Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: ŠRC Šalata Zagreb
Concert date: 27.06.2017
Attendance: 2500
Britain’s cult heroes The Cult added some extra heat to the already sizzling concert scene among our Croatian neighbors at the start of summer. On Tuesday, June 27, they played the interesting ŠRC Šalata venue in Zagreb. Last year the band released a new album, “Hidden city”, which is still their current promo material, and on this tour they skipped Slovenia.
The organizers, LA agency, handed the warm-up duties to no fewer than two local bands. At 7:35 PM, hard rockers Hard time kicked off the night. A pretty solid set to open the show, though the venue was still fairly empty at that hour. At 8:20 PM the stage went to the younger outfit M.O.R.T. A dynamic band you could file somewhere under a mix of punk, blues and rock, they poured a lot of energy into their set and definitely deserve a pat on the back. Easy to listen to, and the crowd reacted positively to the young Zagreb guys working the room.
After M.O.R.T. came a shorter break to set the stage for the stars of the night. The Cult, who went by Death Cult when they formed way back in 1983, have 10 albums in their discography and two breakups behind them. Of the founding members, two pillars remain: the charismatic frontman Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, currently joined by drummer John Tempesta, bassist Grant Fitzpatrick and keyboardist / rhythm guitarist Damon Fox. They opened the night with two old hits, “Wild flower” and “Rain”. If you still remember The Cult’s early shows and their dynamic videos, you’d have a hard time spotting all that charisma in Ian’s current look. Hiding behind sunglasses, he’s nowhere near as energetic as in the early days, which is probably understandable after 34 years of the band’s existence. It was also clear from the start that vocally he’s no longer at the level of his best years. Still, it was extremely satisfying, actually above expectations, if we’re being honest. But the lead role was taken over by the other remaining founding member. With the signature biting tone of his Gretsch guitars, Billy Duffy held the dynamics of the whole show together and deserves all the praise. Without any over-the-top crowd-working, he delivered his part at the highest level. Ian Astbury needed about half the show to build a real symbiosis with the crowd, when he finally got properly into it, especially on the old hits “Lil´ devil”, “She sells sanctuary” and “Fire woman”. The last two albums, “Hidden city” and “Choice of weapon” (which they also presented to Slovenian fans back in 2012), aren’t bad, but the set leaned mostly on the success of the old hits, which definitely fired up an already heated crowd. The rest of the lineup fills out the current band’s sound well too, and there’s nothing to reproach them for. The die-hard fans who’ve followed the band live since the very beginning are probably more critical. Somewhere around the middle of the show we caught a comment that we’re seeing the band some 20 years too late. Probably true, but we agree more with another overheard comment: ”Very few records sound this good”. The pleasant ŠRC Šalata venue clearly gave them a quality sonic backdrop. Maybe a touch too loud, but we can’t make any bigger complaint than that. They obviously kept a certain distance, or reserve, toward photographers, as we were surprisingly isolated at the back right in the hockey boxes. Nothing unusual. They’re known for it, so something like that was to be expected.
After one encore they wrapped up their set in one hour and 40 minutes. Honestly, we wanted and expected a longer show. Still, the legendary The Cult left a positive impression, and with it hope for a nice continuation or even an upgrade. We really hope that in the future they’ll make time for Slovenians too.
text & photos: Klemen Udovč
Photo Gallery
