Cult - Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, 26/10/2013

  by Tony Gaughan

published: 6 / 11 / 2013

---

Article

The last time I saw the Cult was in this same legendary venue in a similarly packed out situation for the ‘Love’ tour in 1985. Tonight they showcase their 1987 third album ‘Electric’ in its original entirety. They had by the time of ‘Electric’ progressed or some may say regressed into a mainstream rock act as opposed to the indie goth outfit that they were when they propelled to greatness in the early 1980s. Ian Astbury still fronts the band with sidekick Billy Duffy on guitar. They kicked off with ‘Wild Flower’ and ‘Peace Frog’ which appeared sanitised, but, however, it became quickly apparent thankfully that there had been a soundboard problem. This was sorted by the classic ‘Li'l Devil’. The crowd seemed relieved, and Astbury, although not hitting all of the highs of previous times, managed to handle the remaining tracks with ease including single ‘Love Removal Machine’, ‘Zap City’ and closer ‘Memphis Hip Shake’. After a short break, the band resumed by playing a few of their biggest hits. They kicked off with smash hit ‘Rain’, and introduced original member Jamie Stewart as a guest on bass guitar, Thirty years prior while he could barely stand because of what Astbury described at the time as “bad medicine”, he made amends with ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ and ‘Spirit Walker’. The group also added ‘Horse Nation’ from their 1984 debut album ‘Dreamtime, and sealed the show with ‘Sun King’ from 1987’s ‘Sonic Temple’ album. The photographs that accompany this article were lent to Pennyblackmusic by Sakura at www.rockphotographer.net

Band Links:-

https://thecult.us/UTMS/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/officialcult/
https://twitter.com/officialcult

Have a Listen:-

Picture Gallery:-