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By Tracey L.
Buffalo NY-A sold-out crowd overflowed the perimeter of the Town Ballroom, which by all accounts made one feel like a soggy rice krispie floating amongst other drunk and obnoxious flakes in a giant blackened cereal bowl. Being well aware of the little trick used by clubs where you’re forced to wait in excess of two hours for the show to start (with no opening band) leaving you little else to do but drink… Excessively... it seemed many attendees fell right into this trap, myself included.
But, I digress.
Okay, so there I stood, with 700+ others, awaiting Ian Astbury & Co. to take the stage. Now I realize it’s not 1987 anymore, but I was in utter shock as the once charismatic, raven-haired, leather clad front man of the Cult walked on stage looking more like the scruffy mechanic that had serviced my car earlier in the day. However, once the band broke into song, the clouds parted and a beam of light shone upon the stage. Dipping far into their early repertoire, the set included “SpiritWalker”, “Rain”, “Revolution”, ”Brother Wolf, Sister Moon” and “The Witch.” A few obscure picks were thrown in as well; “Gone” from the self-titled Cult record (you know the one with the weird goat on the cover) and of all the great tunes off of Ceremony, “Wonderland, ” was the chosen song. I would much rather have heard “If”, “Fult Tilt ” or “Heart of Soul.”
Among the more well-known songs were “Lil’ Devil”, “Sweet Soul Sister”, “Peace Dog” and “Wildflower.” Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy performed “Edie, Ciao Baby” in majestic acoustic fashion and can be counted as one the high points of the show, as was “Love Removal Machine” that was fittingly saved for the encore.
Blame it on some minor feedback problems that plagued Astbury’s delivery here and there, but he did not engage in much dialogue with the fans, and the set seemed to fly by in contrast to the long wait that preceded it. As I sit here ashamed to admit that this was my first time seeing one of my beloved bands live, having nothing to compare it to, I guess I was expecting a bit more in the audience interaction department and in the way of the Duffy/Astbury persona, which may well have been just a false idea that was planted in my head from back in the day, courtesy of MTV.
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The tour is being termed “Return to the Wild,” and though I’m not exactly sold on that, given the band’s lack of stage presence and the apparent retirement of Ian’s bombastic swagger, I will say this: for a band that has been out of the spotlight for well over a decade, they proved to a sold-out crowd on a Tuesday night that to get to the heart of soul you need to bleed a little while you’re singing. I didn’t see any blood however, with any luck maybe the Cult can stay together long enough to recapture the magic and deliver “Electric the Sequel” or “Sonic Temple II.” And oh yeah one last thing, “Damn, I miss the 80’s”! |
