After Saturday’s Cruel World festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was evacuated due to lightning during Iggy Pop’s set, organizers promised that headliner Siouxsie as well as Iggy Pop would return Sunday night with Siouxsie playing “an extended set.”
Although rain is in the forecast for Sunday afternoon, the Goldenvoice event posted information on the Cruel World website saying doors would open at 5 p.m., wristbands would be reissued and crucially, parking would be free.
“This will be her only North American performance in 2023,” their tweet said.
On Saturday night, as Pop played his hit song “The Passenger,” the sound went out twice as lightning flickered far in the distance. He continued playing, but after a more visible lightning strike, he stopped playing and an announcer asked festival-goers to evacuate the Brookside at the Rose Bowl venue, which is completely outdoors. While there was no rain and no further lightning strikes, the festival said the Pasadena Fire Department had ordered the closure for safety.
The Human League’s set was also cut off in mid-performance on a different stage.
Upon the announcement, thousands of sad goths, even sadder that they might not get to see Siouxsie’s only U.S. concert date, filed towards the exits.
But until the lightning struck just after 9 p.m., concertgoers had already been able to see more than 20 other acts on three different stages. Among the highlights were Gang of Four, Gary Numan and Billy Idol, all turning in energetic sets that showed they hadn’t missed a beat since the early ’80s.
Also on the bill were Squeeze (who were a last-minute substitution for Adam Ant), Love and Rockets, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Human League, ABC, Modern English, The Vapors, The Soft Moon, Berlin, Animotion, Urban Heat, Riki, Glass Spells, Gvllow, Aurat, Ela Minus, Twin Tribes and Molchat Doma.