The Cult
21st November 2016
The Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Sarah Kidd, Photography by Doug Peters.
It’s a balmy Monday evening, and the disciples are gathering from far and wide to worship at the altar of The Cult playing a sold out show at The PowerStation.
Support band Yukon Era, a four piece “garage punk band” from Auckland’s North Shore hit the stage early to a large crowd. Young and raw, they gave it their all in support of their latest EP “Consume & Scratch”
By now the venue was quickly reaching capacity. As the lights dimmed, the air bristled with electricity – everyone waiting for the enigma that is Ian Astbury, the master of ceremonies himself to appear and lead us all on what was sure to be one hell of a journey through a back catalogue spanning over 30 years.
Clad in black, hair slicked into a tight bun and wrap around sunnies, Astbury grabbed a tambourine and prowled up to the microphone, the opening notes of ‘Wildflower’ hitting the crowd like a bolt of lightning.
Straight into the second track of the night ‘Rain’ the crowd was absolutely lapping it up. “Yeah it’s Monday – whatever – it’s weird right? Just keep drinking through the week” Astbury quipped with a sly grin.
From ‘Hinterland’ off this year’s album Hidden City through to ‘Horse Nation’ from the 1984 album Dreamtime, the band were tight, with Astbury leading the charge, challenging the crowd to keep up.
‘Honey from a Knife’, featured a heavy bass line delivered beautifully by Fitzpatrick as Astbury informed the crowd that he wrote the track after ‘cutting up his arm and running down 225 Lafayette Street while having a complete nervous meltdown’.
‘Gone’ allowed lead guitarist Billy Duffy to really take the limelight. There is something quite beautiful about watching Duffy – while he never really moved from his spot on the far right of the stage he commanded attention – his playing, flawless.
“Get cozy, because things are about to get crazy” Astbury warned as the band launched into ‘Birds of Paradise’ – an emotional track , again from the new album, that Astbury was quite obviously completely invested in.
Crowd favourites ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ and ‘Fire Woman’ closely followed by ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ threatened to take the roof off, and as the boys left the stage demands for an encore quickly echoed throughout the crowd.
After a brief exit the boys strode back onto the stage and kicked into ‘G.O.A.T’, Astbury addressing the crowd one last time before launching into the final blistering track of the night ‘Love Removal Machine’.
And with that they were gone, but as the ecstatic crowd filed out into the night – it truly did feel as if a spiritual experience was had by one and all.
Equipment: Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS, Sigma 400mm f5.6
Were you there at the Powerstation to witness this amazing show? Or have you seen The Cult somewhere else? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Set List
- Wildflower
- Rain
- Hinterland
- Horse Nation
- Lil’ Devil
- Honey from a Knife
- Gone
- Rise
- Birds of Paradise
- Deeply Ordered Chaos
- Sweet Soul Sister
- Fire Woman
- The Phoenix
- She Sells Sanctuary
- G.O.A.T
- Love Removal Machine
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