The Cult – In Concert {Central New York Photographer}

Wow – what a terrific show last night.  Hubby and I have been long-time fans of The Cult, specifically Ian Astbury (singer) and Billy Duffy (guitarist).  We've been listening to their music since the mid-1980's.  So when I heard they were coming to Rochester, which is only about 90 minutes from here, we decided to go.  We haven't been to a concert in over 10 years, but this is one band we would give anything to see live. 

They played at the Rochester Armory which looks like a huge castle.  This cell phone pic really doesn't do it justice, but it's all I brought cuz I figured no cameras would be allowed in.  

Once inside, it was completely open.  There were no seats.  And there were bars flanking the left and right sides.  It was quite a mix of people and age groups – ranging from young kids (say around 10 years old, maybe) with their parents to college kids and then up to our own age bracket (40-50 years old).  Everyone looked the rocker part – wearing black from head to toe, some with their bandana's tied on their bald heads, others with tattoos and piercings.  I had flashbacks to my high school and college years when I saw a few people sporting mohawks that were spiked at least 8 inches high.  LOL  So this is the view of the stage while we were waiting for them to start.  We were a bit early so it was really empty for a while.

Then the opening band came out.  I never heard of Boneyard before, but they were really great (sorry, can't find any web info on them).  I guess you'd call it southern heavy metal?  They were awesome and really got the place jumpin'.  When they were done, there was about an hour delay waiting for The Cult to come on stage.  During that time, members of Boneyard were walking around and hubby had a chance to meet and talk with the bassist.  Pretty cool.  Here's a pic of Boneyard doing their first song.  ETA:  Thanks to the commenter below, HERE is their MySpace Page.  🙂

Finally, at about 9:45 pm, The Cult arrived on stage.  Using my phone, I got some video of their opening song.  The image on the screen behind them is from their first album – Dreamstime.  Oh and the only original members were Ian and Billy.  Both totally rocked the place!!  And their new members (guitar, bass, drums) all did amazing, too.  It was probably THE BEST concert I have ever been to (and given I'm 41 years old, you can imagine I've been to more than a few).  Here's the video I shot with my blackberry storm (follow this link if the embedded version errors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_sz6ofdOe8.

The Cult played for about 45 minutes and then took a brief break (maybe 10 minutes).  They came back and played for another 45 minutes.  Featured songs included the entire set from LOVE and then some other fan favorites including Fire Woman, Wild Flower, Dirty Little Rock Star, Sun King, Electric Ocean, etc.  There was continuous video streaming behind them – it was primarily flashes of various images like colorful bodies moving, native Americans, the Berlin Wall coming down, etc.  The images really seemed to fit with the music well, albeit rather brief and flashy.  I suppose it could send some people into a fit since the images were streaming so quickly.  At one point, I wandered over to stage left and was able to see the guy running the lights and videos.  He had a couple of computers hooked up and all kinds of crazy was going on there.  LOL

So here are a bunch more videos that hubby took with his phone.  Quality isn't great, but you get the gist.  :)  Enjoy your Sunday. 

Links if embedded versions error:
Sun King – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0dJwwD6Ce4
Phoenix – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEXWelCTt1c