On Friday, August 16th, indie pop band Cults performed at the Observatory North Park in San Diego as a part of their summer tour with opener, Bnny. The tour comes following their 2024 album, “To the Ghosts” released on July 26th. I was admittedly a listener of Cults which only stemmed from their recent viral success over the past couple of years, so I was eager to see what a full set of music from the duo sounded like. The pair of Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion put together a cosmic mesh of bright colors, melodies reminiscent of 1960s bubblegum pop, and a vibrant energy to Observatory. 

As concertgoers entered the theater venue, stood tall on the stage, were pretty candlelights with white curtains covered behind them. The atmosphere was as if you were transported back in time for a more grand scale show, or in an old-fashioned Victorian home. 

Indie rock band Bnny opened the stage for the night and carried a sound mixed between bedroom rock and dream pop in the group’s short setlist. They opened the set with the song “Ambulance” featuring whispering and soft vocals from lead Jessica Viscius. That same tone carried to “Not Even You” accompanied by sharp bass lines and grooves to follow soft drumming. Viscuis then introduced themselves after five songs were performed, mentioning it was their first time playing in San Diego, and fond of the gorgeous weather. While the music was easygoing, the band didn’t seem to all be in sync. Viscuis would repeatedly speak to the sound engineer on stage and bandmates to have everyone ready and skip a song after forgetting how the intro began. This seemed understandable as she stated they drove 9 hours before the show, but they more than made up as they later performed the skipped song which was the highlight of their set  in the song “Spawn.” 

Following the set, lights dimmed and Follin and Oblivion appeared on stage backed by a touring band alongside them. Madeline came dressed in a silver shimmering sparkled dress with silver heels and high white socks matched. I was thoroughly impressed by the presentation of the show as was there not just the appearance of Follin and the candlelights but a big video screen backed behind them providing images and text relevant to the song filled with psychedelic lighting. 

They opened the set with “Crybaby” one of the singles from the new album and one of my favorites I started listening to on repeat after the show. Madeline’s vocals singing the title line and the song overall have a catchy sound to it carried by its production. In just about every song of the night, Madeline had these seamlessly enchanting vocals that could just make you bop your head with every track. I couldn’t help but think about 90’s dream pop and shoegaze bands like Lush, Broadcast, and Stereolab when listening to Cults live. How hypnotic the vocals sounded and how throwback the production was, it made too much sense not to make the comparison. 

In between songs, Follin acknowledged their San Diego roots as she and Oblivion grew up in San Diego. They had lots of family and friends in attendance as a homecoming and asked the crowd for everyone’s favorite burrito spot in San Diego. Follin responded with Lollita’s as her go-to spot. She also asked if anyone went to San Diego High School as two band members went there. 

The show carried on the rest of the night strong with four to five more album tracks from the new release, before going back in time to play older fan favorites to close the set. They ended the set on “Hung the Moon” before walking off stage. An encore applause brought the band back on to perform the one-minute track “TV Dream” which launched into the immensely popular song, “Always Forever.” The studio-to-live version was almost impossible to identify. The live band and outstanding vocals made for a dreamy good time, and made me that much more excited to check out their discography.