The Cult took fans on a musical journey at The Sound San Diego.
English hard rockers The Cult brought their Death Cult 8525 tour to The Sound San Diego in Del Mar on October 29, 2025. A truly legendary band with eleven studio albums released since 1984, The Cult are known for melding and mixing genres like punk, hard rock, grunge, and metal into a powerful and popular rock and roll sound. On this night the band played two distinct sets, one as the band’s original incarnation Death Cult, which was formed by singer Ian Astbury in 1981. And then another second set of familiar songs performed as The Cult. This veteran rock group was unfortunately on a tour run that may be there last for some time, having announced a recent hiatus from touring in late October with a show after this one in LA billed as their last.
The Cult’s set started with the band in silhouette behind a large curtain, some haunting tones and a ghostly guitar trance rang out from the stage, and with that the show was on. The Death Cult songs felt almost tribal, with drummer John Tempesta pounding out intense drum patterns, and singer Ian Astbury unleashing searing primal vocals. The crowd seemed super into this first set as well with the energy building rapidly in the room. These songs really pumped up the crowd and were a great beginning to the evening. The band also covered material from the Cult’s first few albums in this set. Highlights included the opener “Ghost Dance” “83rd Dream” “Butterflies” and set closer “Spiritwalker.”
At this show singer Ian Astbury seemed to tease more of an evolution for the band in the future with new exploration and music, and perhaps not any sort of hiatus in the standard sense. The Cult has remained a very active touring band in Southern California at festivals for years, but seeing them in this relatively small and intimate venue in Del Mar was a rare treat. The Sound San Diego always does have great acoustics, and this night was no exception, the band sounded punchy and powerful. Guitar god Billy Duffy rocked out on the right hand side of the stage flanked by a huge stack of amps and strapped with his signature white Gretsch Falcon guitar. Bassist Charlie Jones active with the band since 2020 laid down some heavy bass lines on the left hand side, with another incredible eye catching instrument, a custom see-through Fender Precision Bass. Drummer John Tempesta, famous for his time with Rob Zombie, has been this band’s faithful timekeeper since 2006 and is always a powerhouse behind the kit. And lastly but certainly not least, singer Ian Astbury sounded truly amazing on this night, his voice clear, his stage presence undeniable, and his energy fiercely present, rocking out on tambourine and clearly feeling the San Diego crowd.
The Cult’s 2nd set included some really lovely crowd sing-alongs including “Lil Devil” “Fire Woman” “Wild Flower” “Rain” and the highlight set encore “She Sells Sanctuary.” This group is such a fantastic live act and a band that really knows how to give a fantastic concert experience to their fans. This concert was clearly a meticulous and well-crafted journey through the band’s musical history. This mid-week show was an absolute delight, and here’s hoping the band does not take too long crafting and creating the next incarnation of this fascinating musical legacy.
