THE CULT
Where: The Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St., Victoria
When: Thursday, Sept. 19, 8 p.m.
Tickets: Sold out
British rockers The Cult made their Vancouver Island debut under the blazing sun at the Rock the Shores festival in 2014, atop a sprawling soccer field in Colwood.
It was a solid performance, 11 songs deep and full of the trademark push-pull interplay between singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. But the locale was off-brand for the band, given their mystical, almost noirish sensibilities — which have always been better-suited to indoor venues, preferably a smoke-filled roadhouse.
The quintet fronted by co-founders Duffy and Astbury is back for another spin through the region, albeit in a more welcoming nighttime environment at The Royal Theatre. Clearly, fans have been awaiting their return: When tickets to Thursday night’s performance went on sale in June, they lasted only 30 minutes, according to promoter MRG Live.
“We’re in a renaissance,” the 62-year-old Astbury said, during a recent interview with Italy’s Linea Rock radio station. “It’s like we set the clock. Nobody told us we could do that. That’s not in many bands’ playbooks.”
The Cult has always had few contemporaries; musically, they could be entirely of their time and somewhat out of step, even on the same album. But the mixture of classic rock riffage and roof-shaking vocals was a nod to a wide range of forbears, including The Doors (with whom Astbury performed from 2002 to 2007) and Steppenwolf (whose hit, Born to be Wild, The Cult covered in 1987). In smaller doses, their music has been compared to everyone from early-’80s U2 to goth rock icons Bauhaus.
The sheer originality of their sound has served them well over the course of their career. “There’s songs that resonate because of the essence of the song, and I feel that we play in the light and in the dark as a group,” Astbury said. “Sometimes we’re playing songs that are very popular, sometimes we’re playing songs that people don’t know. But the visceral component, the emotional component is the spirit that drives the band, the chemistry of these songs.”
Tonight’s sold-out performance will be the 10th and final stop on the Canadian leg of the band’s 8424 Tour, a title that references the 40-year run by the group. The Cult played 18 dates in Europe before landing in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ this month, and has another 25 concerts on its itinerary before the year comes to a close. Throughout the run, the band has played songs from its 11-album discography, though the bulk have come from three albums released during their zenith as a group: Love (1985), Electric (1987), and Sonic Temple (1989).
Included on the trio of albums are staples of The Cult’s setlist, She Sells Sanctuary, Love Removal Machine, Wild Flower, and Rain — a quartet of hits, issued in a four-year period, that rival any hard rock band from the era. And while Astbury and Duff have remained the only constants through years of break-ups and make-ups, the current line-up of former White Zombie drummer John Tempesta, Grammy Award-winning bassist Charlie Jones, who played with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and keyboardist Mike Mangan, who has performed with members of Black Sabbath and Guns ‘N Roses, one of the best to ever operate as The Cult, according to Astbury.
“It’s rejuvenated. And the passion — there’s so much passion in the room for this band, with us. We look at each other with passion. It’s not, like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna play this song again? Boring.’ There’s passion. It’s visceral. It’s so visceral.”
