Cults Live Concert Review

On March 9th, 2012, the Orange You Glad Festival took place in Orlando, FL in what is known as the Milk District. The third of the four days that the festival took place, March 9th was the Plaza Live's turn to host the eclectic gathering. That night, the dream pop duo CULTS performed at the Plaza, bringing in a decent crowd for such an underappreciated band.

With the doors opening at 8pm, I lined up with one of my closest friends (who, I add, paid for my ticket and talked me into going with her with a simple, "They're really amazing!") around 7:30pm. As a proud concertgoer for almost three years, I've come to see an early arrival as a great thing. While waiting in the line with all of Orlando's finest hipsters arriving on their chic, wannabe-retro Urban Outfitters bikes, the night was calm and enjoyable with The Naked and Famous posing as the cute background music to the excited air that almost always makes its way to a concert hall before the doors open. The lining up was a bit awkward, as it almost always is at the Plaza, but the night seemed to be one to remember.

After acquiring the appropriate x's to indicate my lack of age to drink, I once again lined up at the left entrance to one of the Plaza's main rooms. Being one of the first in line, this was a great thing as it gave me an opportunity to glance at the people milling about. The merch tables were neatly set up, displaying t-shirts for all three bands playing that night: CULTS, Spectrals, and Mrs. Magician.

The first two bands were decent enough to open for CULTS, barely rousing the scruffy, barely out of their teenage years hipsters out of their permanent state of playing it cool long enough to snap some pictures of them with their white iPhones while anticipating the CULTS performance. With an air of (again) grossly calm anticipation, the CULTS calmly made their way on stage nonchalantly to a decent amount of cheers. Without the forever-hated barrier, guests were able to be closer to the band's air of supernatural beauty that came with their music.

The Plaza's TV screen was in full use that night, serving as the scenic background to an already magical performance. Madeline sang her heart out while participating in a nice swaying movement as she beautifully belted out CULTS' more popular songs, such as "Go Outside" (nice glockenspiel into on that one) and "Abducted." Brian held down the calmer side of the fort while modestly addressing the crowd with a simple, "Hi. We're CULTS." Along with their simple but effective performance came the annoying static from a faulty stage monitor the Plaza absolutely refuses to replace for reasons unknown (I've been there multiple times since then, same problem, same monitor) but even with that, the CULTS performance was enchanting.

Killing their jazzy numbers like "Most Wanted" and "Never Heal Myself", the show went by depressingly quick. CULTS' stage presence was truly amazing, the modest smiles shot at the crowd between songs fueling the calm crowd into excited applause and hollers. Before their last song, Brian and Madeline meekly stated that "this was one of the biggest crowds they've played for on tour" and that "they honestly didn't expect to play for many people," but honored nonetheless.

With one last sweep of her cute, short little yellow dress, Madeline exited the stage quickly after the set, Brian's suit pants following shortly. Although the crowd was a bit too calm for my taste (this tends to happen a lot at more of the 'indie' shows), the show overall was amazing. CULTS are truly a band worth seeing live - if you have the right kind of energy and people with you, that is.