PASADENA’S CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL RETURNS IN ALL OF ITS DAZZLING GOTHIC GLORY
PASADENA’S CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL RETURNS IN ALL OF ITS DAZZLING GOTHIC GLORY
Photo Credit: Brittney Williams | The Reclusive Blogger
The SOLD-OUT festival is now in its second year and entertained a crowd of thousands of hard-core music lovers with a taste for punk, proto-punk, Goth, Industrial, Electronica, Rock, and Alternative Rock, all looking to dance the humidity away on a Saturday and depending on your age relive some teenage memories. Given the performers, it was no coincidence that this was casually referred to as the Gen X lineup. This year's electric lineup featured mostly artists and bands from the late 70s and the 80s, with some sounds from today that echo a similar hauntingly chaotic vibe. The festival is in Pasadena's Brookside Park, located south of the Rose Bowl Stadium, and showcases the best Goth/Punk/Alt culture, fashion, and music. A niche subculture that's quickly growing in the mainstream culture or media space. You guys can debate the merits or negatives of that. While fashion, with its roots in freedom of expression, was a focal point and was more than spot-on artistically and sartorially. So as much as everyone had come dressed to impress in black with fishnet, lace, leather, or mesh that perfectly accented their ensemble. Cruel World was still a music festival, and music was the hallmark of Goth culture. After the festival had to overcome two fan favorites dropping out, The Motels and Adam Ant. They continued with new additions, Squeeze, and one of last year's highlights, Berlin. Now to talk about the best of the festival and well that ending ...
Photo Credit: Pooneh Ghana
Photo Credit: Coen Rees
I'm pretty sure by now everyone has heard about what happened towards the end of the Cruel World Festival. It wasn't until the end of the festival when Iggy was playing we got word of a lighting storm headed our way, so we needed to evacuate safely, quickly, and calmly. There were many signs, including flashes of lighting and even some actual strikes (I even saw a few lightning flashes). How close was it? I'm not sure exactly, but you can never hedge a bet with something like that. It's always better to be safe than sorry. So you won't wind up dealing with potentially horrific repercussions afterward. Anyway, I am very thankful that the storm never made it and petered out. It's also worth noting that Iggy Pop still slayed even through potential danger, and I finally got to hear one of my favorite songs from childhood, The Passenger.
Many festival-goers (including other musicians and ones sharing the bill) made it known that Goth Punk icon Siouxsie Soux was who they had trekked out to the festival to see. Siouxsie was playing her first show in over fifteen years, and this would be her only show in the Americas. So when the evacuation happened that killed her set, disappointment was an absolute understatement, but Goldenvoice (the festival promoter) came through and went above and beyond by creating a second-day mini-fest with a re-do of both hers' and Iggy Pop sets, adding Gary Numan, and a DJ set from the Club Dooms' Dave. Iggy Pops' expanded second set had twelve songs closing out with tracks from his time with two epic Stooges tracks, the blistering Search and Destroy, and sleazy pop stump, I Wanna Be Your Dog. Siouxsie closed the night out in a disco lamé jumpsuit to a roaring and adoring crowd of thousands playing through her classics, solo work, and fan favorites. You can check out her entire setlist below.
Some other highlights include the soulful British Pop band ABC who got the crowd going and pumped in the mid-afternoon. Lead Singer and showman Martin Fry held a captive audience as they sang along to every word to hits like Poison Arrow, The Look of Love, and When Smokey Sings. Billy Idol's rebel rock energy brought us into the dusk with an energetic 80s Rock revival as he flexed through hits like Dancing With Myself, Flesh For Fantasy, Rebel Yell, White Wedding, his cover of the Tommy James & the Shondells classic, Mony Mony and so many more. The crowd even sang Happy Birthday to his Granddaughter, Poppy, who turned three. I was shocked at the size of the audience that came to see and hear him on the Sad Girls stage. It was massive! Billy Idol fans are still hard-core to this day, and I bet he picked up so many new ones with his Cruel World debut.
Berlin, Modern English, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Gary Numan were all clear fan favorites with packed sets and brought top-tier electronic and synth music and vibes to the festival. For me, Gary Numan stole the show with his vibrant and electric mix of avant-garde Industrial electronica. Once again, as in many of the artists mentioned before, Numan's power was in his stage presence and comfortability. He played through a mix of old and new work and, of course, played Cars, the song (or one of the songs) that inevitably changed the landscape of Electronic music. It was a treat for not only fans but anyone that's a fan of the genre or makes music within it.
Lastly, Cruel World Festival also highlighted newer artists that carried the torch of the various genres and ethos. Ela Minus is a Columbian singer whose DIY electro-punk aesthetic and synthesizer made a big splash at the festival. Then there was Riki, who brought strong vocals set against spiked bubblegum synth-wave sounds, and the duo of Boy Harsher, whose darkwave and EBM sound filled the air with a sense of foreboding as you danced. Molchat Doma, a Belarusian post-punk band whose mournful sound was another rare offering, fell in line with the tradition of the festival highlighting niche overseas bands. The high point for me out of the newer bands had to be Texas' Urban Heat their music was an electric mix of post-punk and darkwave. The trio, led by captivating frontman Jonathan Horstmann gathered a large crowd around the Lost Boy stage at the hottest time of the day, enduring the heat and humidity. I also got to interview and take some portraits of Jonathan, so please stay tuned for that.
It was quite the wild ride at this year's festival, and it seems that Adam Ant, as the Bunnymen had in the previous year, has been rescheduled to next year. Adam is the reason why skull rings are a jewelry staple for me. So, I'd like to thank Goldenvoice for everything, and I'll see you all at Cruel World 2024 with my 'Goody Two Shoes' on.
MY CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL PHOTO GALLERY | ALL PHOTOS BELOW TAKEN BY ME AND THE PRIOR GARY NUMAN PHOTO. THE SIOUXSIE SIOUX PHOTO TAKEN BY POONEH GHANA AND THE IGGY POP PHOTO TAKEN BY COEN REES. THANKS GOLDENVOICE FOR THE USE OF THOSE PHOTOS!Photo Credit: Brittney Williams | The Reclusive Blogger
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES ON OPENING NIGHT OF KIA FORUM RESIDENCY
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES ON OPENING NIGHT OF THEIR KIA FORUM RESIDENCY
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A SOLD OUT FIVE NIGHT RESIDENCY AT L.A.’s KIA FORUM
TRB WAS AT OPENING NIGHT LAST TUESDAY
READ THE FULL SHOW REVIEW WITH CONCERT PHOTOS BELOW…
Gerard and that Flamethrower
For a band that first came onto the scene at a time when it seemed like many of that generation were carbon copies of each other or just very surface-level. My Chemical Romance has easily been the band that has stood the test of time astutely navigating an increasingly challenging music industry. One where bands come and go or quickly lose their identity and creative freedom somewhere down the line. So to hear that My Chemical Romance was to return in 2019. A band that stuck their roots AND experimented. The band whose songs many of us adored in our teenage and young adult years when we felt unsure or worse about ourselves was back. Waiting two more years would only cause the feverish excitement around this reunion to grow.
On each of the five nights, the band featured different opening acts. For night one, they had Youth Code, an EBM (Electronic Body Music) and Industrial music duo, then the band Taking Back Sunday. Youth Code shook up the crowd. Unfortunately, much of it was still arriving. Lead vocalist Sara Taylor has a visceral and fierce stage presence. Something that truly opened up the show and what would ultimately be five nights of incredible music. Taking Back Sunday took to the stage next, with the crowd slowly filling up and even TBS taking note of that. The guys of Taking Back Sunday put on a fast-paced, energetic eight-song set. Frontman Adam Lazzara pulled out some sweet dance moves with every swing of his microphone. They ended with their 2006 classic and biggest hit, MakeDamnSure.
You could feel the weight of the two-and-a-half years reverberating throughout the forum. Hearing the crowd chant MCR! MCR! as The Foundations Of Decay familiar signature buzzing sound began to whirl until silence. My Chemical Romance takes to the stage under the cloak of darkness, with frontman Gerard Way walking out dressed as a cheerleader holding an actual flamethrower! Wait... what just happened? Before anyone can digest that, the band launches into The Foundations Of Decay, the first new song from the group in years, and it sounded just as harrowing and insane live. It was the perfect way to reintroduce the band in a city that can quickly become jaded. The band has never sounded better and more in sync with each other live. The band said early on that they were playing whatever they wanted each night, and that's what they did.
My Chemical Romance then proceeded to hopscotch their way through their back catalog, playing with finesse and intensity. The crowd sang along, chanting, dancing, and even crying. Nostalgia had hit hard for many as the band went from songs like This Is The Best Day Ever, which has a harrowing punkish lean. To the power pop strut of Na Na Na, each of these tracks are two albums apart. Other songs like Planetary (GO!), DESTROYA, and Teenagers had the audience go from head banging to straight-up booty shaking. Also, that night the band pulled out, Desolation Row for the first time since 2011. One of the most unique and edgy Bob Dylan covers. The show ended with a two-song encore with songs from their first album, I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The moving heartache of Skylines and Turnstiles and the haunting euphoria of Demolition Lovers. Songs that both truly encapsulate why we fell in love with the music in the first place.
PASADENA'S CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL DELIGHTS WITH A HOST OF EIGHTIES GOTHIC NOSTALGIA
Not even the 95-degree heat could stop the beat or the fun at the first Cruel World Fest.
Last weekend kicked off the first Cruel World Festival held by Goldenvoice. A music powerhouse behind many of the biggest annual California festivals like Stagecoach and Coachella. Cruel World Fest had thousands partying into the night to eighties icons like Bauhaus, Morrissey (yes, that Morrissey), Devo, Missing Persons, Blondie, The Church, Berlin, The Psychedelic Furs, English Beat, and many more.
Held in Pasadena at the Brookside Park and Golf Course in Pasadena, so the heat was an issue, but otherwise, the two-day eighties goth oasis was an exhilarating blast from the past. It was also a day or two to be grateful, enjoying the sun, the music, any new friends made, and the vibes. After all, it has been a difficult and trying two and half years. Even though there were a few fest hiccups like Echo and the Bunnymen dropping out or your garden variety festival hiccups. It was sure to be an event for the ages and truly an event for Alternative and classic Alternative music lovers.
Living legends at the Cruel World Festival anchored by many next wave acts or niche artists of the time. Like The KVB, a husband and wife duo with a penchant for 90s melancholy via Shoegaze guitar rhythms, neon 80s synths, and dark melodies for ages. Despite the somewhat penchant for dark and brooding music, the duo was so lovely in my chat with them (that will be out soon). Solo artist TR/ST brought his vibe of sin-soaked angsty synth beats much to the surprise and delight of many. You also had your underground mainstays like Cold Cave and my faves Blaqk Audio, with each band garnering super loyal and supportive fanbases. They each brought a unique sense of new-age sleekness and style that the newer brand of goth-tinged synth-rock or pop showcase.
For me, and no doubt so many others, there was no question that Bauhaus stole the show. A magical feeling was prominent in the air as the moon was high. Bauhaus set the scene from the beginning with a fog machine to heavy strobe lights. The audience was feverish by the time Peter Murphy's booming baritone rang out. Singing through a catalog of Bauhaus classics like 'She's In Parties'and the obvious crowd fave, 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'. It was a night to remember one perfectly accented by the elusive (and perhaps reclusive?) Morrissey. His vocals are as dramatic as ever, from every ad-lib, yelp, and yodel.
The crowd clung to every word as many of them had grabbed barricade spots way early in the day, standing for hours. Other highlights were Berlin, lead vocalist Terri Nunn's crowd interaction was like no other, Automatic, The Church, Missing Persons, and Devo. While I missed the chance to photograph every band like I wanted to, the heat that day was more than I expected. You can check out my photo galleries from the festival below. I had a great time, as did many other fans of all ages. So, closing out, I'll see you at Cruel World 2023 and, yes, that means you too, Bunnymen.
