.com

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1st off, the opening band was SUBZERO. No one seemed to get that right. The lead singer said to visit their website @ subzero.com and he also called the band subzero several times. As for the cult, a great show! I was only 5 rows back, elevated on steps so I had a great view. The long wait before they appeared kinda blew because the crowd was getting rowdy & you could not move an inch. Duffy seemed like he was having the time of his life the whole show and Sorum also. I really did not notice Ian pissed but he seemed like he would not interact with the crowd. He said thank you..... thank you after EVERY song & that was about it. The crowd really got into the old songs and seemed to love the new ones. For this being my first cult show in such a small venue- I do not see how I can see them in an arena now (I am spoiled!!)

New Orleans House of Blues !SOLD OUT! 05-09-01 Back-to-Back nights of THE CULT? Why? Are you nuts? Opportunity knocks, break down the freakin’ door! First time in New Orleans. We had lunch at The House of Blues, good food! We hung around before the show started, enjoyed a little bit of the sound check. Witnessed Mr. Duffy and Ian Astbury enter the club just before sound check. I complimented Ian on an awesome show the night before. He replied with a "Thank You!" :) Man I couldn’t wait! The intensity of watching your favorite band perform live is like no other feeling! I wish I could feel this way all the time! :) As before, we assured ourselves to be right in front of the stage! I mean come on, how else is there to watch a live show? This time there was a barricade with three security guards. They were betting on a rough night. In speaking with them, they stated that because of what the opening band sounded like, they expected problems. I could tell by the crowd that very few problems, if any where going to happen. Lets just get down to the point. Forget the opening band, this is a CULT review, right? :) A little longer wait than the last show. I would think these guys that set up the equipment for THE CULT would have it together by now. They do one hell of a job by the way. If it wasn’t for these guys, well you know. By 11 pm I was getting a little bit concerned. The place was packed and I was not moving. Front and Center once again to witness history in the making. Shortly after 11pm Duel Of The Fates came on! One by one they came in through the smoke! As soon as I saw Billy, I pointed directly at him. He pointed back at himself shaking his head then back at me! I guess he saw me from the night before! :) What a boost that gave me! :) I felt so apart of what they were doing on stage! THE CULT are such a tight band to witness live, I just wish I could see every date of the tour! This would be the last time I would see THE CULT until they come to the South Eastern part of the Country. This was a damn good show! Even though Ian was pretty pissed about the security guards doing their job. Ian saw that people were taking pictures, but picture taking is prohibited inside the HOUSE OF BLUES. Plus they were kicking people out that were being too rowdy. Ian saw this and didn’t like it one bit. He mouthed something to the security guard that was directly in front of him. Called him a little boy, he was pissed. So pissed that at the end of the show instead of tossing his tambourine out to the audience, he smashed it on the ground. The show was great! All the same songs from the night before. It felt like I was reliving the night before all over again! :) :) :) Waiting outside after the show, Ian obviously didn’t want to be bothered, he went directly into the van and left with his girlfriend Rachel. Billy Morrison was hanging around outside. He hooked up with some hottie that worked inside the club, she was a hottie too! MAN! Lucky man... Mike Dimkitch walked out by himself and looked like he was making his way back to his hotel room. The only two members left were Mr. Duffy and Matt. There were maybe 20 or so people outside waiting for autographs and a chance to meet the band. It was getting late so we all decided to walk back to the hotel room. As soon as I got to the hotel room, I didn’t want to go to sleep. So I walked back down to The House of Blues, only one block away, and it looked like others also left which was a good thing for the hard core fans! :) 20 minutes later, pay dirt! Matt walks out, and I get a picture taken with him! :) SWEET! I asked him if he remembered me from the tour in 1999, and he looked at me and said, yes I do! :) I asked him when they plan on coming to Florida. He told me, he had no idea and he was just taking it day by day! You could tell he was having a good time! :) I wish I had his job! The last one to come out was Mr. Billy Duffy. When I went back to the hotel room, I picked up a few things. A folder with the following in it, a copy of the Coloursound Cd that already had Mike Peter’s signature on it and the 7" Death Cult single God’s Zoo. Mr. Duffy was in very good sprits! You can more than likely guess what happened next! I got both the Coloursound CD and 7" Death Cult items signed by Billy and got my picture taken with him! He also answered a butt load of questions. Here were some of the questions I remember asking Billy; Favorite Show so far on this tour Baton Rouge, he mentioned that the crowd in New Orleans seemed to be a OK, that everyone seemed to be hyped up during Fire Woman and The Witch, but the Baton Rouge show was non stop! I honestly thought that the sound at the New Orleans show was a lot better. I think we might have been too close at the Baton Rouge show, but it was still GREAT! I am not complaining! No sir! How do you like the new bass player Great guy, Ian has known him since The Southern Death Cult days. While Billy was signing my Death Cult - God’s Zoo 7 in, he made the comment that Jamie Stewart designed it! I told Billy happy birthday and asked him, your 23 right? He said, yeah, again! Explanation on why both Billy’s didn’t switch sides during the shows; Not enough room. Billy seemed to be in a very good mood! :) :) :) He was smiling a lot and very jovial. I told Billy that I would do my best at the Florida shows to make sure the crowd gets more involved so that the show will be a good one! Billy’s tour manager was with him and I also asked him some questions. Florida dates? Two confirmed Orlando House of Blues - July 18 around this week!!! Miami - July 20 around this week!! Plus there are talks about a second leg of the tour for the US, but nothing is confirmed as of yet. May I just say for the record; If you live within a 2 to 4 hour drive from seeing THE CULT play live, do it! I guarantee you will have a good time! This is what its all about folks. These guys put on one hell of a show! Long live THE CULT!

Rise
In The Clouds
Lil' Devil
Peace Dog
Rain
Edie (Ciao Baby)
The Witch
Breathe
The Saint
Fire Woman
Sweet Soul Sister
Wild Flower
She Sells Sanctuary
War
Nirvana
Love Removal Machine