Well, its been over 10 years since I last saw the Cult live, and they have picked up where they left off. A sensual and powerful set was played, however I would have liked to have heard some more older tunes. One glaring ommission from the set- New York City should have been included....

Vince

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I'm right next to Roseland where I work, just coming back from an amazing show at Roseland. I got a pleasant surpise around lunchtime when I saw Ian walking down Broadway, after I said hello to him, I ran back to my desk and grabbed my Love CD, I chased him down 5 blocks and asked him to sign it. He was really great and sent me off with one of his Buddist gestures which he prominetly displayed various times tonight. Also heard them on KRock trash all the garbage punk out there today.

The show itself was blistering, there's no gimmick with this band, just straight out rock n roll. They broke out all the hits. All the songs stand out. Especially Wild Flower and Rain. The Saint off the new album was increidble. Ian just flies all over the place. He's so into it, pure energy. The only dissapointment was that there was no Nirvana which is my favorite. Some bullshit curfew rule. But all in all it was a pretty good day!!!!

I saw the Cult show last night, and I can't say enough. I haven't seen them live since they opened for Metallica on the Damaged Justice tour.

All I'm gonna say is, they still ROCK. Ian sounded AWESOME. Billy's guitar sounded awesome, and the set rocked. There were alot of musicians there to see them. I got to meet Gene Simmons and Scott Ian. If anybody gets the chance, this is an old-school Hard Rock show. Well worth it.

Great Show and a better live sound than last summer's concert. I danced my ass off as they nailed most songs, except for a poor version of Edie (Ciao Baby). Ian at least has long enough hair to shake his thing a bit, as a scaringly stoic Gene Simmons looked on from the VIP area in approval. I purposly missed all opening bands so my ears would be virgin for their set.

The highlight was the closer, Love Removal Machine and Ian jumping into the crowd 3 times as we carried him on our hands. ahh, rock.

oh, and i really liked the red eye makeup on Ian. nice touch.

One of the best concerts I've ever been to.

I walked in witha nice buzz and saw Monster Magnet rip through their set. I was really impressed with the conviction and presence. I got all the way down to the front and (I swear to god) caught the pick the guitarist threw at the end of the concert (he was playing a Les Paul and had a pick taped throughout the entire show :) )

Then the Cult came on...

The Cult opened with Rise and it was on-- and the shirts came off. I was still down front and was hanging out with some hot 32 year-old who looked 21. For some reason, security kept telling her to put her shirt back on, but it didn't stop her :). The high point was probably Rain, but Fire Woman, She Sells Sanctuary, and the encore War and Love Removal Machine (with me and some other people catching Ian when he jumped into the crowd for the first of 3 times. I left there sweating and hyperventilating, but didn't get into any fights or get cut (althought my ears still hurt and I'm extremely sore), and was sandwiched between this hot, topless 32 year-old who I was grooving with the whole concert, lifting her up by her waist, and putting her on my shoulders, and the metal gate by the stage. A true, Rock N' Roll concert-- something that has been missing for too long!!!!!!!!!

Just walked through the door before Monster Magnet went on. Packed house this evening. Monster Magnet seemed to go over pretty well. Gotta give an A for effort to the singer. With a busted knee and all, he had a good rapport with the audience and was quite charismatic in his now "frontman" status. The Cult are on next and the crowd goes wild. It's shows like this that makes concerts in NYC so cool.(Much more of a response than the Toronto show. NYC loves to Rock!! Ian was really on this night. He was all over the stage and jumped in the audience three times. The set was the usual (no New York City?) from them except that they had to cut Nirvana because of the bullshit curfew laws in New York. Once the show ended the union morons formed a line holding up metal gates and moved foward in unison. This was forcing everyone out the door immediatly like cattle. What a downer from an otherwise rockin'show.

Awesome gig. LENNON was good. MONSTER MAGNET were great but THE CULT were just incredible. SO glad I finally got to see them. Dave, next to me at the front (I got bruised ribs from the barrier - ow!) had seen them nine times and it was his favorite gig. Met some great people and the security was very cool too. I managed to get some great photos. Come on over to http://www.drakeworld.org and grab what you like from The Cult section. I just got back from last night's NYC Cult show. I have never seen the Cult live even though they definitely are one of my favorite bands (they cancelled a Buffalo show, where I live, and I haven't forgiven them until lastnight for that). They were MOTHERFUCKINGGREAT!!!!! Jimmy Page Jr., I mean Billy Duffy, was amazing. As intense and great as Ian was at this show I missed most of his act because I could not take my eyes off Duffy's hands. He is one cool dude. Being a guitar player I could not get enough of him. HE JUST STOOD THERE!!!! He layed me on my ass with his guitar playing. I have never seen a guitar player hit his strings with such force as Duffy. No windmills needed, it was all in the wrist. When he did one of his famous upstrokes on the "Electric" songs I have never seen strings reverberate like his did. !INTENSE! I was right in front of Duffy the whole amazing show( I have one of his scratched up, played on picks to prove it. I didn't see him change picks or throw any out so I might have THE pick of the show!!!!!!) And to top the whole show off there were horny females everywhere (what's hotter than a cute chick who likes the Cult?) and Ian jumped on my head 3 different times during Love Removal Machine, he was bleeding from all the fingernails, to remind me he was there too. Unbelievable!! He was right in my face with his red paint on his eyes! He was yelling to everybody to pass him around the whole place, and he meant it. (That's why he landed on me 3 times, he kept on jumping off of this VIP section to try and get to the back of the audience) If it would have been possible he would have gotten passed around the whole place. My favorite songs from the show were Rain (I was getting stoned during that one.... cool blue lights!!!), Love Removal Machine, Peace Dog, Take The Power, War, Lil' Devil and The Witch (Ian was flaking on shakers and doing his Morrison dance for a long intro). But the song that is still stuck in my ringing ears was The Saint. (it's not even close to being my favorite on the new album, Ashes And Ghosts and Speed Of Light are, but I can't get it out of my head).

"CHILD, THEY WERE THE WILD ONES"

Cult Prove They're No Washed-Up Nostalgia Act At NY Show

As the Cult prepared to take the stage at Roseland Ballroom for their 2001 reunion tour, a tape playing the transcendent frog-like croaks of singing Tibetan monks wafted through the club, and meditative splashes of light were projected on a screen in front of the stage. It was the only peaceful moment of the night.

While the Cult's frontman Ian Astbury is indeed a practicing Buddhist, this was no place for preaching, and when the silhouettes of guitarists Billy Duffy and Mike Dimkich appeared against the screen as the two started chugging out the opening locomotive riff of Rise, it became clear that the only higher power that would be called to was the God of Rock. As the screen dropped to the ground and the band launched into its kinetic music, the ritual began and the crowd, which included Gene Simmons of Kiss and Scott Ian of Anthrax, surrendered to the band.

The Cult's continued appeal - a full seven years after they originally packed it in - lies in their ability to generate primal rapture through simple beats, histrionic vocals, textural guitar washes and lots of blaring volume. And when they get the recipe right, as they did for most of the set, their songs take on a spiritual vibe even without Astbury's sometimes metaphysical lyrics.

During the set, the Cult played most of their old hits and a good chunk of material from their new and heaviest record, Beyond Good and Evil. The songs blended elements of metal, hard rock, pop and goth, and refreshingly, the group avoided many of the standard clichés that tend to turn '80s rockers into parodies. Astbury entered wearing a dorky farmer's hat while Dimkich donned a cowboy hat; and Duffy, sporting short, spiky hair, looked like a Billy Idol impersonator minus the petulant sneer.

The band's second song was the somewhat obscure In The Clouds, from the box set Rare Cult, but from there, the Cult powered through some of their classics in fine form. Astbury alternately banged a tambourine against his leg, kicked the air, thrust his arms in front of his body and danced a strange jig, all the while singing powerful passages that quivered with vibrato.

Duffy's guitars cut through drummer Matt Sorum's hefty beats AC/DC-style during Peace Dog, shimmered through on Rain and built from incandescent to combustive on Fire Woman. During the ballad Edie (Ciao Baby), drummer Matt Sorum rolled his mallets on a giant gong that hung behind his kit.

Throughout the set the Cult slid new songs between their greatest hits, and while the crowd was mostly there to reminisce over their old faves, they warmly greeted the new material. Breathe featured a slithery Led Zeppelin riff, a harsh staccato rhythm and a drum'n'bass midsection. The Saint reverberated with a blend of glistening guitar and Metallica bravado. And Take The Power clanged and ground with angry, near-industrial intensity.

Are the Cult still a mighty arena rock band? Well, they sure act like it, even if they no longer have the popularity to play stadiums. Yet Astbury seems to lack the overblown ego and condescension of many mega rock stars (thanks possibly to his Buddhist beliefs). "I'm here merely to serve you. We are your servants this evening," he said before She Sells Sanctuary, the last song of the regular set.

"It's really overwhelming, honestly," he continued humbly when the Cult came back for their encore. The band ripped into the opening track from its new record, War (The Process), which rumbled with Billy Morrison's deep basslines and a surging guitar rhythm. During Duffy's crackling guitar solo, Astbury dropped to one knee and spat a mouthful of water high into the air.

He incoherently praised punk rock and criticized old-timers like Mick Jagger, then shouted, "Are you ready for 'Love Removal Machine'?" Needless to say, the crowd was, and as the Cult performed the final bars of the track, Astbury dove into the audience, having proven once again that hard rockers weaned in the '80s needn't sound dated or appear washed-up.

In many ways, opening band Monster Magnet are the polar opposite of the Cult. While Astbury is earnest, Magnet frontman Dave Wyndorf is sardonic and decadent. His songs are all about self-indulgence and mind alteration, and his image is that of a pure Jim Morrison-esque rock deity. But there's a catch: Wyndorf's big rock poses are utterly tongue-in-cheek. At their best moments, Monster Magnet are one step away from being Spinal Tap, at their worst, they descend into numbing self-parody.

Fortunately, the band can rock and groove, and on songs like "Powertrip," "Medicine" and "Doomsday," they sounded like a headswimming cross between Black Sabbath and Cream. If you could play along with their cartoonish shtick, their presentation was equally fist-pumping and knee-slapping.

Dressed in an open leather vest and black leather pants with shoestring laces at the crotch and orange flames on the legs, Wyndorf looked every bit the working-class sleazebag turned celebrity. "There is no substitute for fire! There is no substitute for water! There is no substitute for sex! And there is no substitute for rock!" he shouted like a preacher just before the band began the revving motorcycle rock riff of "Crop Circle."

Guitarist Ed Mundell, who looks too much like Iron Maiden's Dave Murray for comfort, stalked stage left while other guitarist Phil Caivano, who seemed to have a cigarette glued to his bottom lip, roamed the right half of the stage. In between was Wyndorf, legs splayed, slamming his mic stand against one of two small platforms the guitarists sometimes ascended for their solos.

While the group has mastered its garagey metal sound, the show was most interesting when Monster Magnet challenged itself with songs that brought other elements to the fray. "Heads Explode" featured a surf rock rhythm, cheesy organ and a slappy backbeat, and "Cry" bobbed on a luminescent keyboard line and a Middle Eastern hook before erupting into a three-chord stormer. The song also contained a spoken word passage reminiscent of "The End" by the Doors, for which Wyndorf eagerly hammed it up.

Monster Magnet closed the set with their biggest hit, "Space Lord," from 1998's Powertrip. Caivano started the tune on a rattly acoustic guitar, and Mundell sat at the back of the stage poised to turbo-charge the proceedings. When he finally cut in and the song swelled in a thick cloud of electric fuzz, the effect was totally climactic, even if half of the crowd remained unmoved, impatiently waiting for the Cult.

I'm not big into The Cult but I do find them listeanable and fun. Jon likes them and has been pushing the new album into the house charts lately. Anyway, so we went to Roseland and entered about mid-set of the first opening band, a metal band w/a chick singer, which I found interesting more for feministic reasons than the music.

As we are both getting old and I had no desire to be squashed for a band I wasn't crazy about, we decided to stay towards the back and found a spot right by the railing. Good, I thought, as I inspected the metal guard thing to see if it would support me, this means I probably won't be breaking my record for the "least amount of the band seen in a concert", which I believe still belongs to a Megadeth show I saw in 94, when I was again somewhere towards the back b/c of a friend who was feeling claustrophobic (I did learn my lesson though - since then, I always go to shows way before the opening band and if, well, when people push their way up front, I manage to shimmy my way through to a good spot.) So when Monster Magnet hit the stage and really impressed me w/their "old-school" ways, much to my disappointment I discovered that I couldn't really stand and hang on to the railing, as I would need both hands to pull myself up. But thanks to Chipper the Ripper, I can't hold anything w/my right hand. (Flashback: "hello cute doggie, hello" "waggy waggy pet me pet me" "oh you're so cute" "grrrr BITE!" "ouch! Dawn, you have any bandaid?") I have to say I was more impressed w/Monster Magnet than w/The Cult, mainly because I had expectations from The Cult, and Monster Magnet I do know and like, but I always thought of them as a more "modern" and even dare I say "post-modern" kind of band, not realising how guitar/riff oriented they are. I think one of the first things I noticed was that the singer had one of those pants w/metal studded crotch, which I definitely wasn't expecting. Another thing I noticed was how much Mustaine-like the blonde guitarist was, w/his classic guitar-god looks. Which made me remember Dio's new young hot babe of a guitarist, the very tall Scandinavian looking dude, whom I can't remember the name of.

But I digress, oh yes, The Cult. Observations: the drummer (Matt Sorum, I'm told) is awesome. He was always doing the little things that good drummers do, in addition to banging them out loud. The singer had a "I hate my proper new hair cut" thing going on and was under the illusion that they are a punk band, but still, he has a great voice and was mad enough to dive into the crowd repeatedly for a surf. The guitarists can play. But more importantly, they play great as a band (not a punk band). We didn't leave w/o hearing some good old advice "always question auhority, always be an individual" etc. A nice thing was to see that they seemed to really appreciate having fans and people who enjoy their music, even though, I thought the crowd was really not that much into it until towards the end, but that might be because of where we were standing.

So that's my review. Sorry I don't do boring stuff like play lists and play-by-plays.

Bye 'til Ozzfest.

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