It was back in 2020 that the music promotor Goldenvoice introduced the Cruel World Festival. It is an annual music festival that focuses mostly on 80’s goth and new wave artists. Although other genres are present as well. Including rock, pop, electronic and alternative.
The inaugural festival was held in May of 2022. The line up included Morissey, Blondie, DEVO, Violent Femmes, Bauhaus and more. And it looks like this year is going to have an equally impressive cast.
Headlining this year’s Cruel World Festival will be The Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop. Co-headlining is Siouxsie Sioux, of Siouxsie and the Banshees. And about twenty other artists will be joining the festival. Names we know like Billy Idol, The Human League, Animotion and Modern English are on the bill.
Other acts include Adam Ant, Love and Rockets, Boy Harsher, The Vapors, Riki, GVLLOW, Urban Heat, The Soft Moon, Aurat, Gang of Four, Molchat Doma, Gary Numan, ABC, Twin Tribes, The Motels, Ela Minus, and Glass Spells.
Echo and The Bunnymen will also be at this year’s festival after canceling last year.
The Cruel World Festival is going to be held this year on Saturday, May 20. The location is Brookside at the Rose Bowl in California. Brookside Golf Course is a golf facility in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to the Rose Bowl Stadium.
The Cruel World Festival Instagram page has been getting people excited for the upcoming event. Starting with photos of the headliners and information about pass and hotel packages. And they finally stopped the teasers when they posted a flyer of the entire line-up.
This will be a comeback performance for Siouxsie, whose last concert in North America was 15 years ago. Love and Rockets are also regrouping, for the first time since 2008.
Tickets for the Cruel World Festival are on sale as of Friday, January 27, 2023. Here’s a taste of what you’ll get at the show. – Wendy
Love and Rockets
Click on the photo to hear their biggest hit.
The Vapors
Click on the photo to hear their biggest hit.
GVLLOW
Click on the photo to hear his hit “I Am Nothing”.
Urban Heat
Click on the photo to hear one of their songs.
Aurat
Click on the photo to hear one of their songs.
