The Cult At MTelus

Every week seems to feature the anniversary of a record release, or band anniversaries, like the one that took place at the MTelus in Montreal this past Wednesday night.  The Cult were in town for the first night of their 8424 Tour.  In other words, their 40^th Anniversary tour.  The sold out crowd lined the street in front of the building an hour before show time.  The majority being the young at heart, but there was also a good collection of the truly young as well.  All waiting to either relive a great moment from their past love for the band, or eager to have their first.   The Cult have been together for 40 years and have always been very popular in town.  It’s an honour that Montreal was chosen to be the first show of the North American leg of their 40^th Anniversary tour, and those fans who lined up outside hours before the show were not disappointed as their heroes hit the stage.  One of the most distinctive bands of the 1980s, led by singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, The Cult remain one of the most unique bands, even 40 years after their debut.  The band opened with the one-two punch of ‘In The Clouds’ and ‘Rise’ from their breakthrough album, ‘Love’, before settling into a greatest hits collection that rivals any band out there.  It may have been a cool end of Summer evening outside, but The Cult and all of their fans brought a blast of Summer heat to downtown Montreal.   This 40^th Anniversary tour is a must for not only the diehards, but for those looking to discover The Cult for the first time.  I had to scramble around a little bit to find a decent spot to shoot the band as despite having gotten permission from security and the bands PR company, we were removed from the photo pit moments before the show began.  I rushed up the stairs to the second floor where I knew I would at least have an unobstructed view of the stage.  Though it was disappointing to be removed from the pit, I still kept my wits about me and was able to get some decent shots from a few other spots in the venue.  The Cult's most recent album, 'Under The Midnight Sun', was released back in 2022, so maybe we'll be getting some new music from them  soon after this Anniversary tour wraps up.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2, ISO 6400 with various focal lengths and shutter speeds.  Here are some of the other photographs that I was able to take of The Cult on stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Cult and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website,  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Culture Wars, who performed earlier in the evening, you can do so by following the link.  Much thanks to Monica Siede-Evenson of Speakeasy PR & Marketing and also Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for helping me get a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is greatly appreciated.  The Cult will be touring North America until the end of September before taking their show across the ocean.  Be sure to check them out when they visit your town.