The Cult Rocks The Whisky

06/07/2001 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Neal Weiss

(6/7/01, 3 p.m. ET) -- The Cult celebrated the release of Beyond Good And Evil, its first album in seven years, with a performance Tuesday (June 5) before a packed house at Los Angeles club the Whisky A Go-Go.

With the aid of a second guitarist, members Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy, Matt Sorum, and new bassist Billy Morrison served up an hour's worth of tunes, ranging from new single "Rise" to old favorites "Wildflower," "She Sells Sanctuary," and the encore, "Love Removal Machine." Witnesses included Kiss's Paul Stanley, former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Hanson's Taylor Hanson, Anthrax's Scott Ian, members of P.O.D., actors Nicolas Cage and Rosanna Arquette, and model Rachel Hunter.

Beyond Good And Evil arrived in stores earlier that day. The group marked the occasion with an in-store further up the Sunset Strip at Tower Records that prompted a line of fans stretching down Sunset Boulevard.

Astbury tells LAUNCH that he hopes the group offers a sense of positivity to fans. "I think there's a lot of violence and anger and aggression out there, there's a lot of people, like, flipping off and saying 'f--k this' and 'f--k that' without really giving any solution. I'd like to think that we've always been a band that's consistently offered lifestyle choices and solutions. We pretty much embrace everybody, anybody that's into us. I don't care whether you come from the hip-hop community, or rock or alternative or dance or whatever. If you embrace what we do, then there's a place for you," he says.

The Cult kicks off a North American tour in Reno, Nevada on June 14.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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