December 3, 2013

Cults at Lee's Palace

I usually like my bands loud and proud, with lots of distorted guitars. On the surface, Cults doesn't fit into my mould. They're mellow and easy going with slower songs, classic melodies and sometimes, lead xylophone. But I love the melodies and the song writing. I love Madeline Follin's voice. I love the arrangements. Over the course of two albums, they have become a favourite and a band I've looked forward to seeing live for a long time.
Lee's Palace is a great venue. It's big enough to bring in big up-and-coming bands. It's small enough to feel intimate and it's easy to get pretty close to the band, if that's your thing. It also has a good sound system that shows off the best the bands have to offer. I also remember it as being a great place to play, with a big, good-sounding stage.
They played a great set including all my favourite tunes. They launched right in to "High Road" from their latest album Static and then "Abducted" from their eponymous début came next. Great opening! Their "wall of TVs" set looked great. Definitely one of the best light shows I've seen at Lee's.

They continued through "Always Forever", "You Know What I Mean" and "I Can Hardly Make You Mine" with a cover of The Motels "Total Control" mixed in for good measure. They closed out their set with a rousing rendition of "Rave On" before returning to the stage to encore with three tunes including "Go Outside".

Hopefully, Brian Oblivion had a great birthday in Toronto.

Check out the full setlist here.

Here are some tunes:

"Abducted"

"Go Outside"

"You Know What I Mean"

"High Road"

"I Can Hardly Make You Mine"

Overall, it was a great night. I got better photographic results this time out, and learned a few more things since the show that should make my next photos that much better. Here's hopin'!
I'm going to break up my coverage of the Cults show with separate posts on opening acts Mood Rings and Sacco. They'll follow in the next few days.