6. The Cult - Finsbury Park, London 1992
In 1992, The Cult were becoming slightly unfashionable with Grunge being the the "hip new thing" happening in the music scene. After releasing a quartet of hugely successful album in the 80's, culminating in 1989's perfect stadium rock sized melodic, hard rock record, 'Sonic Temple', the band entered the next decade with album number five, 1991's 'Ceremony'. The album, although featuring some classic songs, wasn't as consistent as previous releases and although still sold well, failed to match the anticipation that preceded its release. Nevertheless, in 1992, the band were one of the biggest in the world and decided to play a mammoth outdoor show in London's Finsbury Park, home of some legendary concerts both before, and after The Cult's visit. Putting together a a great bill that included a young Pearl Jam, still touring for their huge debut, 'Ten', "Dream Pop" kings, Mercury Rev and British noise mongers, Neds Atomic Dustbin who were (god knows why) huge in the U.K. at the time. It was a snapshot of all that was hot and happening in the early 90's Rock landscape, but the day, rather inevitably, was all about The Cult. Opening with the unmistakable, 'She Sells Sanctuary', the band, together with a huge, elaborate light show, burst onto the stage and the energy was high. Frontman, Ian Astbury, did not stop bounding around the stage for the whole fifteen song set, all while six-stringer, Billy Duffy struck all the best guitar hero poses and cranked out the riffs and licks like it was no big deal being
that cool! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKy3058PiFU Rather tellingly, the band only played the two singles (and arguably the best tracks) from the latest record, with the remainder being from the previous four albums along with a rather good cover of The Who's, 'Young Man's Blues'. The crowd of 15,000 were treated to career defining performances of 'Sweet Soul Sister', 'Rain' and 'Fire Woman'. The Cult would never be quite as big news again but are enjoying somewhat of a resurgence and later this year are touring the world, playing the whole of their pivotal third album, 'Electric'.