St. Petersburg, Florida, Jannus Landing
Headlining, Opening Band: Bangkok Five, Strays
My voice is GONE! Outside show, about 1500 give or take a few people at this one.
I was very surprised about The BANGCOCK 5. Good energy.
But for the main course. THE CULT!
A bit of drama unfolded before the show. With every concert I go to, I try to make
getting to the front of the stage or as close to the front as possible. Get to the
show early, and usually this will happen. No problems. I found a spot with my
friends directly in front of Billy, in clear view of Ian and the rest of the band.
Great spot. The place started to fill up, it got crowded pretty quick. People
drinking all around me. Saw a lot of people from past shows, who were also around
me. It was a very good vibe. UNTIL... These drunk chicks started bugging the hell
out of me an my friends. "Oh, can we get in front of you? You are so tall, you should
let me get up there!" Hey, I am a nice guy, but when someone bugs the hell out of
you, with there boyfriend right next to them, you can SMELL THE SCAM brewing. So,
my answer was no, ive been here for awhile, thats ok, enjoy the show. So, about 10
minutes later, this chick and one of her friends, deciede to pull a full drink down my
back, in retaliation, I guess that I would not move. WOW.. I was pissed. My focus
was a bit off after this, but it was way before THE CULT got on stage. So... I had
to take myself back to the place, and it didn't take much, because once THE CULT got
onstage I totally forgot all about it!
The entire band seemed in very good spirts. Ian and Billy were both talking during
the show.
Billy suggested that he spends A LOT of time in the South Tampa area, and that he had
Thanksgiving dinner here last year. I would bet that his gf/wife or significant others
parents or even she may live in the area. Just a hunch.
Ian stated that they had been on the road for about 10 days , just going completely
bonkers! They were all going crazy!
Steven
Road trip,., the start of the trifecta of Florida CULT shows. 265 mile drive from Miami,
across Alligator Alley, up I-75 to Saint Petersburg.
The venue is Jannus Landing.
A beautiful fall evening, 70 degrees with a cool Gulf breeze, but, IMO, probably the worst
place to see a concert in North America. The place is outdoors in a courtyard, closed
businesses on one side, apartments on the other, and a garish neon sign in the back letting
you know where the Bar and Restrooms are.
Dead center at the front of the stage is a 6? diameter metal pole supporting a tent that
covers the 5 ? foot high stage. A security guy I spoke to said many performers take issue
with said pole, Pink being among the most vocal. There are two vertical lines of stage
lighting at the rear of the stage that, when turned on, are absolutely blinding to the eyes.
My bro Homer and I had the Suck-O-Meter out for the 2 opening bands who did not have the
benefit of front-stage lighting:
The Strays (think cross between Jet and The Hives); they didn't suck.
The BangCock Five, however, were terrible. 8 on the S-O-Meter. How this lot got signed,
I can't figure. They could stink under water. (But then again, the only 'good' bands I have
seen open for the CULT were Monster Magnet and Divynals.) I saw the singer of this lot
slinging a piss in the gutter across the street from the venue after the show. Classless,
talentless, and full of himself.
CULT was, as always, super.
No major sound issues to rile Billy. Spirited banter between Ian & Bill and the full-house
crowd.
No surprises in the set list except for an incredible acoustic rendering of 'Star'. Billy
teased the opening guitar line to 'Memphis Hip Shake' before launching into 'Wildflower'.
This, of course, only fueled me into pleading loudly for 'Outlaw'. 'Play Outlaw!'.
Billy spoke (almost lovingly) about the Ceremony record after playing 'Wonderland', one of
the very few times the record has been recognized by Bill or Ian in the live setting.
There were many fun bumps and smiles among the band. Billy said he wished he had Mike
Dimkich's job at $16,000 a week. Mike the Serb just grinned.
Chris attacked his bass with blam. John Tempesta is a powerhouse on the drum kit and is
as-good or better than Matt Sorum (and John doesn't have a clothing line).
Overall a spirited 95 minute set full of high octane CULT.
Homer scored a gold Billy D guitar pic, we both got a set list.
A double-shot caramel macchiato (short & dry) from Starbucks and the 265 mile fly (3 ? hours,.,
not driving fast, flying low) back to Miami with this siren in my eardrums.
Pompano Beach tonight.
Orlando Sunday night.
MadMadMike
Wow! I met up with two life long friends and Cult fans in Tampa for a weekend of golf and
a Cult Concert. Given Ian and crew are starting to get up there in age, we went in with
relatively low expecations, and were frankly blown away by how great of a show it was.
First things first, Jannus Landing is a great (if not intimate) place to see a show, we
were all of 20 feet from the stage (close to the bar which kept the beers flowing) - from
the opening riff of "Lil Devil" all the way to the final string of "She Sells Sanctuary" the
energy level was really high, and they literally ripped through all of their greatest,
seemingly non-stop. Billy Duffy is truly an amazing guitarist, and he just kills it with
the god given guitar riffs that have defined the Cult for twenty plus years. Ian's voice
has held up well, my friend even commented that "They've gotten better with age." I have
to agree, after seeing them 11 times over the past 15 years, this show ranked right up
there with a show I saw in Las Vegas in 1992 at the Bally's Hotel and Casino. That was
the best ever, this was a close second. As they've sobered up, seems they're more into
their music and they take it alot more seriously.
The stage was lean and mean, and the crowd was only sort of into the show - mainly because
the fan base of the cult is no longer of the "Mosh pit mindset" - seemed everyone enjoyed
the music, just didn't have the need to scream at the tops of ther lungs. Most people
stood around (except us, we were bouncing around), nodding their heads to the beat with
grins from ear to ear the whole time. Great show.
Darren
The Strays, very Clashy, opened the night, solid outing. (don't wear the jacket of the
band your are copying, don't be that guy) Bangkok Five, very Hivesish, continued to build
the energy of the night, the lead singer had a lot of it also. Then the boys from U to
the K busted it wide open!
Wow! Where do I begin? They came! They brought it! They hit the stage around 10:20 PM
and played into the morning. As I waited for them to appear I was bit too anxious and
when they hit the stage and ripped in to Lil' Devil then I lost my freaking mind. I
cannot piece together the set list from here. They played all the big names, small ones
and touched on all the albums, Ian laughed about 'Beyond Good' on how many people bought
it. Billy and the boys unleashed an amazing array of sound.
The outdoor venue was the perfect place to catch the spirit/energy of the band. I have
few live albums and they create some of the power they throw out but you are lacking the
total 'live' experience. My past Cult concerts were from a distance in Feb, 1992 in
Gainesville Florida on athletic fields and in Nov 27, 2001 in a large arena, so this
venue allowed you to be close to the band and this really blew my mind. I dragged a
buddy that 'kinda' knew some songs and by the end of the show he was be-bobbing along
and thus another converted to Cultdom.
Ears are still ringing. Truly a fab time had by all, even way too drunk in the evening
girl. (all concerts have one)
The Simpson - Clearwater, FLA
Upon walking into the venue in St Petersburg Flariduh, my first thought was "Whadda dump".
MMMike's description of the venue is very accurate: I largely spent the evening holding my
hand up to cover my eyes from the multi coloured floodights directly behind the band. When
they're lit, it's virtually impossible to see anything. The sound however, was reasonably
good. No real issues there. The Witch and The Phoenix were, as always, fantastic, the crowd
ate these up. When introducing Rise, Ian asked "Does anyone here have Beyond Good and Evil?"
then pointed right at me, front and centre and said something like "Sir, yes, I know you have
it, but does anyone else here have that record?"
At one point, Ian knocked over his mic stand, it fell and nearly hit one of the security
guards over the head. The guard had his back to Ian and didn't see that, but Ian had a somewhat
joking look of "Oh fuck, did this guy's going to kill me for that" on his face.
After the show the security kicked everyone out but then left the gates to the courtyard
open, after a little while when the band came out, myself and a few others walked back in
and talked to the band for a few minutes, and no one said a thing about it then. I met Ian,
John, Chris and Mike for the third time on this tour, and Ian asked me "So where do you live
anyway?"
Actually I'm stowing away in the back of the tour bus, in that crate marked 'Don't open 'til
Christmas'
Rick/ Ho. J.
Setlist
Lil' Devil
Sweet Soul Sister
Electric Ocean
The Witch
Spiritwalker
Revolution
Rain
The Phoenix
Star
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Fire Woman
Wonderland
Peace Dog
Rise
Wild Flower
Love Removal Machine
Encore
She Sells Sanctuary