What can I say about this band live that already hasn’t been said a million times? They are amazing on stage 30 years after their debut.
Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy might be the most underrated British rock duo of all time, but they couldn’t care less. Touring in support of their masterful new album Choice of Weapon, The Cult reminded the sold-out crowd why they still matter—maybe even now more than ever.
Opening the show with the classic “Lil Devil,” Billy Duffy struck his signature pose holding up his beautiful Gretsch guitar while iconic frontman Ian Astbury came out dressed as unusually as any longtime fan of the band might expect. They sound better than ever and they had all the confidence in the world as San Francisco welcomed them back in fine form.
The new track “Honey From a Knife” sounds surprisingly fresh and is a true standout on the new record. Without going through every song of the set, the band pulled heavily from their early material, including several songs from the legendary Love record. They played four songs from the new release, including “The Wolf,” “For the Animals,” and what I consider their best new song, “Lucifer.”
Ian Astbury was as mysterious as ever. He would jump into short rants in between songs, but they all made sense when it came to the song to follow. It was sort of a spiritually-laced protest with a bit of cynicism thrown in to rile up the crowd. Whatever he was doing, it worked perfectly as minor interludes.
“She Sells Sanctuary” was the final song in the set list not counting the encore. As soon as the first few chords of the infamous song began, the crowd went berserk. It seemed like all of a sudden a every girl who loved this band in 1986 was suddenly drunk and dancing around wildly. The energy was enough to blow the roof off of the place.
But of course they can’t leave you on that note. Returning to the stage for a one song encore, the band came out and absolutely killed it with “Love Removal Machine”—an amazing ending to an absolutely incredible show.
I have two bits of advice for you. Number one, go see The Cult on this tour, as they will blow your mind. Number two, buy their new album and turn it up loud. It may be the best rock album we get this year.
