Live Review: The Church @ Cruel World 2022 — 5/14/22

Steve Kilbey fronts The Church at Cruel World 2022 on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Nacho DelaGarza)

The inaugural Cruel World Festival was undoubtedly a smash. Fifty thousand people filed into Brookside at the Rose Bowl earlier this month to see the most impressive gathering of new wave and post-punk bands in decades thanks to a festival produced by Goldenvoice.

There are certain songs you wanted to hear and certain bands you wanted to see represented at such a thing of course. You would want to hear “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus, “Whip It” by Devo, and for my money surely “Under the Milky Way” by The Church.

Live Review: 5 Great Performances @ Cruel World 2022 — 5/14/22

Posted on May 20, 2022 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Bauhaus, Cruel World, Cruel World 2022, DEVO, goth, Missing Persons, music festival, new wave, post-punk, The Damned, The KVB.

DEVO steals the show at the inaugural Cruel World Festival on May 14, 2022. (Photo courtesy Cruel World)

Last weekend, California mega-festival organizer Goldenvoice finally fulfilled its pandemic-delayed vision of presenting a gala event consisting solely of alternative new wave and post-punk bands of the ’70s and ’80s coupled with younger bands who have adapted a similar sound in the 2010s and 2020s.

And so it was that an estimated 50,000 people (the capped capacity of the park) streamed into Brookside at the Rose Bowl for the first day of the newly minted, annual Cruel World Festival on Saturday, May 14.

Here is a recap of five of the best acts to play that day.

Preview: Cruel World Festival @ Brookside at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.), 5/14 + 5/15/22

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged Bauhaus, Blondie, Cruel World, DEVO, Echo and the Bunnymen, Morrissey, Rose Bowl, The Church, The Psychedelic Furs, Violent Femmes.

Cruel World Festival is taking place Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, 2022 at Brookside at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California featuring performances by Morrissey, Bauhaus, Blondie, DEVO, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, Violent Femmes, The Church, and many more.

The lineup repeats performances each day of the festival. The first day is sold out but limited tickets remain for Sunday, May 15!