We’ve had enough of bands playing albums in their entirety. Earlier this week, prog rockers Yes played not one, not two, but three albums in their entirety at Cain Park. And last night at House of Blues, Brit alt-rockers the Cult opened their two-hour set by playing their 1987 album Electric in its entirety. Admittedly, it’s the band’s breakthrough album and the one that signified a musical shift from straight-up Goth rock to a compelling blues-metal hybrid. But every song on the album isn’t a winner. While “Wildflower” and “Love Removal Machine” are fist-raising anthems and came off great live, other tracks are forgettable and didn’t work so well live. So playing the whole album wasn’t the smartest move.
It didn’t help that singer Ian Astbury had trouble properly delivering the vocals. Astbury is a powerhouse singer whose voice so closely resembles that of Jim Morrison that the remaining members of the Doors once recruited him to fiil in for the deceased frontman. But last night, he sounded flat for most of set. Songs such as “Lil’ Devil” and “Bad Fun” didn’t have the swagger they really needed. Mid-way through the set, Astbury, who would was clad in black from head to toe and wore sunglasses for the entire show, admitted he was just getting warmed up. And he certainly started to sound better after the band took a brief break at the conclusion of Electric and returned to play the soaring “Rain.” But he couldn’t hit the right notes on “Sweet Soul Sister” and sounded best when the song only required that he stay in the lower registers. As a result, tunes like the moody, Nick Cave-like “Embers” were really quite powerful. But that was the exception rather than the norm. It’s too bad Astbury wasn’t more up to the task. The band sounded sharp and the hard-drinking capacity crowd came ready to rock. The guys just didn’t give audience members a good reason to let loose.
The psychedelic rock trio White Hills opened with a sloppy set of tunes that were completely unmemorable. Band members were more obsessed with striking a pose — singer-guitarist Dave W. regularly whipped his hair around like he was kind of supermodel posing for a fashion shoot — than playing their respective instruments.
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2013.
… who are you talking for? Who is the ‘we’ in we’ve? What makes you think it’s not the smartest move? These shows are for fans, not journo’s, fans who will decide whether it’s a good idea or not. When and how did you become the self-appointed voice to critique for the whole audience and potential audiences – oh, and the Cult were NEVER ‘Goth-Rock’ – is there even such a genre? You’re mixing personal opinions with professional journalism, in-depth knowledge with wikipedia wisdom. Ian’s voice does not so closely resemble Jim Morrison as you state, that’s not how that gig came about. Also, seeker of perfection, your editing of this article needs proof reading once more to eliminate several errors – you’re just not giving your readers a reason to engage. As for the audience letting loose? I would imagine that the vast majority are hardened Cult fans who have witnessed the best and the worst, and are not deterred by less than recording quality vocals. Let’s hope you can write better reviews than this when your career hits 30 yrs as the Cult’s has, then you can self-appoint as the voice of all. Your audience will be forged and they will stand up for your grammatical and editorial limitations – the lack of imaginative writing will be down to you to solve …
Well you are a critic and they aren’t doing it for you. People who are big fans of an artist, for the most part, really like this.
Thank you, Brian, for giving us a piece of impassioned writing to read. It’s refreshing, also, to absorb the thoughts of a writer with a command of the English language, including all of its grammatical challenges. The reviewer should take heed. The reviewer should also consider immersing himself in something other than anthems. Perhaps listen to the Faustian story narrated to us through Ian’s King Contrary Man lyrics. Or listen to the suggestive syncopated grind of Memphis Hip Shake. Or take the challenge of jumping up on stage himself, after 2 weeks on the road hitting a dozen cities and performing an endurance event of a show with hardly a break between days (yes, darling, singing is a very physical feat). What, no? Ok, then pack up your scorn and get to steppin’!
Finally, someone else mentions that Ian’s voice is not up to par these days. He cuts out half the lyrics, I am assuming because he is struggling! I am a huge fan of The Cult but even I think he should throw in the towel if his vocal cords can’t take it anymore.
I personally love the idea of bands doing whole albums. Some people have favorite songs that are not “hits” and by the band doing this we can hear the songs closest to out hearts live. I never thought Ian’s voice”closely resembled ” Jim’s , not in 30 years of listening to them both! As to the vocals. I go to a show to see a band live, in other words A band live! I, the paying fan know that they are humans that make mistakes like all of us. and can miss notes in vocal and instrumental , can forget lines( even after singing them a million times) can have a sore throat and fingers from the constant preforming, illness, or just life. to us it is part of the experience, we often talk about how “at my show he did this or said that ” When we want “proper delivery” not one flat note etc. we can go to videos, albums . Where the director, and musicians can yell cut , and redo it till everything is just right. My opinion of your review is to say that you could of yelled cut at anytime before sending this one out to the world, checked your facts and thought about how it is music fans that will read this, I for one do not expect “perfection” when I pay to see any band live. But am glad I did not have to pay to read your review
I love Ian’s vocals and I saw them last year play The Barrowlands and they put on an excellent performance, vocally and otherwise! I have not seen one bad performance from The Cult. I love the idea of them doing the Electric album and it is not only songs from that album we will hear and as Brian Astbury says ‘Who is the ‘we’ in we’ve?’ Cult fans are certainly happy about it, The Cult are on a high at the moment whether you choose to recognise it or not!
What is your definition of fan..u sound like a drive by fan only looking for the polished work..
Are you even a musical journalist?
Did you know musicians sound different at different times for to many reasons to elaborate since you by your own writing don’t get that..
Brilliant move to perform this Electric 13 tour and if u knew then I might start to consider you a fan..
Oh and the other post from Matt… You show me a singer who sounds like his recorded final work when performing Live….well that’s just boring…. Your probably the type of guy who wants a Robert Plant to keep playing Zep even though he has a current catalog never mind he never sounded like his Albums…
ill informed….clueless….bush posts and neophyte protool like journalism…
During the golden era of arena tours, REO Speedwagon promoted “Nine Lives” by performing the songs in the same order they appeared on the album.
I will be front row center in Nashville tomorrow night. You can’t miss me I’m 6’5″ and handsome as Hell. Ian Astbury is the best frontman in the Biz. This will be my 17th cult concert and 5 off them were terrible . They were booed off the stage in Indy while opening for Aerosmith in the wake of 9/11/01 but when Ian is in the zone its magical. Billy Duffy is always in the zone musically but is sometimes grumpy and disconnectred from the crowd but “hey, he’s Billy Duffy!!” Love to see that Falcon in flight. I get teary eyed for two bands in concert,.RUSH and The CULT..cant wait! If you see me at the show,say hi and I will give you a Billy Duffy guitar pick! ;D peace…dog
No pitch control at a Cult concert. I love them. Whats more idiot. Us long time Cult fans are in our late 40s early 50s. As much as we would like to mosh it up, the injuries we have from the early days of such exuberance dont permit it. Maybe you should check out a Brittany Spears concert where the vocal performance will be pretty much identical to the recording.