The Cult - Tonight Show, Jun 8/2001
Burbank, California, Tonight Show
I'm guessing most everyone saw this, or will soon. I have to say, I was nervous for them, and Ian looked a bit nervous himself, as well as the other band members. I was thinking the past few days coming up to the Tonight Show appeared how difficult it must be to come on and just do one song. I didn't like camera angles that seemed to center on tight closeups of Ian most of the time. It would have been better to show the whole band more, How they look when they play together, but I'm not a TV producer so what do I know? How do you compress the ebbs and flows of a Cult concert in one song on TV? I guess my answer is that it might not be able to be done. The Cult are not a posers with shticks ready to go. One thing that kept going through my mind during the week was, "The Cult? On the Tonight Show?" Yeah, it's great publicity for them, true. But the night before Leno had this total Britney Spears knock-off that I couldn't even watch without feeling the corporate slime begin to drip all over me. I was glad to see them on the show, but I'm wondering if it's not a good format for them? I'm waiting to see what everyone though.

Ken Creten - kcreten@hotmail.com
The Cult was on the Tonight Show which is taped delayed, but I still felt like it was as good as live! The group played Rise, which was sung with a lot of heart and soul and it sounded great, even on my 19 inch TV...lol. I hope this exposure gets them more fans and the attention they deserve....their music is positive, emotional, and strong. What else can I say? This ain't no victim rock or white trash group...they are true Rock Stars!!!!

lucky scmuk - luckyscmuk@yahoo.com


Interesting to see The Cult on television. Ian looked like he was on fire. Billy actually looked small with his Les Paul. Must be the NBC studio. The performance of Rise was excellent, and for some reason, I expected Ian to do something funny, like he did on the MTV Awards during Fire Woman back in 1989. He did something similar but didn't cop out on the vocals this time around. One song is better than none, and that's rock'n'roll for you.

Tommy MacLuckie - tmacluckie@hotmail.com
Taped the late show and was very excited to see the Cult on TV. I agree with the other viewer who said they looked nervous. They sounded great but I couldn't help the feeling that they seemed a little out of place in that type of setting. It would have been great if Jay had talked to the band about the new album and tour. I'm going to see them tonight in Sacramento and I can't wait. I have been a long time Cult fan and have seen them live 3 times.

Victor Szabo - vszabo@inreach.com
Setlist
Rise