we went to go see the cult at the grove of anaheim. we have never seen the cult live. we almost did a couple years ago at a weenie roast show but we got there late and missed the cult. i'm not a huge cult fan because i pretty much only like the singles. but i like death cult a lot and a bit of southern death cult. the shorter their name gets, the more polished mainstream rock they sound becomes. sometimes, that guitar style is too much for me. they were really young in southern death cult and the few recordings are too rough. that's why i like death cult the most out of all their incarnations. some of the songs they made during death cult went on to become the cult songs, such as "horse nation" and "a flower in the desert". i figured the show would not be chock full of the older, moody touch of goth songs that i like. i thought at best they would play several singles i like and hopefully the show wouldn't only be songs from the most recent albums, songs i'm not familiar with.

we got to the venue at a decent time and not many people were there. we could've been 2nd or 3rd row standing right in front of the singer, but chose to be right on the rails on the left side in front of the bass player. the middle section in front of the singer always gets too rowdy and we just want to have a good time and not fight with people. by the stage setup, we could tell there would be no opening band. true to western fashion, the band did not begin on time. once they came out, we were a bit shocked at how much ian astbury has let himself go. he must be going through some troubling times. their live presence was not that dynamic either. but still i'm glad i went just to say that i've seen them. they are one of the few bands on my list of groups i haven't seen yet. this year i'm crossing off a few more.

i have failed to mention thus far the tambourines. ian kept getting upset with the tambourine he was using and would kick or throw it into the audience. this happened 3 or 4 times. and then there was another 1 or 2 tambourines thrown into the audience for the hell of it. at first i thought ian was holding his tambourine incorrectly, thus his being upset with the sound. but they must also be very cheap ones to go through so many in a show like that. the audience went crazy for the tambourines, even the broken bits. when one fell in our area, everyone did a mad dive for it and twiddle thumbs would have gotten it if she had not collided heads with someone. instead of that souvenir she went home with a headache! the merchandise being sold was quite cheap so she got a wristband to make up for it. (i don't think they call them sweatbands anymore, do they?)

i didn't think i would write down the setlist but surprisingly, i knew most of the songs they played. if i didn't know the song, either ian would introduce the song or the rabid fan behind me would tell his friend the title of the song and i would note it. there was only one song i did not know the title for but quite quickly a portuguese fan site put up the setlist and links to video clips at youtube so if you're interested, check it out.

setlist:
horse nation
nirvana
spiritwalker
electric ocean
fire woman
in the clouds
the witch
wonderland
revolution
edie (ciao baby)
rain
i assassin
phoenix
rise
wild flower
love removal machine

encore:
dirty little rockstar
she sells sanctuary