Gang of Four performs on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Young punks, old New Wavers and goths of indeterminate age turned out in their finest black for the return of Cruel World in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20.
Fans packed the grounds of the Brookside at the Rose Bowl golf course early in the day to hear a mix of vintage acts that either broke out in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s or younger bands for whom that sound and style is a primary influence.
Fans of Modern English cheer during their performance at the Cruel World music festival in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
The Vapors perform on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Gang of Four performs on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
The Soft Moon performs on the Lost Boys stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Max Lacey poses for a photograph in a bed of black roses during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Fans of Modern English cheer during their performance at the Cruel World music festival in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Robbie Grey of Modern English performs on the Outsiders stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Gang of Four performs on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Gang of Four performs on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
The Vapors perform on the Sad Girls stage during the Cruel World music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
In the former group you had bands such as Berlin, which played early hits such as “The Metro” and “Take My Breath Away,” as well as one-hit wonders like the Vapors of “Turning Japanese” fame.
“OK, we’re going to play that song now,” announced Modern English singer Robbie Grey as the band kicked off its biggest hit, “I Melt With You” on a day hot enough to melt everyone everywhere all at once.
Later in the day Cruel World had bigger names on tap including Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Love and Rockets, and Echo and the Bunnymen.
But the biggest draw was headliner Siouxsie of Souxsie and the Banshees playing solo now. Cruel World is only her sixth show anywhere since 2008 when she last appeared in the United States.
The excitement for her set was clear from the T-shirts on fans Saturday, a plurality of which featured her face and name.
Check back for updates on the Cruel World Festival.
Peter Larsen has been the Pop Culture Reporter for the Orange County Register since 2004, finally achieving the neat trick of getting paid to report and write about the stuff he's obsessed about pretty much all his life. He regularly covers the Oscars and the Emmys, goes to Comic-Con and Coachella, reviews pop music, and conducts interviews with authors and actors, musicians and directors, a little of this and a whole lot of that. He grew up, in order, in California, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oregon. Graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. with degrees in English and Communications. Earned a master's degree at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Earned his first newspaper paycheck at the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, fled the Midwest for Los Angeles Daily News and finally ended up at the Orange County Register. He's taught one or two classes a semester in the journalism and mass communications department at Cal State Long Beach since 2006. Somehow managed to get a lovely lady to marry him, and with her have two daughters. And a dog named Buddy. Never forget the dog.
