La Luna, Portland, OR
Opening Band: Big Chief
The Cult - Beauty Is On The Street Rolls Through La Luna
It's ironic that The Cult would be calling their current US tour "The
Beauty Is On The Street," because the night they played Portland, February
13, 1995, was the day after one of the worst snow storms hit the city,
dumping anywhere between seven and thirteen inches of snow, closing
many streets, causing people to abandon their cars wherever they happened to
stop, and generally causing mayhem. So why was I there? Because I didn't
want to miss the opportunity to see these guys. Before Portland, the band was
in Hawaii, so I'm sure they weren't quite prepared for what they found when
they arrived.
But amidst a variety of problems, both technical and logistical, The Cult
showed up and performed in most excellent style. One of the problems was
that Big Chief, the support act for the tour, didn't make the show. Rumors
ran from the bus simply couldn't make it to it was involved in an accident.
I contacted the band's label, but they didn't know of the problem.
But - no matter. The Cult offered to extend their show. Close to 750
people had to have shown up for the show, which was impressive in that
respect. After clearing the stage, The Cult came out and before their
first song, Ian (frontman, vocalist, and tambourine player extraordinaire)
said, "Hello, We're Big Chief," to which the crowd laughed and cheered.
Ian is a tremendous showman and fantastic vocalist. He has the stage
presence of people like Steven Tyler and Mick Jaggar. The band's live
sound is very tight and very full - their rhythm guitarist was often
playing a 12-string. The showmanship and stage presence of the band really
got everyone into the show, as the band played for well over two hours,
often asking the crowd what they wanted to hear.
Unfortunately, the only song they didn't do was Sweet Soul Sister, but
after a night of terrible driving and cold weather, getting to listen to
The Cult for over two hours was well worth the troubles.
Jeff Boerio - boerio@ichips.intel.com