Lost, Fascination Street, The End of the World, Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, Pictures of You, Lullaby, Before 3,
Inbetween Days, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, One Hundred Years, The Promise

Encore: Boys Don’t Cry.

It's beyond my comprehension why no one opened a review with the obvious (even if you were in the back and
could only see the jumbotron) that Robert was really into this performance. His voice on the new songs (as well
as old) but especially the new songs had a passion and clarity that was mind blowing. Before 3 and Promise (and
yes it is true he sings the words "Promised Me" enough to guess the song's name) were just incredible live. He
wailed like I'd never heard him. Ever! I see the Disintegration comparisons for sure especially with the song
Disintegration when it peaks  "it all comes back round to..." and you get goose bumps. This was how Robert is
meant to sound. He had his eyes closed a lot while singing, really seeming to be into it. I almost got a little watery
eyed for Pictures of You and then realized that I wouldn't make it out of the stadium without crying from real ouch
like pain. I'm no sensitive wimp either but they way he sang that song....

A few technical difficulties... Robert and Roger's (both looking pissed for assistance from the techs) amps must
have gone out on stage but you wouldn't know it in the audience and Robert's guitar was turned down too low. The
set list... yes was predictable but had a great flow from to the other. To the complainers fuck off I mean JAY-Z
performed there and by the response of the audience he was the star of the festival. I was knee deep in shirtless
black wanna be frat boys and sluts (some offering a peep show of girl on girl kissing for two dollars proudly written
across their navels) puke and beer bottles... Not to mention it was being taped for Pepsi Smash. This was not "The
Cure fans" concert. It was to get everyone involved and by the response it worked. At least there was no "Friday
I'm In Love".  I was able to get front and center for The Cure's set and so glad I made the trek from Florida to
see them. TEOTW kind of worried me a bit in the direction they were headed but the new songs will not disappoint.
Ross was definetly right... Robert has never sounded better.

- Gary Sunday
 
 

A Cure fan since my first listen back in 86, I was more than excited to see my all time favorite band back on stage
again after a long break from them.  The last show that I saw was on the Wish tour at the Capital Centre in
Landover MD so needless to say, I was very much looking forward to this show.  I was soo glad when the
Offspring finished and I saw floods of people leaving.  I heard younger teeny boppers making comments like "No
one is going to stay for The Cure".. "Why did they pick such a crappy headliner this year" etc etc.. All I could
think to myself was "Yeee haw!!" "Let them all leave and make more room for us up front".  We made our way
all the way to about the equivalent of where the 5th or 6th row would be at a normal show. I must say that when
Robert walks out onto the stage, you truley feel like you're being graced with a  legend and cultural icon in your
presence.  I always feel starstruck when I see him walk out.

I must say that "Lost" was really drab and not impressive at all.  Could have been partially due to the poor
sound in the beginning, but it really seems to almost try too hard to be dark and dreary and seems to make a
mockery of The Cure's own sound.  The first 2 or 3 songs including Fascination Street were completely ruined by
an incompetant soundman who failed to realize that the guitars and keyboards  were almost inaudible.  How can
you enjoy Fascination Street without those huge flange laden sweeping guitar lines?  By the time they got to Love
Song though.. things were really sounding better and the energy started to pick up.  Inbetween Days, Pictures of
You and 100 Years were the highlights for me and everything after was phenominal as well.  FTEOTDGS is great
and I hope the band breaks out more Wish material this coming tour.  I would LOVE to see "A Letter To Elise"
or "Open" live again.

All in all, it was just a matter of the Cure being in an unfriendly enviornment.  They weren't playing to their loyal
fans.  They were playing to a few of us loyal fans and then a whole bunch of drunkards and casual onlookers who
really could have cared less and who obviously don't know enough about musical history to realize how potent the
Cure have been culturally and musically.  For a band to truley thrive and put on a magical show, the audience has
to be into it and this was not an ideal Cure crowd by any stretch.  The thing that I love about the Cure is that they
still always put on their best effort instead of being snobs and playing half assed shows to weak audiences.  There
are always some of us loyal fans out in the audience so their efforts at least make those people happy.  I can't
wait to see them on the Curiosa tour as I'm sure the experience will be COMPLETELY different and much better
with a like  minded "hipper" crowd.

On a side note, I thought it was hilarious to see this quote in the Baltimore Sun review of the festival:
"Awash in red light, the stage looks eerie as lead singer Robert Smith and the band revisit such seminal post-
punk classics as "A Forest" and "The Walk." The set is marred by a fuzzy sound system, and the  crowd dwindles
about half-way into the set. "
They didn't even play either one of those songs!!  Lazy journalism at it's finest.  At least we true fans "get it" with
the Cure.  I actually felt proud to be part of the crowd who was there for the band that 85% of that audience didn't
care about.  It's nice not to be a sheep who does whatever the masses do. Some people just go for the party and
have no idea how important and distinguished The Cure are.  Can't blame them I guess.  That's just the youth of
today.  I just can't help but feel sorry for them missing out on such a phenominaly touching band though. :)  If I
could ever say just one thing to Robert, all it  would be is "Thank you".  He's gotten me through some of the best
and worst times of my life.  The Cure truley are a cure in a lot of ways.  See you all on the tour this summer!

- Dave Kuhn
 
 

I went to the HFS-tival just for The Cure and I was disappointed.  The Offspring were surprisingly very good.
Their music sounded great, the set list was ideal, and they were real performers.  The Offspring had real
charisma.  As a 16-year dedicated fan of The Cure, I never thought I would be so disappointed by their show.
Three of the shows I went to in 96 were great (Philly, Orlando, Fairfax VA).  The last three shows I went to in 2000
were even better (Columbia MD, Camden NJ and Jones Beach NY).  Maybe it's me.  A lot has changed since I'd
last seen them.  I got married. I now have two children.  It just seemed like this time the music was not enough to
make up for Robert Smith being a very poor performer.  I thought the opening song was horrible.  The "End Of
The World" and "Before 3" sounded okay.  "The Promise" certainly was jamming and a pretty good selection to
end the main set, but it was too repetitive and not enjoyable.  I think the real difference is in previous shows, The
Cure was the show.  They did not follow any other bands, especially not one as fun and great-sounding as The
Offspring.  I'm not even that big of a fan of The Offspring.  It's just they really rocked!  Musically, The Cure, of
course, is much more talented and substantial.

- Mickey Thayer
 
 

Before I start my review of the Washington DC RFK stadium show on Saturday, let me say a couple things.  To
the person who commented that The Cure shouldn't have introduced their new songs at the Coachella show,  I
have to admit yet again during this show and The Coachella show I TOO felt abit out of place.  It reminded me
when I saw The Cure at The Palace back in 2000.  I only knew all the words to Maybe Someday.  However
Jeffrey, how many people can say they heard the new material before anyone else has?  Sure, this is a festival
where not everyone is there to see The Cure which was the primary reason ... no pun intended... I attended the
show.

You said, "the Flaming Lips were so outrageous and funny as shit, The Cure should have been able to take it to
the next level - they clearly did not!  Why on earth they did not go through the huge amount of catalog concert
favs to convert the masses and show the Coachella faithful why they are the top bill on Sunday is beyond me. "

The Flaming Lips???  Are you serious Jeffrey!!!  I have to admit they rocked.  Going out in that bubble into the
crowd and back on the stage was amazing to say the least.  That took what 15 minutes and that was before they
even played one song!!!  But, if I wanted to hear them rant about their political views for at least 10 or 15 minutes
which by the way cut into their set (which was about 4 or 5 song I think), I would turn on CNN or MSNBC... NOT
go to a music and arts festival and suffer in the heat all day just to hear that!!!  As for The Cure getting just one
star, I will respect your review and just say we agree to disagree.  The Flaming Lips couldn't carry The Cure's
guitar strap!!!  The Cure deserved and should get top billing.  I realize playing new material to a festival like this
is rather risky.  It's not like the typical Cure 2 1/2 or 3 hour show we as Cure fan! s are all accustomed to hearing
and experiencing.  But, let us not forget one thing: The Cure has always marched to the beat of their own drum
and no one else's.  Why would you think they would change their position now?  The Cure has never played it safe
Jeffrey.  I find that admirable.  Don't you???

Huh...Perry sucks?  I loved Porl as well.  Having seen him play in the second row in 1992 was a sight to see.  He
was spectacular.  But, he really didn't interact with the band.  He pretty much stayed to Robert's right.  Perry, on
the other hand, plays and stands by Simon, walks over to Jason sometimes and Robert.  When I met The Cure in
1997 at The Virgin Megastore instore, I told Perry, " You are an incredible guitarist."  Simon leaned over and said
to me, "He is the most excellent guitarist I've ever played with!"  I'd say that's high praise wouldn't you think?
Now on to my review of the May 22 RFK Stadium show.

I'm going to review this show differently than I did for Coachella.  I'm going to give you my overall view of the
entire show instead of song by song.  First off RFK Stadium was a complete and utter dump.  Coachella and Inland
Invasion was way more cleaner than what I saw on Saturday.  I was fortunately lucky enough to arrive around
8pm.  Can you imagine the people who were there from the beginning?  I had the dubiuos honor of being packed in
a subway riding the Metro back to my friend Roy's house having to endure the aroma surrounding me.  Not a
pretty sight.  Public transportation was the way to go to the show. Thuy and I managed to move to the right hand
side of the stage to see the concert.  Not too many people were there luckily which gave me ample amount of
space to dance and jump around like I always do for the shows.  It was unfortunate that The Cure couldn't play
past 11pm. But, it did state on  their website the show would end at that time and I was warned.  Gosh, I'm too
spoiled from all the shows over here on the west coast.  I got the impression the band started warming up halfway
through their set.  Right when I was totally getting into From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea and One Hundred
Years, the concert was practically over.  When Robert walked off the first time, I knew they had just enough time
to do probably one more song.  They came back almost instantly to the delight of the crowd.  I was hoping to hear
A Forest because they usually end with that song. Unfortunately, there was only barely enough time to play Boys
Don't Cry.  To see Robert put up both his arms and shrug his shoulders after the song as if to say, "Hey, I'd love
to play more."

I have no regrets flying from the west coast to see them.  It was worth it!!!  This is the 26th time
I've seen The Cure live.  I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to take some time off from work to see my favorite
band in the entire world.  I'm lucky to see them twice this month.  I'm honored to hear four new songs before the
new album comes out.  With Bloodflowers coming out back then with the tour right afterwards, I've become rather
spoiled.  Those were seven of the most spectacular Cure shows I've ever witnessed which says a ton because the
1985 and 1986 shows are on the top of my list.  These four songs are different I must admit.  However, I'm
starting to like The End of the World abit more.  Hearing and seeing The Promise live especially when they
completely rock out at the end only leads me to the conclusion that this new album will be good.  I had my doubts
when The 13th was the first single off of Wild Mood Swings.  Heck, I was flat out worried.  It wasn't until I heard
the entire album did I truly appreciated every song. I know Lost doesn't have the same impact as say Open, Want
or even Shake Dog Shake.  Hey, Out Of This World was like that too.  But you appreciate it way more when you hear the first few notes of Watching Me Fall...at least I did.   I'm sure this will hold true in June as well.  I look
forward to hearing the new album next month as I'm sure everyone who is reading this is as well.  Again my
appreciation goes out  to The Chain Of Flowers site and  everyone who's reading this.  Thank you for letting me tell
you about The Cure show.

- Marc Subia
 
 

As far as the show goes, it was probably the single greatest experience of my life. I managed to get up front
during the Offspring's set. I had the Coachella recordings that were shared, so I knew the lyrics to the new songs
they played for the most part... The girl next to me must have thought I was  phsycokinetic or something and all,
because I sang along to them. She had this general look of "huh" frozen onto her face.

There were indeed alot of people hurt there. During the Offspring's set, I  turned around just in time to see legs
coming at me. I put my arm up in a vain attemt to catch them, but I was tired and missed. I got kicked in the
face, and for about 2 seconds was knocked out. When I regained conscienceness I had some girls crotch on my
face, and the arm I used to try to prevent from getting smashed was on her breasts. Some guys pulled us both up,
and I thanked them. I then appoligized to the girl... She wanted to know  what I was sorry for, because she's the
one that kicked ME in the face. Glad to see that idiots are atleast nice people.

I figured out the trick to being at the gate and not being hurt, you manuever yourself between two the security
guards. Whenever one of them gets  up on the step ladder to pull someone out of the crowd, duck over the
railing... that way you don't get kicked. Only bad thing about that is where I was there was a zip tie holding the
fence part of the gate to the railing, and it was jabbing me right in the left nipple area. I got the security guy
to pull it one way so it wasn't stabbing me.

The guy I was standing next to for the most part was extremely nice to me. He was bigger than I am, and he
constantly put forth the effort to make sure I was alright, and that I didn't get hurt. We were seperated though,
because this girl was passing out and inbetween sets they don't take people over the gates.

The person behind me was extremely nice as well, he put forth the extra effort to make sure I didn't get smashed
so bad because it was my first Cure show. To repay him, I used his camera and took some pictures from my
vantage point for him. He was definately an awesome guy.

Like I said earlier, it was probably the single greatest experience of my life. I look forward to seeing them in
Columbia.

- Rob Jacoby
 
 

I was lucky enough to see the Cure at Coachella and HFStival and I have to say I take Coachella any day over
Saturdays DC gig. The crowd in CA was so much better, more mellow and more interested in the music as opposed
to getting high and/or drunk.

The best part about HFStival (apart from The Cure of course) was the fact that it just a metro ride away, which
makes it the shortest distance I have ever travelled to see The Cure. Usually the process involves flights and
rental cars, 9+ hour drives or interrail tickets :) Anyways, the worst part was the crowd: I feel like I've been
through a meat grinder. At the show I was pretty much ready to shoot every crowd surfer. Of course this was after
having a 180 lb random guy land on my head multiple times. My mistake was to go to the front ahead of time (I'll
be wiser next time for sure).

The show was very standard and they left out all the cool stuff they did in Coachella (Love Cats!). But RFK has
a very early curfew so the choice was out of their hands. The time was limited and some songs you just 'cannot'
skip I guess. Deep Green Sea, End of The World and Just Like Heaven are the most memorable ones for me
(probably because I could actually move and/or listen to the songs.

This was my 16th-ish show btw. See you in Florida this July :)

Some pics at:
http://www.phpgirl.com/index.php?module=photoalbum&PHPWS_AlbumManager_op=list

I'll try to put up my Coachella ones sometimes soon.

- Spiggy
 
 

Overall it was a decent show. Nothing special, left alot to be desired.

I'm glad I went though, after nearly a 4 year wait, I really needed this! I spent way too much money on this trip,
and even left my ticket in NJ, so I spent most of saturday getting another ticket. As always it's a feeling of
perfection and bliss seeing this band live. Getting there in the middle of the Offsprings set reminds me why I don't
go to festivals or "metal/hard rock" shows.

Okay the crowd was a sickening bunch with the exception of a few. The good thing is the place cleared after
offspring, so I was able to get about 10 feet from the barrier in front of the stage with little effort at all. I wasn't
able to get in front of Robert, but I ended up directly under the screen on the right side. By the middle of the set I
made my way closer to Robert but not much.

The crowd was HORRIBLE, even after offsprings fans cleared out. Unenthuised, nobody dancing, nobody really
even moving. People only seemed to dance for just like heaven (oh boy what a suprise) I had a feeling it was going
to be like this, but was alot worse than expected.

They opened with lost, and to be quite honest, that song still does nothing for me, even seeing it live. The new
songs need alot of work live, they are not tight now, they don't flow with that smooth Cure sound. This was evident
in all of them. Comparing these songs to the Bloodflowers promo show I saw in 2000, which every song sounded
PERFECT, these do not flow quite right yet, give it time.

The guitars were nowhere to be found in the mix of the first few songs, so the second song, Fascination street,
was ruined by the mix (I couldn't believe how long the sound guy let this go on for).

Then they went into about 20 minutes of singles/pop/hits, which they sounded to be in top form, the mix was
obviously cleaned up by this time. The End of the World was in the middle of this, sounding completely different
than the Leno or studio version. I can honestly say that I like this song live without that "wooo woo woooo" moog
sound that is mixed so high and irritating in the studio, again, this song didn't sound tight, far from the leno version.
 

Then they played "Before 3" I LOVE this song. This is the first time I got to hear it other than the bad coachella
bootleg. It is SO good, such good structure, alot you can hear live that was missing from the previous taping.
Again, this didn't sound to be perfect, prepare to be blown away by this track when the record is released.

Inbetween days was next, and was played all too slow for it's own good. Then deep green sea, Robert's voice
sounded a bit off in this. One Hundred Years, sounded amazing. They ended the set with the Promise, great closer,
great song.

One encore was Boys Don't Cry, after such a short set, all that did was leave you wanting more. I really, truly,
with all my heart felt they would have ended up playing at least an hour and a half, but it just did not happen. This
was the shortest Cure show I've ever seen.

Way too short, have grown accustomed to the LONG Cure sets over the years, one hour is a tease.

The set was really not interesting because it was mostly all singles and pop hits, this was to be expected though,
hopefully the Curiousa set will dig deeper into the bands archives. Was also hoping for Charlotte Sometimes, that
did not happen. The set was basically a stripped down version of coachella's set, semingly taking away alot of
songs I hoped to hear.

So to be quite honest, this was the worst Cure show I have ever seen. The worst Cure show is still better than just
about any other show, but all around it was weak. I was able to get my ipod in and record the entire show, but all
that recorded was NOISE, so my hopes of getting a good recording or even a recording are gone. Blah.

- SugarandOpium
 
 

I’ll get my complaints out of the way first.  I think it was a bad mix of artists.  It seemed that the vast majority of
people there were there to see Jay-Z.  And I have no problem with Jay-Z… personally, I think his new single is
rad.  But I do have problems with Jay-Z fans.  The bulk of the day was spent snaking through throngs of drunken
frat boys, and fainting scantily clad sluts.  Sigh.  I thought it would be wise to arrive early and camp in front of the
stage, but due to the heat (even early on) and the fact it would be ten hours from the beginning until the Cure
came onto play, myself and my friends decided to camp in the shade of the stands and wait.  This was wise.  We
say the Yeah Yeah Yeahs  on the street stage, and they were great.  The Violent Femmes were brilliant, but the
moshers and crowd surfers made it difficult to enjoy them in the front.  (My girlfriend is very small and my friend
and I had to create a protective bubble of anti-mosh/ anti-crowd surf around her)  We left the stadium area and
napped in the grass outside until Jay-Z, when we went to the top of the stadium.  We took some pictures from up
there… it was amazing to see so many people.  I’ve never been in a crowd so large before… and it was quite
something to behold.

We tried to get close to the stage during the Offspring, but my girlfriend was in danger of being crushed, so my
friend and I basically flung gyrating punk kids out of our way until we could get off to the side of the floor and be
comfortable.  I’m not a big Offspring fan, but I admit, they performed a great set.  And their sound was tight.
(Every other band came off as a poorly mixed wall of noise, with indecipherable lyrics… with the exception of the
Femmes, Cypress Hill, and the aforementioned Offspring.)

After the Offspring it was easy to make our way nearer the stage for the Cure, and we got a comfortable spot…
not too close to get crushed, but close enough.  The technical problem that the other reviewers mentioned, from
what I gathered was more of a communication problem.  After the Cure’s road crew had finished checking the
instruments one large gentleman signaled with his flashlight to bring down the house lights.  But the house
light engineer must have not been paying attention, as two road crew members proceeded to do a small mag-lite
show to get the light engineer’s attention.

I won’t go song by song on the set… but I will say, the Cure’s sound was great.  The keyboards could have been
louder, as could the Robert’s BASSVI, but I reckon a lot of that had to do with where we were in relation to the
PA system.  We were getting a lot of the stage sound, and there weren’t any PA cabs directed toward the center
of the floor, like with a lot of stadium shows.  So I’ll assume for those nearer the mixing board that the sound was
really good.  Robert was in excellent voice.  It struck me how close together the band were… only using 2/3rds the
available width of the stage, whereas a the three-piece Violent Femmes used the whole width.  Simon was in rare
form attacking and grooving along like a ninja on PCP.  He and Perry were going apeshit during 100 Years and
the Promise.  Roger smiled and bobbed, and Robert really got into his guitar parts.  Jason was hard to see, but I
imagine he stuck his tongue during the fills (as seen on TV)…

The new songs:  I had heard the Coachella MP3’s, and liked what I was hearing, but not the sound quality of it.
But that’s no-one’s fault.  But hearing them live, experiencing them live is a completely different ball game.  They
were fantastic.  I had some apprehension about The End of the World, after hearing it on Jay Leno… but it grew
on me.  But I’ll say this…if the rest of the album is anything like Lost, Before 3 and the Promise, then “The Cure”
will be The Cure’s best album since Wish or Disintegration. They have that magical something that the Cure had
in their earlier records.  But don’t think that these songs are rehashings, or attempts to capture the whimsy
without any true sentiment.  These songs have their own unique Cure-2004 feeling to them, with the magic of the
Cure from years past.  I can’t pick a favorite between Lost, Before 3 and the Promise. Each are different, and
each are truly amazing in their own way.  I honestly can’t wait for the new record, not JUST because it’s a new
Cure record, but because it’s going to be an excellent record.

We got some pictures, and they turned out pretty good.  When my girlfriend gets home she’ll email them to me,
and I will send them to Chain of Flowers.

Here’s to Curiosa and the new album!  This summer WILL RAWK!

- J. Thompson
 
 

Amazing show.  Too short, of course, but it was a really tight set.  When I got to Port Authority in NYC this
morning to take the Greyhound bus to DC with my pal, I realized I had left both of our tickets at my home in
Queens.  A friend was already set to pick us up at a set time in DC, so there was really no time to go home and
get them.  So I resigned myself to searching for scalped tickets at the venue, which I found for face value.  I spent
$150 total in tickets because of this, but in the end, it proved to be worth it.

The rest of the festival wasn't much to speak of.  The Violent Femmes played a greatest hits set, which fun to
see.  P.O.D. was horrible (naturally)... Jay-Z pretty boring... The Offspring were surprisingly enjoyable.

Quite a few people did leave after Offspring, which was fine with me.  It allowed me to easily work my way to
a spot in the center about 50 feet back.   Also, regardless of how many folks left before or during The Cure, the
show was seen by tens of thousands of fans, I would guess.  Lots of young new fans, too.  I felt quite old.  I'm
probably one of the few (the only?) people to see both the Coachella show and this show.  I was slightly
dissapointed to get such a similiar setlist, but I didn't have my hopes up for too many changes.  They didn't play
any songs tonight that weren't played at Coachella.  What made the evening great is they played everything
*better* and with much better sound. The Coachella sound mix just seemed off.  Robert was constantly bickering
with the tech people.  On top of that he had problems with guitar strings.  Tonight's show was slick and
problem-free.  I disagree with the reviewer who reports of technical difficulties delaying the band.  The start
time listed on the HFS website was 9:45 and the first notes of Lost began at 9:50.  I paid attention the clock
pretty well.  Lost ended at 9:54.  So it's a 4 minute track for those of you who haven't heard it.  Then they went
straight in to Facsination St which was over by 9:59, so it really wasn't an extended remix as someone here
mentioned.  I do agree that it sounded great!  At that point I stopped being a dork looking at my watch and really
started enjoying the show.

Lost is a good opener.  It is jarring for Robert to start singing so quickly when we're all used to "Want" or "Out
of the World" opening shows over the past 8 years... nevertheless the song is a tight little way to get things going.

End of the World sounded great.  There seemed to be a moderate amount of audience recognition.  Maybe.
Textbook versions of Lovesong and JLH (with You x3 at the end).  Pictures of You was beautiful.  Much better
than Coachella.  Again, every song sounded better here... mostly I would guess to the mixing.  Nice loud volume,
too.  Robert's voice was crystal clear.

Robert was very animated during Lullaby as he is prone to be.  Before 3 sounded great.  Love the lyrics.
Inbetween Days was fun.  Robert just barely got his acoustic plugged in in time.  At Coachella he actually got it
plugged in a few moments too late.  So they're still working out kinks like this...

So the singles were done, and it was now time to bring on the real meat of the show (though I'm sure much of the
festival crowd will disagree with us fans on this).  FTEODGS was unreal.  My 6th time hearing it and probably
my favorite.  The lights were excellent for this.  The lights overall were much better than Coachella (save the
awesome strobe effect that was used there for 100 years and missing here).  Many of the lights projected the
squiggly lines used in the circular Cure logo on the new shirts.  Very cool.  I'm sure these will be back at Curiosa
(and hopefully with many more tech tricks).  100 Years sounded great.  The band seemed to be having a blast.

The Promise was holy shit awesome.  Massive feedback from Perry as he trust his guitar towards his amp as the
song is coming to a close.  Great singing from Robert.  This song is what 39 should have been.  It's soooo much
more intense and soooo much more wonderful.  It fucking rocks.  They should start playing "Cut" on this tour
and pair it with The Promise.

The band took a brief break.  We screamed.  They came back and Robert announced they had 2 minutes before
curfew and launched into "Boys Don't Cry" which sent everyone home happy.  "See you soon," were his final
words.  The show ended at 11:01.

Bring on Curiosa!

- Charlie Todd
 
 

The band was in top form and Robert's voice was as clear as I have ever heard it. The new material was very
intense - it reminds me of  pornography and kiss me, kiss me, kiss me in it's own fashion. It was a very intense
set and very amazing. seeing the songs live just made me want the new album that much more.

- Matthew
 
 

Here is the best my struggling little digital camera could do. Quite disappointing. Here is a short review.

Suffice it to say, after a long hot day...The Cure walked on and got down to business.  The set time was limited,
so I appreciate them playing as much as possible.  The Cure sounded sharp and seemed to become stronger and
more involved with every song.  Robert was animated and seemed happy to be performing.  I loved Lullaby and
the energy that picked up with EOTDGS.  My personal favorite tonight was Promise and that is how they ended
the main set.  It seems to capture the quintessential Cure sound and passion that draws me to them. Since they
are early in the tour, I suppose they are fine tuning things - Robert was instructing the crew to make changes, I
think to his or Simon's levels and at some point he may have changed the set.  Boys Dont Cry was the only encore
before they were shut down in this town of inane security and curfews.
The promoters hinted at another Cure date to be announced today, Sunday - probably the Aug. 6 date at
Merriweather Post in Columbia, MD.  Check their web site www.whfs.com.

- Denis C.
 
 

I decided to go down into the field to try and get close to the front.  I was about twenty rows back when the
offspring started. I got all the way up to the 3rd row close to center by the time they ended.
By that point you could have rung me out, too darn hot!!! They announced the cure at 9:35, but then they did not
come out for another 10 minutes, with the heat, could have been shorter.

set list as best I remember -

lost -  wow!!!
fascination st  - extended mix - felt like a very long intro
the end of the world - nice to hear it live, but could barely hear roger's keyboards,
lovesong - status quo - nothing unusual
pictures of you - was so glad to hear it live again, i missed on the dream tour, really glad to see it back in rotation
lullaby - very playful robert! he was definitely enjoying himself
before 3 - robert's intensity was phenomenal, reminded me of the first time I saw bloodflowers or 39
just like heaven - nice to hear the entire stadium singing along, felt reminiscent of prayer tour
from the edge of the deep green sea - all hands to sky as far back as I could see :)
one hundred years - incredibly energetic, driving, solid work from all

and last but totally my favorite - made me fall in love with em all over again ....

the promise - just absolutely amazing - the kiss meets extended forest - words just don’t do it justice - simon really
gets to shine on this as well robert. the ending on this track - I hope the studio version is the same -just jaw
dropping - wowowowowow - I know i sound rabid but it is just that good.

given that RFK has an 11 PM curfew - I thought that was it. The guards in front of us actually said that’s it - get
out- leave - etc.....well 20 seconds later - they came back out . the look on the guards faces was priceless - DAMN
>>>>>> they started to strum something that sounded like Foxy lady or something in that vein - Robert said well
we have about two minutes and that was 10 seconds - or something to that effect. he said we don’t have many
short songs but here is one -

Boys Don’t cry - always just a treat - but really neat to hear the entire stadium singing it.

Merch -

the same spiral design at Coachella, with the date printed on the back

stick figure guy - same as coachella

Button of the spiral logo - with the date in fine print

and new zip up long-sleeved hoodie sweat small spiral logo on front -

with the cure written on the back at the bottom - similar to disintegration font

Lastly - the presale has something to do with HFS - they made an announcement at the show saying to log on to
whfs.com or 930.com tomorrow for a special announcement for HFS attendees only. they did not say anything else.

I hope to have two rolls of film developed tomorrow - I will post em somewhere for you.

- Greg Leo
 
 

The band sounded GREAT.  More than half of the 60,000 plus had left before the Cure hit the stage...I guess the
Offspring wore them out. Oh well, more room for Cure fans.  All in all a great show, but too short for a Cure gig.
The band seemed happy to be there performing.

The DJ's said to tune in Monday for a major Cure annoouncement.  I'm sure that will be the Aug 6th show at
Merriweather Post in Columbia, MD.

- Tim Poggioli
 
 

Due to what seemed to be some technical difficulties, they took the stage just before 10:00pm, and finished the
encore at 11:00pm.

A few more notes:  Between the Jay Z and Offspring sets, one of the WHFS DJs announced that WHFS was
trying to get the Cure to come back for another show, but that we needed to convince them.  When asked if we
wanted the Cure to return, the crowd gave quite a positive response.

At some point, it was also announced that we should check out the WHFS web site (www.whfs.com) tomorrow for
details about the next show.  They may have also mentioned a local club, whose site is at www.930.com,
although I am not certain.

I will have tons of pictures posted soon, and will let you know when they are up.

- Kate Cantrell