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THE CULT
+ Mayatrix & The Psychics
@ Hindley Street Music Hall,
Adelaide,
28th November 2024
(Live Review)

Review by Colin Reid

Photos by Elise De Simoni (@elisedphoto)

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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The Cult brought their aptly named ‘8424’ forty-year retrospective world tour to Adelaide on Thursday night.  It has been a monster of a tour starting all the way back in June of this year and culminates in Sydney next week.  All across Australia and the world they’ve been playing to full houses and Adelaide was no exception.  Long before the doors of the Hindley Street Music Hall opened there was a line-up all the way around the corner stretching up towards Light Square.  It was eight years almost to the day since The Cult concluded their 2016 tour in Adelaide at the now defunct HQ complex and people were really hungry for this gig.

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Mayatrix & The Psychics / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Support for the Australian leg of the world tour has been from Western Australian band Mayatrix & the Psychics led by Māori-Australian vocalist and guitarist Moana Mayatrix.  They look cool, Moana wears feathers in her hair and has a white stripe painted on her chin, and their dark psychedelic music swirled beneath her soaring vocals.  She has a great stage presence bordering on the theatrical as she pulls shapes and expressively uses the stage.  They went down alright with the crowd most of whom were a lot older and clearly only there for The Cult.

The packed and good-natured crowd were kept waiting a long time between bands.  The stage appeared to be ‘cleansed’ by one of the road crew conducting a smoking ritual, waiving what seemed like a giant sage burner. At last, the stage lights dimmed and the entrée music of ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ pumped through the speakers, much to the audience’s delight, ushering in a musical ‘Apocalypse Now’. Yes please!

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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The Cult take the stage.  They are dressed in minimalistic blacks, even down to singer Ian Astbury’s bandana and sweat bands.  They look good, strong and in great shape, their tattoos and muscular arms conveying a sense of power. Billy Duffy’s army style dog tags glint off the stage lights as does the neck of his Gretsch guitars.  Forty years on and the haircut may have changed but it is reassuringly special to see Billy on stage still playing either a Gretsch black or white falcon guitar with its neck raised high up and close to his face.  Some things aren’t ever meant to change, and this is one of them.

They kick off with ‘In the Clouds’. It is a relatively deep cut to begin with but hey it is their retrospective and the lyrics “Violence in the world is on the rise again Free yourself, spin away” seem particularly relevant at the moment.  Ian’s voice sounds amazing as does Billy’s guitar screaming over the top of a driving rhythm section from bassist Charlie Jones and drummer John Tempesta, whilst Ian plays a mean percussion on his tambourine.  There is no pause, and they go straight into ‘Rise’.  All around me heads are rocking, mouths moving to silently recite the lyrics.  Ian gives the briefest of interactions “Thank you Adelaide” and the crowd roars back its approval before the band goes straight into a stunning version of ‘Wild Flower’. Mouths aren’t silent this time, we are all screaming the chorus back at the band as Billy’s driving riffs and guitar solos excite us further.  What a song, what a band!  It feels so good to be part of a packed crowd experiencing this.

The gig powers on. Occasionally, Ian mixes the percussion up, swapping tambourine for maracas, counting the beat and seemingly orchestrating the crowd’s movement. Billy’s guitar continues to scream and swirl over the top of everything.  Guitars are swapped out. Multiple Falcons and even on occasion what looked like a Les Paul custom.  All the while the lighting remains harsh; this isn’t a show that requires a band logo or a background screen of ever-changing images. Nor does it rely on a light show or pyrotechnics. Rather, all energy comes from Billy’s guitars and Ian’s captivating mesmerising stage performance.  At one stage Ian steps across the photographer’s pit to acknowledge the crowd before they launch into an incredible rendition of ‘Resurrection Joe’ from their very first album ‘Dreamtime’ all the way back in 1984.

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Undoubtably one of the highlights of the set was the stripped back acoustic version of ‘Edie (ciao baby)’ delivered solely by Ian and Billy.  It was worth the price of admission and the time spent queuing around the block just for that song alone, simply incredible.  As was the masterclass that was Billy’s guitar solo during next song ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ which also featured Ian, freed from the solo dancing at his mic stand, prowling the stage and firing the audience up further.

The regular set heads towards its conclusion with a bracket of huge songs. The raw power of ‘Lucifer’ with its howling guitars followed by ‘Fire Woman’, ‘Rain’ and ‘Spiritwalker’.  If there had been anyone in the crowd who had been craving the hits, they were delivered in rock and roll spades!  After ‘Spiritwalker’ Ian addresses the crowd, “The night has gone by so fast we’ve only got one song left….Are you ready for the Love Removal Machine” and the crowd roars out once again.

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Returning after a short break they confuse the crowd slightly with the slower tempo ‘Brother Wolf, Sister Moon’ before the house is brought down with ‘She Sells Sanctuary’.  It is certainly a hair on the back of your neck stand up song, evoking so many memories and making me feel like I’m 18 again. 

The crowd is thanked, the band members acknowledged, Ian takes a reflective moment or two to speak with audience members at the front and some lucky punter even ended up with the tambourine.

They rocked really hard and gave a comprehensive acknowledgement of their back catalogue. If there was any criticism it could be that there wasn’t too much spontaneity or interaction between the band members. Perhaps the tiredness of five and a half months on the road, playing pretty much the exact same set each night was beginning to show a little.

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Follow THE CULT
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WEBSITE

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THE CULT / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Press Release 29th August 2024 (below) HERE

THE CULT
Third and final
Sydney Show

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AMNPLIFY – DB