The Cult/Against Me!/The
Icarus Line - The Fillmore San Francisco, CA 5/12
By Jeffrey Easton
To open this up, I will say this was my first time shooting at the Fillmore and the history that this place carries is amazing. Just seeing the art on the wall detailing the history of the venue was mind numbing. That being said, I was here for a great show and I partially got one. Opening the show was the experimental rock group The Icarus Line. I say that as it seems as if they were “experimenting” with their sound as the show unfolded. It was a half hour of noise with lead “singer” Joe Cardamone conducting the experiment. Imagine a wall of noise, much like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music (which I like) with Joe either screaming or talking through the sludge. The crowd were not into them and they just walked off the stage. I do not know if their set was over or they just said “screw it” and left but either way the crowd cheered with boos ect. I thought they were interesting but I think I was an anomaly. Against Me! took the stage to a thunderous applause and it seems, at least for their fans, that the show was on. To me, they did not fit on this bill as their “stage attack” seemed to be more suited for the Warped Tour, not sharing the stage with a hard rock act like The Cult. The fans were into them, singing every word and feeding off the energy from the band. They were good for what they do but I was not sold as it seems to me they are lacking something. All this being said I think The Cult should have taken better bands out with them, more suited to the crowd that The Cult attracts, it would have just been a better opening band experience. So this brings up The Cult with long standing partners Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy again ready to own the stage. They come out in a blaze with the amazing Honey From A Knife from the new record Choice Of Weapon and the crowd was lit up like a fuse. I will go out on a limb and say I am glad that they played a lot from the new record as Choice Of Weapon is an amazing record, the best thing they have created since Ceremony. Along with Honey, they churned out Lucifer, For The Animals and the amazing The Wolf. The Wolf to me is a top of the Rock Radio charts bullet, just an amazing rock creation from The Cult. This being said, it seemed in places that the band lost the crowd as they chose to play album cuts like Nirvana, Spiritwalker and Embers instead of something like Edie or Wild Hearted Son. It was deathly quiet in places as Ian engaged the crowd with name drops and said “I can go on all night, I need you to work, San Francisco”. You want the fans to be into the show but you have to give them the show that they want. They drop the money to hear all of the big arena hits you cranked out, not the obscure stuff you think they want to hear. Give the audience what they want and you will not have to goad them into cheering for you. Also on that platform, your new record is great, remind the audience its out and for sale. They did perform the uber recognizable Fire Woman as well as She Sells Sanctuary and the show closer Love Removal Machine. Overall it was a good show but The Cult could have delivered harder for the fans.
The CULT’s official site
BUY Choice Of Weapon
By Jeffrey Easton
To open this up, I will say this was my first time shooting at the Fillmore and the history that this place carries is amazing. Just seeing the art on the wall detailing the history of the venue was mind numbing. That being said, I was here for a great show and I partially got one. Opening the show was the experimental rock group The Icarus Line. I say that as it seems as if they were “experimenting” with their sound as the show unfolded. It was a half hour of noise with lead “singer” Joe Cardamone conducting the experiment. Imagine a wall of noise, much like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music (which I like) with Joe either screaming or talking through the sludge. The crowd were not into them and they just walked off the stage. I do not know if their set was over or they just said “screw it” and left but either way the crowd cheered with boos ect. I thought they were interesting but I think I was an anomaly. Against Me! took the stage to a thunderous applause and it seems, at least for their fans, that the show was on. To me, they did not fit on this bill as their “stage attack” seemed to be more suited for the Warped Tour, not sharing the stage with a hard rock act like The Cult. The fans were into them, singing every word and feeding off the energy from the band. They were good for what they do but I was not sold as it seems to me they are lacking something. All this being said I think The Cult should have taken better bands out with them, more suited to the crowd that The Cult attracts, it would have just been a better opening band experience. So this brings up The Cult with long standing partners Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy again ready to own the stage. They come out in a blaze with the amazing Honey From A Knife from the new record Choice Of Weapon and the crowd was lit up like a fuse. I will go out on a limb and say I am glad that they played a lot from the new record as Choice Of Weapon is an amazing record, the best thing they have created since Ceremony. Along with Honey, they churned out Lucifer, For The Animals and the amazing The Wolf. The Wolf to me is a top of the Rock Radio charts bullet, just an amazing rock creation from The Cult. This being said, it seemed in places that the band lost the crowd as they chose to play album cuts like Nirvana, Spiritwalker and Embers instead of something like Edie or Wild Hearted Son. It was deathly quiet in places as Ian engaged the crowd with name drops and said “I can go on all night, I need you to work, San Francisco”. You want the fans to be into the show but you have to give them the show that they want. They drop the money to hear all of the big arena hits you cranked out, not the obscure stuff you think they want to hear. Give the audience what they want and you will not have to goad them into cheering for you. Also on that platform, your new record is great, remind the audience its out and for sale. They did perform the uber recognizable Fire Woman as well as She Sells Sanctuary and the show closer Love Removal Machine. Overall it was a good show but The Cult could have delivered harder for the fans.
The CULT’s official site
BUY Choice Of Weapon
