Sept. 17th,1989-New Orleans,La. (Lakefront Arena)
King of Angst Rocks the Night
by A. Plicque of the Times-Picayune (9/19/89)
Though rumor had it that The Cure featured no lead-in group
for its Sunday
night concert at UNO's Kiefer Lakefront Arena,the London band Shelleyan
Orphan kicked off the night promptly at 8 p.m.
The six-member group,whose new album is "Century Flower," was
decidedly
upbeat,with strong violin work and a 10,000 Maniacs sound.However,the band's
male-female singing duo needed tighter and more accurate harmonies to carry
the big ensemble.
But the sold-out,10,000-plus crowd obviously wanted The Cure to doctor
its
desires,and let bandleader Robert Smith and his cohorts know it.
The superb,stark set was a draped,drab-gray,industrial nightmare,livened
by a
sharp,multicolored laser light show and smoke.
Smith,moving slowly,relaxed and assured,sauntered onstage sporting big
hair,
big shoes and black attire,to a frenzied crowd.The band performed an
instrumental riff as Smith smiled benignly at his fans and shook hands
with
the audience stageside.He was charismatic;the crowd,electrified.It's clear
that Smith is the driving force behind this 12-year-old phenomena.
And drive it did.
The group backed in and out of new and old works,wowing the crowd with
"Piggy
in the Mirror" and "Just Like Heaven" early on,then drifting
into the new
"Disintegration" album's top singles "Fascination Street"
and "Love Song."
Smith's terse,angst-ridden lyrics and voice,with practically no harmonies
or
back-up vocals,sliced through the auditorium.The band performed 16 songs
before a short break and returned for four more,closing the regular set
with
the mega-hit "Why Can't I Be You?"
The Cure reappeared for a three-song encore,after which Smith announced,"If
you want more,you'll have to shout!" The audience complied,and got
an
eight-song second encore that reached back to the band's "Pornography"
album
and its debut album, "Boys Don't Cry."
The Cure's performance lasted a solid 2 1/2 hours,at the end of which both
Smith and the band seemed visibly exhausted.Fans got more than their money's
worth and heard the entire spectrum of the group's music.
The only criticisms of the show included a temporary mike failure,feedback
problems near the end and a deafening decibel level,probably attributable
to
The Cure's playing larger forums than the arena.