Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Hampton Beach Ballroom
Headlining, Opening Band: Bangkok Five, Strays
Great show last night! Ian and Billy were focused on pumping out great songs and didn't have
much interaction with the crowd. Billy didn't speak at all. That's okay, it's just great to
hear their music sound as good as it always has. Ian did comment that the venue looked pretty
good but the dressing room didn't cut it. They came out at about 10:10pm and played for 90-95
minutes. There was a "fan" who tried to dance on stage, but security quickly escorted him off.
The youngest fan there was probably 13. It was mostly a 20s-40's crowd that stayed intense from
the first beat of Lil' Devil to the encore of She Sells Sanctuary.
The Strays and Bangkok 5 opened up. They did their best, but let's face it, we all were there
for The Cult. When Bangkok 5 was finishing their last song, the singer started to swing his
microphone around by the cord. The mike came loose and flew into the crowd, hitting the girl
in front of me in the shoulder. Ouch, that was painful. Good thing she was in front of me to
take the blow. My lucky night, I guess.
I heard a lot of the New Hampshire crowd saying they would make the trek tomorrow night to see
The Cult in Hartford. I can't wait to be there to see them for a 3rd time in 2006, after the
excellent show in Boston in May.
Joe Mama
My wife and I just got back from the show. We were in luck because we found out the CULT were
staying in our hotel. We saw Chris Wise the bassist and some of the tour staff in the bar. We
went to the the venue before the show and were able to see the CULT sound check but were not
able to meet the band. The STRAYS were very good. As for Bangkok 5 they were horrible the lead
singer was so full of himself it was disgusting. The CULT came on next and they were great-the
highlights for me were RISE, SPIRITWALKER AND OF COURSE SHE SELLS SANCTUARY. The band was tight
the only issue was Billy's guitars he was having tech issues but he fought thru them and he
sounded great. At the end of the show Billy gave the guitar tech a tongue lashing. Overall the
show was great and I cant wait till they put out a record or a DVD.
Peace
GW
Excellent Show. The whole band was at a great performance level. Best I've ever heard from Ian.
Nice to here Revolution and Rain. Even the electric ocean was good. Better than the Boston
Avalon show, but I enjoyed that show also. The Avalon was too crowded. Nice crowd in Hampton.
I took my 17 year old daughter who was not a big Cult fan and she was amazed. I bought the
compilation cd. It is excellent. Last year I went to Philly and saw Dali's lobster telephone.
Hope to see aphrodisiac jacket in the future. Thanks Ian ,Billy and the band.
Dave O
The Good:
There's nothing like having one of the all-time
greatest bands put on an ass shaking show within a
half an hour's drive from your house. I haven't seen
the boys in over five years and for the most part they
were in top form.
How do I love John Tempesta's drumming, let me count
the ways. The guy is a powerhouse. I've heard him with
Testament, White Zombie and Helmet and was/am psyched
about his addition to the band. Cult drumming is
pretty straightforward and he made the songs pulsate,
with buoyant, powerful grooves that sent most of the
people on the floor dancing an'a hopping an'a swaying.
Billy's trademark, raging swanky guitar prowess was on
prominent display and well reinforced by a competent
rhythm section which rounded out a fierce, unified
attack.
The song selection had a great momentum to it and I
was finally able to hear something from Ceremony
(Wonderland) and be treated to the vintage sound of
Spiritwalker. Maybe more from Beyond Good and Evil, my
personal favorite, but the set was swinging.
The Bad:
OK, I can't believe I'm about to drag him
over the coals but hey, Ian, SING SOME WILL YA! I
don't know if the lack of voice presence was an issue
of PA problems, age, exhaustion or a combination of
the three but Ian was lax in singing duties.
Few sounds in rock, or music in general, match the awe
inspiring call of Astbury's epic wails soaring over
Billy's crunching, sonic riffs. However, on this
night, there was none of this.
Sweet Soul Sister, She Sells Sanctuary and Fire Woman,
just to name three, were belted out by the barely
audible crowd and the only sustain coming from the
stage was from Chris Wyse. Ian's stage presence was
great and he even threw a tambourine into the audience
but, damn, I came here to hear the man belt 'em out!
What happened?
The Ugly:
Too many couples in the audience were
comprised of attractive women in my age range (mid to
late 20's) who were on dates with balding/graying men
in their late 40's. What the F was up with that? I
guess the moral of the story is that The Cult keeps us
young and vibrant.
Same set list as previous show/previous night.
Matt
I though the Cult concert would be a lot better then this, being such a big, big cult fan,
I though they looked bad, real bad, I was so disapointed, I just though that Ian looked like
crap. He was just not into it. Billy did pretty good. but I am a big Ian Astbury fan. Well
gotta go.
Danny
My hot little rocker (Kimmy) and I saw the Cult two weeks ago in Atlanta.
It was so good that we needed another Cult “fix”; so we headed up to the
New Hampshire shore for this show.
I read the other reviews and I don’t understand how anyone could criticize Ian’s
vocals or Billy’s guitars. Ian was in great form and was very much into the show.
If you’re expecting the voice you heard in the late ‘80s MTV videos, get real!
NO ONE fronts a live performance better than Ian Astbury.
He and Billy had some very nice interactive moments during the acoustic break.
The only guitar glitch was at the end of the show, during the last few bars of
She Sells Sanctuary. Like the Atlanta show, we were right next to Billy. Unlike
the Atlanta show, he was happy with the guitar tech for 95% of the show.
Kudos to the New England crowd for being totally into the show from the first note
until the last. They were MUCH more enthusiastic than the Atlanta crowd.
The Bangcock Five were in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was a hard core,
“old school” crowd who were anxious to hear the Cult.
It reminded me of a Who show at the Tangerine Bowl (Orlando) in 1981 where the
B-52s were booed and pelted with debris by fans who wanted their WHO.
The B-52s left the stage after just three songs. Joan Jett, on the other hand, was well
received. Go figure.
All I can say is “THANK YOU” to the Cult for giving us two of the best live concert
experiences we’ve had in our 51 years of hard core rockin’.
Mike
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