With Morrissey and Bauhaus Headlining, L.A.’s Cruel World Festival Conjured Dark Magic in the Daylight: Concert Review
variety.comLina 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.
Indeed, all of the headliners – Morrissey, Bauhaus, Devo, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Violent Femmes, The Damned — have had extensive, storied careers as outsider artists who managed to break through with some mainstream hits, mainly via MTV and movie soundtracks.
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