The Cult have been onstage for half an hour now. Worcester Centrum is on its feet, and the rock ’n’ roll roar gets increasingly louder after each successive salvo from the “Love Removal Machine.” You can feel the heat rising, the limbs twitching, the sweat pouring and the smiles spreading.

Ian Astbury tosses back his black mane, swaggers to the front, stands with black-leather legs well spread, and asks a question: