There’s nothing quite like listening to free music on an oppressively hot day while drinking beer.

And there’s nothing quite as funny as Canada. Or at least that’s the message you would have gotten if you had gone to Friday night’s Molson Canal Concert, featuring The Cult.

Starting as early as 5:30 Friday afternoon, hordes of sweaty Western New Yorkers, sporting sunglasses and tattoo-baring tank tops, trickled into Lockport’s Ulrich City Centre. Though it would be hours until the concert’s headliners performed, the presence of cold beer and two energetic opening bands — Chylde and Parlor Mob — made it worth the wait.

At about 6, Buffalo-based Chylde opened the concert with a solid set of no-frills rock while the bassist did his best impression of Cousin Itt — his long hair obscuring any sign of his face.

Next up was Parlor Mob, who played their metal-influenced rock to a slightly larger crowd, and even spiced up the distortion-heavy show with some soulful harmonica. From instrumentation (OK, not counting the harmonica) to vocals, both openers’ sets had a distinctly ’80s feel.

It was easy to see why they had been grouped with The Cult, a post-punk band that, unlike the less authentic (if still the night came together. That Chylde and Parlor Mob counted The Cult among their influences was clear almost as soon as the band started playing. The sun went down, the onstage lights came up and the concert talented) openers, actually formed in that spandex-wearing, big-haired decade. Though they didn’t start until almost 9, as a whole seemed like it was designed specifically as a tribute to The Cult—a showcase of the newer talent for which the classic British rockers had laid the foundation, followed by the band itself.

As Ian Astbury (vocals), Billy Duffy (guitar), John Tempesta (drums), Mike Dimkich (guitar) and Chris Wyse (bass) started in on their lengthy library of hits — including “Lil’ Devil,” “Electric Ocean,” “Sweet Soul Sister”—the audience acknowledged The Cult’s illustrious history.

Fists pumped in the air at the sound of every song’s first chords, and the nonstop head-banging and clapping were infectious.

And between nearly every song, Astbury obsessed over Lockport’s proximity to Canada. After establishing that there were indeed some Canadians in the crowd, the band’s frontman instructed them to “show these Americans how to rock.”

The tongue-in-cheek Canada references continued throughout the show, drawing a variety of responses — negative and positive — from the audience. Sure, the main attraction of the evening took a while to get started, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind.

After all, it was a beautiful night, with loud rock music and plentiful beer, and nobody was in any rush for it to end.

Concert Review

The Cult

Friday night as part of Molson Canal Concert Series at Ulrich City Centre courtyard, Lockport.