In the Before Times — February 2020, to be precise — we all lost our collective shit over the Cruel World music festival, an inaugural Southern California gathering of some classic alternative legends and a handful of standout modern dark-pop acts that had us all checking flights on Kayak. Of course, the May 2020 fest never happened (you know why), but here’s some good news: Cruel World has been rescheduled for May 2022 and the lineup is pretty much intact.
A product of Goldenvoice, Cruel World is scheduled for May 14, 2022, at the Brookside at the Rose Bowl, located in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena. Last year’s fest was to be held at Los Angeles’ Grounds at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Morrissey, Bauhaus, Blondie and Devo once again headline a remarkable lineup that features Echo & The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, Cold Cave (pictured), Drab Majesty, Violent Femmes, Soft Kill, English Beat, Public Image Ltd., TR/ST, Berlin, The KVB, Missing Persons, Black Marble, Christian Death, and others. The only artists missing from the original lineup are Gary Numan and Marc Almond.
And the inclusion of Morrissey up top means we can all leave early to beat the traffic. If he shows up at all, of course.
“The promoters of Cruel World 2020 were indeed prescient with their festival’s title. Covid-19 unleashed a world of pain and put their bucket list line-up of influential artists on ice,” Devo’s Gerald Casale tells Rolling Stone. “In May of 2022 that ice will finally thaw and Devo will be honored to be part of it all.”
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (June 11) at noon PST via cruelworld.com. Sign up for pre-sale access here, and eyeball the full fest lineup below.
