Wednesday, 2 March 2016

The Cult 'Alive In The Hidden City' Tour 2016 Live Review O2 Institute Birmingham

I'm back! Many, many apologies for being away so long. It is no fault but my own and I have missed out a few gig reviews from the past couple of months, however I am back to review my first concert of 2016! THE CULT!

As you will know if you have read my previous reviews I have seen this band live quite a few times, this one being my third. Being bought up on the Cult classics from birth I would clearly be stupid if I ever missed the chance to see Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury live because together they are pure Rock N Roll.

Getting to the venue before the doors even opened you could already feel the buzz and excitement for this band. We had to cue all the way down the street and around the corner, the line was that long! But that didn't matter, I could battle some cold English weather to watch my favourite band live, I'm a teenager! Its what we are built to withstand.

Once in the venue I made a mad dash for the merchandise of course, I do love collecting my tour T-shirts, even though I am now getting to the point where A)I am repeating band T-shirts, but who really cares? And B) I have nowhere to store them all! (Might need to buy a new storage box?)

The HMV/O2 Institute Birmingham is a slightly small venue, personally I prefer the Wolverhampton venues such as the Civic Hall and the Wulfrun, but it was comfortable. The sound always comes across well and the atmosphere is usually jumping.

When the support band had kitted themselves out and were ready they made their way on stage at a respectable eight O'clock. The band were called Broken Hands and they are a UK band, so home grown (Finally some decent music to come out of England!) When they first came onstage I was impressed, they all definitely looked like they were a rock group but looks can be deceiving so I waited till they began to play to make my mind up about them.

Firstly I would like to congratulate the lead singer because he definitely commanded the stage from the get go and didn't hide behind his microphone stand at all. The first song I must admit was a little touch and go, might be nerves or built up adrenaline it could have gone a little smoother, but I think the more songs they played the better they got! The sound was incredible and they just fit with the mood of the evening, and I will confidently speak on behalf of the audience to say we all enjoyed what they had to offer. I will definitely be looking into these guys again to see what else they have in store.


Just above are some of their UK tour dates this April, I would highly recommend checking them out!



And next for the band we have been waiting for, for three years! The Cult! I couldn't begin to explain how excited I got when the lights went down and the screams of all the women in the room erupted when Billy Duffy hit the stage! (I know he's clearly too old for me but you got to admit that guys is Jesus with a guitar!)

Kicking off the set list with the brand new single 'Dark Energy' the crowd began to move with the heavy beat and snappy guitar chords. And of course I was totally fan girling and jumping around as if I had won the lottery! (What I get a little over excited at gigs!) 

Then next they shifted into 'Rain' and 'Wild Flower' which just made me continue to dance with my hands in the air singing every lyric as loudly as I could! I would say  apologies to the two giants standing in front of me but I wont because they didn't think of 5ft me when they parked themselves directly in my view of the stage. But seriously its not as if they couldn't see me I was wear a bright red wig! Should've worn my spiked doctor Martens then they wouldn't of stood near me.

The set list was a perfect balance between the old and the new songs and I must say it was possibly one of the best set lists I have heard by them except for the Electric tour when they played the album in full.

Finishing off the show with the Classics 'She Sells Sanctuary' 'spirit walker' 'GOAT' and Love Removal Machine the night came to a fantastic end! The only thing that could of made the encore even more spectacular was if there was a little bit of fire or smoke maybe? But I'll leave that for when I go see the mighty Rammstein at the Download Festival.





Well that is all from me, I hope you like the review and please do review if you have any comments about the show, I will be happy to read and reply. The next update will be a possible album review of Alive In The hidden City. Also the Quireboys live review from the O2 Academy Birmingham on the 26th March. Till next time...

Lissy.C

Twitter: @LissyCole1997
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