Primal Scream / The Cult – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – November 15, 2015
Primal Scream and The Cult rolled through Vancouver on their West Coast co-headlining tour. The British acts both attracted a solid crowd to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to hear them recount their 3 decades of music.
Primal Scream were up first for the early arrivals, bounding on stage with their mix of indie-pop, alt-rock. Followed by the harder sounds of The Cult. Both bands sounded tight, as you’d expect of groups with this much experience under their belts. Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and The Cult’s Ian Astbury voices gave a hint to the years of singing (and possibly some audio issues with their mics) but still sounded good as they energetically worked the stage.
Giving a slightly ‘Mick Jagger-esque’ but fairly quiet presence on stage Gillespie worked hard to fill the room with energy as the audience started to fill the venue, drawing more of the fans lingering in the lobby. The band’s set showcased the range of musical styles they’ve experimented with since their early-80s start.
Astbury’s stage presence was a slightly more erratic state. Seemingly distracted with fixing his setlists and other things underfoot, his random chatter ranged from an introduction in French to political musings to sarcastic outbursts. Co-songwriter Billy Duffy solidly kept the bands’ sound moving throughout the set filled with The Cult classics and new music from their upcoming Hidden City album, the newer tracks suiting Astbury’s mature vocals and revealing the duo’s continued skill and keeping their audience onside.
The enthusiasm amongst the fans of both acts kept the atmosphere in the theatre boisterous as a core groups of fans gave back solid spirit, singing and cheering their onstage memories of youth.