June 17th,1989-Arles,France (Les Arenes)
by Steve Lamacq of N.M.E. (7/1/89)
Into the most imagination-spinning venue come The Band I Thought I'd Never Rave Over Again.Robert Smith,waddling into view like a toy that's been wound up by a key in the small of it's back,brings his Cure to the French fanatics (remember they were big here before the UK cottoned on) and the whole night turns into something dazzlingly awesome.A sort of pinch me,I'm dreaming to-do.
Since our last review The Cure/Shelleyan Orphan expedition has been through Italy,tightened up,been shagged out and hit second wind.Morale seems good.This huge Roman amphitheatre is even better.Tomorrow it will be home to a nauseous bull fight,but on this balmy evening as the light fades to dusk,the stone stadium-in this quaint South of France town-is venue for the pretty boys and girls in their red lipstick and mascara;their only regret being that they weren't born real Robert clones.
They give Shelleyan Orphan a warm,more than polite welcome and in turn the Sheley O's give them a tantalising warm up.If you haven't heard their new LP 'Century Flower' then you may still have the wrong idea about them;but the new improved Shelly O's will (hopefully) dash perceptions of them as Ambient Art Want Tarts.
It's poppier now.Warm,wishful and (surprisingly) visual with Jemaur stamping and jumping and grinning and Carolyn,like a girl on a school trip,showing off politely with her rising and dipping vocals.Backed by a firm line of bass,violin and drums they climax with the anxious,catchy 'Shatter' and new song 'Burst' (no relation to the Buds' effort).
Which leaves us with two hours of Bob and,in a way,too much to take in.There are the dancing silhouettes,shadowed against the skyline,there are the fans at bull-ring level throwing themselves at each other (the French can't dance to save their lives!) and picked out by a huge light show there's Smith and Co,looking BIGGER than ever.
Smith still sounds insecure,but compared to the withdrawn,shy early days,this is enormous.Starting with a foundation of material from their new 'Disintegration' LP,The Cure build their set in carefully cemented fashion.By the time they reach their 'hits' segment running through 'A Forest' (hours of it!), 'The Walk' and 'Let's Go To Bed' etc,the sound has become towering-an emotive expanse which takes the audience out of the Real World and into Smith's own playhouse.
The only worrying thing is that they'll never be able to reproduce this atmosphere at Wembley Arena (later in July),but then that's always been a problem for The Cure,finding the right setting for their UK shows.I think The Arena will stifle them,but they'll do their best to take the lid off it.It'll be good,I guess,but in a different way.
Here,with apparent ease - and an understated tenseness - the temperature rose even as the as darkness fell.As a bit of a sceptic - a part time fan since 'Charlotte Sometimes' - it came as a shock to see Smith battling back with good results.It might never happen again,but it was truly great while it lasted.