THE CULT – MARGARET COURT ARENA – MELBOURNE

THE CULT – MARGARET COURT ARENA – MELBOURNE – 23.11.2024
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: Mary Boukouvalis

Tonight The Cult rocked Margaret Court Arena on their 8424 Australian Tour celebrating 40 years as a band. A remarkable achievement of survival as the band has been through many highs and lows, line-up changes, substance abuse, various hiatuses, music styles and yet still manage to rock on and deliver a powerful rock n roll show.

The Cult formed back in 1984 and are from Bradford, England. This British rock band emerged from the post-punk and gothic scenes of the early 80’s and evolved into an internationally famous hard rock band during the 90’s and beyond. The Cult are well-known for their ever-changing style from gothic rock, post-punk, hard rock, grunge and alt rock.

The band:
Ian Astbury – Lead Vocals, Percussion, Songwriter
Billy Duffy – Lead Guitar
John Tempesta – Drums
Charlie Jones – Bass guitar

Back in the mid-80s I was hooked from the get go when I first heard The Cult’s SHE SELLS SANCTUARY from the Love (1985) album and it’s stood the test of time, remaining a favourite song of mine. This iconic song has a bit of everything to attract fans of many music genres. It remains just as current and edgy today as it did 40 years ago with its identifiable mystical intro, huge guitar riffs and effects, Astburys haunting vocals and the drum drive that has headbangers, punks and goths rockin’ out to the same song. Amazing!

Tonight I felt I was in a time machine travelling back to my youth. Hearing The Cult deliver songs from the 80s (when I was just a teenager) was mind blowing and such a thrill. Each member of the band is a force and combined they deliver an incredibly powerful sound.

It was amazing to hear Ian Astbury’s voice, which remains as strong and powerful as it did 40 years ago. Astbury has always been a unique individual and is a bit out there with his dress code. Tonight he emerged dressed in what looked like Russian folk dance pants, bandana and loose-fitting hippie top. Astbury plays a tambourine in literally every tune and throws and kicks it about at the end of each song. He can make that tambourine sound like a rattlesnake! That tambourine certainly got a good workout tonight and Astbury gave it to a fan towards the end of the show.

It was a straight shooting rock n roll show with no stage theatrics. Just a bunch of Marshall amps and some cool stage lighting, although the spotlight remained on the mic and did not follow Astbury’s movements on stage, leaving him in darkness at times. The crowd was an interesting mix of people from goths to metalheads and everything in between.

They kick started the show with IN THE CLOUDS. Its psychedelic intro, heavy fuzz guitar riffs, thumpin drums and Astburys soaring vocals got the crowd rockin hard straight away. That led into RISE from Beyond Good and Evil (2001) with its huge power chords and vocals. A killer start to the evening with some seriously good “old skool” hard rock. WILD FLOWER from one of their most successful albums Electric (1987) followed with its AC/DC type guitar riffs and got the crowd fist punching the air and the guy in front of us playing air guitar. Next was the trippy STAR from The Cult (1994) with its stoner-like, psychedelic guitar riffs and driving drums. Following up were THE WITCH; MIRROR; WAR (The Process) and RESURRECTION JOE.

The band left the stage and two bar stools were brought out. Astbury and Duffy then appeared and did an acoustic ballad of EDIE (CIAO BABY) from Sonic Temple (1989). This song is a tribute to Andy Warhol’s muse Edie Sedgwick, using her name as a symbol to explore themes of fame, excess and self-destruction which Astbury later said was about himself and his internal struggles with fame and addiction.

The band came back out and cranked it up with the anthem-like SWEET SOUL SISTER from Sonic Temple (1989) and followed with the hard rockin LUCIFER.

Duffy is a gun guitarist and I couldn’t help notice some of the cool guitars he played tonight. The band did not interact or communicate with each other on stage and played as four individuals. They simply kept to themselves and played a strong set, however this lack of interaction unfortunately flowed out into the audience and it seemed many of the crowd struggled to connect with the music. The crowd wasn’t very lively and were waiting for that ‘special’ moment where The Cult might kick into top gear and blow the roof off. However, I felt that The Cult were stuck in 3rd gear and hadn’t quite cranked it up to the crowds level of expectation.

Thankfully, crowd favourite FIRE WOMAN finally ignited the audience and showcased Astburys soaring vocals, with the crowd finding their voice. The audience loved every minute of this song and was definitely what they had been waiting for. RAIN from Love (1985) and SPIRITWALKER followed. Hearing the thumping power of Tempesta on the skins, Duffy’s huge and edgy guitar riffs and Jones’ driving bass lines kept the crowd rockin hard. LOVE REMOVAL MACHINE from Electric was a welcoming tune to fans who had been wondering whether they were going to hear more songs from this incredible album.

Tonight The Cult played a 17-song set over an hour and a half and I noticed that they sang 12 songs from the Pure Cult (2000) greatest hits album, showcasing their older material. It would be remiss of me not to mention that some fans were a little disappointed with the set list as there were two noticeable omissions being LIL’ DEVIL and WILD HEARTED SON. We also overheard fans saying they had hoped for more songs from the Electric album and didn’t like Astbury singing a number of songs differently.

Personally, we had never seen The Cult before and went in with no preconceived expectation, absolutely loved the show and thought they played a good range of songs. Yes it could have had a bit more band interaction, but rest assure they still put on an amazing show. This show was initially scheduled to take place at the Forum Theatre and was upgraded to Margaret Court Arena due to high demand. We all have different expectations and preferences and maybe this show would have been better for some if it remained at The Forum for one or two nights.

The encore consisted of BROTHER WOLF, SISTER MOON from Love (1985). This is a beautiful song and Astbury’s storytelling vocals delivered a gorgeous, hair-raising ballad. The crowd swayed back and forth and had their phones lit up waving them like cigarette lighters along to the music.

The show concluded with the song everyone had been waiting for SHE SELLS SANCTUARY. The joy and satisfaction on everyone’s face as they sang and rocked along to this song was the highlight of the evening and left punters with a lasting memory of a great band.

Astbury remained on stage and knelt down facing the audience and prayed as the Joan Baez song La Ballata Di Sacco E Vanzetti played over the PA. A beautiful way to finish the evening.

Also a shout out to the support act tonight, Mayatrix & The Psychics (fka MOANA), who proved (as spruiked by their publicity machine) to be a spellbinding, cosmic force of nature!

SET LIST:
In The Clouds – Pure Cult (2000)
Rise – Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Wild Flower – Electric (1987)
Star – The Cult (1994)
The Witch – Pure Cult (2000)
Mirror – Under The Midnight Sun (2022)
War (The Process) – Beyond Good and Evil (2001)
Resurrection Joe – released in 1984
Edie (Ciao Baby) – Sonic Temple (1989) – acoustic ballad
Sweet Soul Sister – Sonic Temple (1989)
Lucifer – Choice of Weapon (2012)
Fire Woman – Sonic Temple (1989)
Rain – Love (1985)
Spiritwalker – Dreamtime (1984)
Love Removal Machine – Electric (1987)