Cruel World Fest brought dark music into broad daylight: concert review

A sprawling all-day spring event that celebrates the dark edge of ’80s music played under the harsh Southern California sun? It may sound paradoxical, but the Cruel World Festival, which took over Pasadena’s Brookside Golf Course in the Rose Bowl this weekend, was, in fact, a fitting moment for music, a festive, validated and often misunderstood – and even parodied – subculture. It was also a reminder that the US, and specifically Los Angeles, has long served as a welcoming home to post-dark punk – and perhaps more so than the UK.

Saturday and Sunday festivities highlighted the legacy of Gen-X’s dark side with a dynamic and defiant bill filled with mysterious strangers and former rock champions, most of them in their 60s or older. In fact, all the notables – Morrissey, Bauhaus, Defoe, Blondie, Sassydelic Four, Violent Femis, The Damned – have had extensive careers as outside artists who have managed to break into some of the blockbuster songs, primarily via MTV and movie soundtracks. They’re much older now, but so are their loyal fans, and the nostalgic allure can’t be overstated.

If Woodstock-era classic rock epitomized the anti-establishment ethos and initiation of the boomer group, New Wave and Dark Wave epitomized a different kind of self-expression and vision of the (harsh) world that came after. It may be more pessimistic but it is also more theatrical.

Goldenvoice cleverly saw this in between Coachella and our 2016 desert trip (“Oldchella”) and like many Los Angeles residents, we were excited to see them fill it in when the festival was first announced two years ago. Promoters had to postpone both Cruel World and Coachella in 2021 due to the pandemic, and after two successful weekends with the latter at Indio last month, Cruel World’s expectations reached a temperature high.

It didn’t hurt attendees that Coachella had consciously pivoted toward influencer-friendly pop stars and acts in recent years, and away from band reunions and old rock bookings in its early days. For those who started going to the Desert Festival in the early 2000s, this gradual shift was good because it allowed for the best of both worlds – seeing the work of your youth and attracting new artists creating a buzz. Coachella can be counted on for musical diversity – old and new, popular and alternative, with plenty of rock, hip-hop and dance performances.

There’s a reason Danny Elfman is drawing so much attention to his Coachella collection this year. A big statesman on the scene (via Oingo Boingo and Tim Burton’s Los Angeles movie recordings), he performs in grandiose style, and looks more magnetic than ever.

For this goth girl—who listened to Richard Blade and Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ religiously, and went to clubs like Scream and Marilyn (not far from the Pasadena festival grounds) wearing excessive eyeliner, fishnets, and black adornments—Cruel World represented a return to the somber and wonderful energy that The nightlife in Los Angeles made it very exciting in the 80s and 90s, and it continues to this day. The festival accomplished that and then some.

However, that scorching sun wasn’t fun, especially seeing the walk seem endless at times – like Coachella, I’m exhausted from the trip just to get in. On a Saturday, temperatures hit the 90s, all the SPF, big, fancy hats and umbrellas in the world can’t save you from melting. Sunday was a little fresher and better organized all around, but for those who attended both there was plenty of chatter about “feeling old”.

In fact, if there was a primary theme of the weekend, it might be the dedication of the attendees to the soundtrack to their youth. “Dreaming” by Blondie, Masquerade Berlin, Missing People “Walking in LA”, “Love My Way” by Sedelic Force…these are timeless songs, even if they represent a specific era and are relatively short-lived.

Festival organizers Goldenvoice clearly know what this audience is all about, as evidenced by everything from stage names (“Sad Girls” and “Lost Boys”) to franchises (Tears for Beers), as well as bookings for newer acts like Automatic and Soft Kill. and Sextile, Drap Majesty, and Blaqk Audio. Both captivating and multifaceted, it provided the perfect balance for older dad/goth gangs like London After Midnight, 45 Grave and Gene Loves Jezebel.

It was also heartening to see plenty of little ogres wearing corsets, sky-high creepers, kabuki face paint – damn SoCal.

The question on the minds of ticket buyers as the day progresses: What will the elderly look like? Debbie Harry, Terry Nunn, Del Posio, and Richard Butler can’t exactly stand the sounds of their days, but they come a little closer. Their groups were copious memories, as fans sang along with every word.

Morrissey was technically making the headlines and the Moz hardliners certainly represented, but many left before he even started, either out of exhaustion from the day or out of aversion to his politics.

Public Image Ltd. (PIL), standoff protagonist John Lydon is another controversial figure, and a bit boisterous for some. However, it was fun to watch him on the main stage of “The Strangers”, thanks to the more spacious and shaded surroundings of the VIP area.

Other highlights included Devo, who performed an array of vibrant, groovy and totally imaginative songs, including “Girl You Want” and “Whip It,” along with their robotic but quirky style of “complacency” for the Rolling Stones, all featured in Backdrop with wonderfully vivid and exotic visuals. The band members wore their iconic yellow suits and red hats during the set, but it was the allures of Mark Muthersbaugh (pictured above), Jerry Casal and his cohorts that made for an immersive audio experience.

To this end, the Bauhaus embodied the spirit of the cruel world. While singer Peter Murphy didn’t snap upside down like a bat during “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” as he did at Coachella in 2005, he’s been jumping and cheering like a lovable vampire. (On Saturday, the singer had a slight stumble during the band’s cover of “Ziggy Stardust,” but bounced back.) The powerful group had moments of shocking magic.

Here’s hoping Cruel World stays unstressed and re-emerges.