With Morrissey and Bauhaus Headlining, L.A.’s Cruel World Festival Conjured Dark Magic in the Daylight: Concert Review
Lina Lecaro A sprawling all-day Springtime event celebrating the darker edge of ’80s music held under a brutal Southern California sun? It might sound antithetical, but the Cruel World Festival, which took over Pasadena’s Brookside golf course at the Rose Bowl this weekend, was in fact, a fitting, full-circle moment for music, celebrating and validating an often misunderstood — and even mocked — subculture. It was also a reminder that the U.S., and specifically Los Angeles, has long served as a welcoming home for gloomy post-punk — maybe even more so than the U.K.Saturday and Sunday’s festivities highlighted the legacy of Gen-X’s dark side with a dynamic and defiant bill full of enigmatic weirdos and erstwhile rock heroes, most in their sixties or older.