What can I say, they rocked the house and the entire neighbourhood!!!!! Matt was as cool as ever, Legends each and every one of them. I was gutted though, I went with my brother and he got into the after party and I didn't!!!!!

The Cult are back and a packed Brixton Academy witnessed their homecoming. It had been a long time since the Cult last played in London but it was well worth the wait.

The support band (who's name escapes me) warmed the crowd up nicely rounding off with a brilliant version of the Beastie Boys classic Fight For Your Right To Party.

Then the real action began and the Cult kicking in with stunning versions of Rise and In The Clouds. What followed was a mix of new stuff (including Breathe, Take The Power and My Bridges Burn) and a lot of the old classics such as Lil' Devil, Edie (Ciao Baby), The Witch, Rain, Sweet Soul Sister, Wild Flower and the awesome She Sells Sanctuary which sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Ian Astbury was on fine form, dissing The Reading Festival and Travis among others and Billy Duffy is quite simply the best guitarist ever.

A fantastic show was rounded off with Spiritwalker, Nirvana and a phenomenal Love Removal Machine.

Totally amazing- cant wait till the next one. Why can't they play here more often?

Last nights gig was definitely the highlight though. 5000 loyal Cult fans in the UK's best live venue. The set list remained the same as it has on most of the US dates. Opening with Rise but we were treated to an amazing rendition of Spiritwalker during the encore at the request of Billy Duffy himself.

The only down side was the severe lack of tour merchandise. They had sold out within the first half hour so the vast majority (including myself) were left with nothing. Do you know where I can get hold of the 2001 tour t-shirts?

The Cult were on true form this evening. Once again they prooved themselves at "the stage of legends" as not simply mortals. Ian and Billy transcend all other types of music. This was simply the best time I've seen them. Seven years of pain without seeing them live seems like an eternity...but they were there, 5000 others were and so was I. Peace Dog me up!!! Rise, utter killer, in fact all the new material they pulled off really nicely. Love Removal Machine left me speechless. Just don't make it such a long wait next time, come back next year please!!

The gig was great fun. As good as the Sonic Temple Tour gigs in the old times. The crowd went crazy. The new songs were great. Lets hope they continue that way. Excellent stuff!

Sometimes absence really does make the heart grow fonder. That statement couldn’t be truer of the Cult. It may only be seven years since their split (Did singer Ian Astbury break a mirror sometime in ’94?) but for all the inane rock rubbish that the major labels have thrown our way of late, it feels like a lot longer. Maybe it was all a question of timing. Blues inspired riffing and glam rock theatrics, the two mightiest weapons in the Cult’s arsenal are all the rage again and with hindsight we can see how sterile the music world became back in the nineties when compared to the kind of power chord delivered orgasm that eighties greats such as the Cult dealt in.

The band’s return may be tinged with nostalgia, but the Cult feel far more relevant than they did as recently as 1994. Not only have they delivered possibly their finest LP in 'Beyond Good and Evil', but in our highly dictatorial society, Ian Astbury's obsession with personal freedom and cultural unification (As best exemplified by his views on the plight of the native American Indians) still rings a chord with a continually misplaced majority. Tonight's crowd are determined to give themselves whole to the rock and roll dream- Bikers, Head bangers, Punks, Skate kids, 'Morticia' Goths (Nope, none of your New Rock booted, multi-pierced dreadlocked cyber Goth rubbish here!). Name your favourite alternative youth movement of the last twenty years and it’s a dead cert that they're here tonight.

Past Cult support bands have been a cultural pot-pourri, ranging from Asian Dub Foundation to the Mission. Tonight the band plays to a contemporary audience by having Grand Theft Audio open proceedings. Linkin Park and Co are the obvious name checks, but listen closely and you’ll hear some fine moments that would do Faith No More proud. The Audio bods even throw in a cover of the Beastie Boys' 'Fight For Your Right' - See, told you there was no halting this eighties revival!

As both the heat and the anticipation rise, A shrouding drape falls above the stage and it’s like the last seven years never happened, as the Cult launch into the grinding 'Rise'. Forget your memories, the band are every bit as great as we dreamed them to be. Given Astbury's tendency towards strange stage outfits, very rarely does he shock, but the prospect of seeing a fur clad Eskimo grooving beside guitarist Billy Duffy is quite a sight- until we deduce that peeking below the hood are none other than Astbury’s chiselled features. If the audience is hot, Ian must be roasting alive!

The Cult’s career was built on classic singles, and unlike many of their peers, the band pay heed to their fans' favourites- Check out the bluesy wail of ‘L’il Devil’ or the stadium chant of 'Peace Dog'. Ian duly apologises for the band’s hiatus and launches a tirade of abuse against the current heroes of the charts- all "Nice haircuts and Clarke’s shoes" (Liam, Noel?) reminding us that unlike some, he hasn’t forgotten how to rock. In fact with all the obscenities flying from the stage, you’d think that Ian was trying to beat the world record for saying the word ‘fuck’! The band has arrived fresh from a show at the Reading Festival and Astbury is scathing of both the event and its organisers Carling. Although he must have made one new friend as 'Bridges Burning' is dedicated to none other than Marilyn Manson!

Coat removed, Ian is soaked in sweat. In fact, a wet patch by his groin makes you wonder if hasn’t had an accident whilst diving about the stage! Tonight’s track list is well chosen, power house giants such as ‘Rain’ and ‘Sweet Soul Sister ’sitting comfortably against the already classic sounds of ‘Beyond Good and Evil’. It’s lucky for the band that their repertoire can carry itself with such force, as the weekend’s festival appearance has obviously drained all concerned. Astbury can still whip up a crowd in a fashion to make Michael Hutchence envious, but at key points he’s more than happy to let the crowd carry the chorus (and verse) of most tracks. Billy also content to let the duo’s army of session players create a visual spectacle as he concentrates of his legendary low slung riffing.

The band wisely ignore the stripped down sounds of their ‘94 self titled LP, although the club friendly sounds of ‘The Witch’ make a grungy low-tech appearance. Ian even begins the track with a small homage to Pete Murphy and Bauhaus- "The bats have fled the bell tower, the victims have been bled...".

We may be assembled in the Brixton Academy, but in their heads the Cult are playing Madison Square Gardens, as testified by renditions of 'Fire Woman', 'Wild Flower' and of course 'She Sells Sanctuary' which make the masses forget just how sweaty their pants are and rock like there’s no tomorrow. The lights dim before the obligatory encore of ‘The Spirit’. Ian dedicates the next song to Alan McGee, who according to the big A is a major torchbearer for British Rock and Roll. This is of course the same Alan McGee who discovered Oasis; the band Ian so viciously defaced earlier- Go figure! Still, the track in question is ‘Nirvana’ and he could have dedicated it to Tony Blair and the crowd wouldn't have complained.

"Do you want to hear 'Spiritwalker'?" Asks Billy Duffy like a member of the dirty Mac brigade enticing us with candy. Of course they oblige but we are warned that drummer Matt Sorum might have trouble remembering the correct beats- all those years in Guns N Roses must have severely fried his brain! Astbury begins to mutter about Nagasaki and Coca Cola and a wave of excitement ripples across the crowd as those gathered prepare to be treated to Southern Death Cult oldie 'Moya'.

SDC have already been evoked once tonight when Ian recalled his first experiences at the Brixton Academy, when as support to the Clash, the band had been dropped at the last minute. "Are you ready?" He gasps, and to everybody's disappointment the band instead perform 'Love Removal Machine'. Oh well, can’t really complain can we? Ian partakes in a spot of crowd surfing and loses most of his undergarments, whilst the spotlight doesn’t quite capture Billy’s guitar solo. They could have played more, but it’s doubtful that the sweltering crowd could have withstood the experience. If there was any foe tonight it wasn’t the corporate greed Ian Astbury hates with such intent; it was the soaring temperatures of Mother Nature herself. And whilst such heat meant that both band and audience were totally drained by the close of events, the enthusiasm of both made the show a classic night to remember. Rock and Roll- Don’t you just love it?

Setlist:

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