Siouxsie Sioux performing their last public concert before their current comeback tour at London’s Meltdown Festival 2013. (Photo: Burak Cingi/Redferns via Getty Images)
Cruel World – the post-punk festival held at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, California, adjacent to Rose Bowl – sadly lived up to its name on Saturday when the second annual event had to be canceled due to the threat of inclement weather. The plug was pulled less than 30 minutes before legendary goth mother Siouxsie Sioux was about to headline the main stage for her first US concert in 15 years. It was their only scheduled North American date on their current comeback tour, which kicked off May 3 in Brussels, Belgium. (TO UPDATE: At 3 a.m. Pacific Time Sunday, Cruel World announced via social media that the Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop shows have been moved to Sunday evening, May 21.)
Proto-punk pioneer Iggy Pop, accompanied by the dancing son of Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme, was in the middle of his performance on the Outsiders stage when the festival came to an abrupt end. (Ironically, he performed “The Passenger,” a song Siouxsie and her former band The Banshees covered in 1987, and many fans had been hoping for a surprise Pop/Sioux duet.) Two bolts of lightning had already crossed the sky during Pop’s show , causing his audio to drop out for about 20 seconds each time; When there was a third audio glitch during “The Passenger” (seen near the end of the video below, recorded by Minneapolis radio and club DJ Jake Rudh), a voice came over the PA system announcing that the Brookside lot evacuated due to approach “Storm.” Across the field, on the Lost Boys stage, British synthpop group Human League’s performance was also interrupted.
Pop told the dismayed viewers: “Okay, we’ve got a flash. “We’ve got to clear the stage,” I was told.” Many fans booed and shouted “Bullshit!” and threw debris on the stage, but by and large everyone walked away in an orderly manner as the sad reality of the situation unfolded.
The official Cruel World Twitter account said: “The festival has been postponed until further notice. Please clear the festival site immediately. Use the nearest emergency exits. Stay tuned for updates.” However, that tweet was soon deleted and replaced One of them didn’t mention a postponement, just saying, “Due to the storm, please leave the venue and, for safety reasons, go to your vehicles or protected areas outside the venue.” Stay tuned for updates.”
The story goes on
A tweet posted at 9:24 p.m. Pacific Time by the National Weather Service announced: “We are tracking a strong thunderstorm moving southwest from near Mt. Wilson to between Pasadena and Monrovia. This storm is capable of producing strong gusty winds, torrential downpours, lightning and small hail.” However, this storm never reached the Brookside area and the threat appeared to diminish shortly after Sioux would have taken the stage at 9:55 p.m. – which upset fans even more.
As of this writing, representatives from Cruel World’s promoter, AEG/Goldenvoice, have not responded to Yahoo Entertainment’s inquiry to clarify exactly why the festival, which was rumored to be “any weather,” was canceled so suddenly. However, it has been confirmed that both Sioux and Pop will be doing makeup shows on Sunday. “Per order of the Pasadena Fire Department, the venue was evacuated due to unsafe weather conditions and lightning strikes in the area, as confirmed by the National Weather Service. Siouxsie and Iggy Pop will be back in Brookside for the Rose Bowl on Sunday, May 21, with Siouxsie performing an extended set. This will be her only North American appearance in 2023. All Saturday ticket types have access to the venue,” the festival’s official Instagram account announced early Sunday morning. The Human League is apparently not part of this rescheduling.
Sioux wasn’t the only Cruel World 2023 artist fans didn’t get to see on Saturday: Earlier in the week, both the Motels and Adam Ant pulled out due to “unforeseen circumstances.” However, those artists have each been replaced by two solid crowd favorites: Berlin and Squeeze. And Saturday’s crowd witnessed the exciting return of a groundbreaking act who had also not performed live for many years: Love and Rockets. The British college rock trio were the most anticipated act on stage alongside Siouxsie, and they stunned with an 11-song Outsiders stage set right before Iggy’s doomed show, which also included their top three Billboard Hot 100 hits, ” So Alive” and “So Alive” belonged to her famous cover of the Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion.” Band members Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins played as three quarters of Bauhaus at the inaugural Cruel World Festival last year, but the reunion of this iconic goth band was put on hold when frontman Peter Murphy entered rehab. This year’s Cruel World Festival marked the first time since 2008 that Ash, J and Haskins performed as Love and Rockets.
Other big highlights of Cruel World 2023 ahead of the festival’s abrupt and disappointing end included a hit-packed pop ‘n’ soul revue by gold-tuxedo-clad New Romantics ABC and an intense and soulful set by dance-punk pioneers Gang of four. Billy Idol, Gary Numan, Echo & the Bunnymen, Modern English and The Vapors also made appearances, as well as newer darkwave acts such as Boy Harsher, Twin Tribes, Riki and Glass Spells.
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