Iconic Looks, Timeless Songs: The Cult’s Unforgettable Evening at Electric Brixton

November 23, 2023 rocknews

That was a special evening. The second night of Death Cult’s Brixton shows saw a packed Electric witness some incredible music, nostalgia and a fantastic rock and roll show. Tonight was part of a 12-date UK tour, which took in venues where the band played in their early days.

The Silence

The first of two support acts – The Silence – took to the stage a little after 7.30 and while the venue was still filling up. Their indie stylings with clear influence from tonight’s headliners endeared them to the audience and they left the stage to warm applause after a short and punchy set.

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Lily Refrain

After a short break, Italian artist Lily Refrain took to the stage. Stood behind a bank of mixers and beside a floor tom, she proceeded to create atmospheric sounds and beats, including from a guitar, which she expertly looped into a wall of sound. Her voice is incredible, particularly in the upper register and her striking looks only added to the spectacle.

She enthusiastically thanked the appreciative crowd – who were by now at capacity and warmed up for the band they’d all come to see.

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Death Cult 8323

It’s been forty years since Southern Death Cult gave way to The Cult, when Theatre of Hate guitarist Billy Duffy joined forces with Ian Astbury – and they’ve never looked back, dropping the ‘Death’ to become – simply – The Cult a year later.

Death Cult 8323 sees Astbury and Duffy joined by Cult bassist Charlie Jones and powerhouse drummer John Tempesta to breath new life into 40 year-old songs, as well as some Cult classics from the first two albums.

They looked fantastic, Astbury dressed head to toe in black and wearing shades, and Duffy wielding that iconic White Falcon like a true guitar god.

The 16-song set began with a bang in the form, of ’83rd Dream’ from The Cult’s debut ‘Dreamtime’. This gave way to ‘Christians’, ‘Gods Zoo’, ‘Brothers Grimm’ and ‘Ghost Dance’ – all Death Cult cuts which sounded fantastic and thrilled the heaving crowd who were jumping and singing along enthusiastically.

‘Resurrection Joe’ and ‘Horse Nation’ saw the band joined onstage by former Cult member Jamie Stewart to the surprise and delight of the audience.

The main set finished with ‘Rain’ from 1985s ‘Love’ album, and the band left the stage for a short time before returning for a spectacular encore.

Astbury – now in a Death Cult hoodie – revelled in the applause as the band launched into ‘Moya’, the oldest song (and only Southern Death Cult number) of the night before the strains of ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ rang out from Duffy’s Gretsch and the Brixton fans were treated to a belting rendition of this favourite.

We left Electric and into the cold Brixton night air knowing we had witnessed something magical.