Ian Astbury has has always been a little pretentious. He’s talented, sexy, market savvy and golden-tongued, sure, but he’s a narcissist. His performance Wednesday night with at the almost changed my mind. Almost.
After an abnormally long wait between bands in front of a well-packed house, the Cult finally took the stage and immediately exploded with “Lil’ Devil.” The crowd responded with pent-up enthusiasm. Astbury and company followed with “Honey From A Knife” and carried on with a 90 minute set that alternated classics with cuts from their new record.
After “Rain,” “Lucifer” and “Nirvana,” Astbury interjected the flow with a proclamation: “I think we’re on our way back into the world — so just fuckin’ watch out, you young people!” Everything the band had done so far led me to believe they might just pull that off with this tour, which continues across the globe through September. And then, just when I thought that the band had actually grown into Astbury’s ego, he corrected me.
“Musicians have become the valets and prostitutes of the entertainment industry,” he remarked, after bitching about promoter AEG’s need to provide carpeting for the stage — and the prima donna was back. Fortunately, the band has grown enough in both style and stature to fill Astbury’s egotistical footprints. Guitarist Billy Duffy remains one of music’s underrated hard rock players — his performance proved that he deserves guitar god status, and the rest of the band followed suit.
Through “Fire Woman,” “She Sells Sanctuary” and the closer “Love Removal Machine,” the band members showed why they’ve long been a force in rock, despite Astbury’s narcissism.
Openers Against Me! played a nonstop set of anthemic punk to warm up the crowd before the headliners. Even with the polarizing recent news about lead singer Tom Gabel’s decision to come out as transgender — he’s now Laura Jane Grace — the crowd rocked as hard as ever to every song in the band’s perfectly edgy, cathartic performance.
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Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
Tina Hagerling is a Denver photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. Check out more of her .
