Wednesday night at a half-full Reunion Arena offered a pre-Nirvana band
for these post-Nirvana times.  In a year of nostalgia tours, the  Cure  are
back on the road, and the show seemed all set to be a sort of musical
high-school reunion for aging fans pining for those good-gone times when the
Cure  ruled,
which is to say the better part of the '80s.
 	And who knows, maybe that was the case.  But that would mean the mostly
teenage crowd that turned out for the  Cure  was nostalgic for the simpler
days when their age was a single digit and their biggest problem was that
their parents wouldn't let them watch The A-Team.  As it turns out, some
things don't ever change.  And one of those things is that leader  Robert
Smith  is still thepoet laureate of adolescent suffering.  So rather than
having an audience it grows old with, the  Cure  plays to new generations of
the same age group, each discovering for itself Mr. Smith's dead-bang
evocations of young love's ecstatictorments.
 
   There was no opening act - an arrangement that seemed designed to
heighten the "evening with the  Cure"  scale and significance of the event.
The stage was decked as a broken-down carnival.  Song after song, bank upon
bank of spotlights would drench the stage in choreographed light while the
back screen brimmed with kaleidoscopic imagery.  There was a cool aquarium
effect that had everything glowing blue, green and purple while spotlighted
seahorses and angelfish swam across walls.  There were the cool Japanese
lanterns that would descend now and again in luminous, pretty colors.
 
   The staging, in other words, did all sorts of (as I said) cool tricks.
The band, on the other hand, just stood there.  In this regard, the  Cure
could have taken a few notes from another nostalgia act on the road - Kiss,
a band that was doing everything but riding unicycles to punch up its
spectacle.  But no, none of that for Mr. Smith.  "I'm sorry I'm not talking
much," Mr. Smith said about 30 minutes into the show.  "I will later on.
Right now, I'm still trying to get engrossed." Judging from the field of
statues Reunion Arena's
floor resembled, the feeling was mutual.
 
   And so, like the guys on stage, most of the audience just stood there
-actually, since they had chairs, a lot of people just sat there.  True,
wheneverthe band would chime forth with one of its upbeat pop tunes - Just
Like Heaven, say, or Friday I'm in Love - the aisles would be crowded with
appreciative dancers.  But those moments never lasted for more than the
length of the song, so the heat never built up enough to move in from the
fringe to warm up the sullen center.

What a night!Another great set although this one wasn't as intense as the
ALBQ show.I really think the crowd has a lot to do with how the show really
goes.Dallas had assigned seating on the floor so it wasn't very crazy at
all.
We were all nervous coming to this show since we had backstage passes.The
whole time I was thinking ... this is my chance to meet Robert if ever I get
one.Well, the show went great...but the great events happened after the
show when we went backstage to meet the band.We stood in a smaller room for
a while and then security moved us to a larger room.Roger was the only one
there.Finally Perry showed up.I went up to him and thanked him for the 
tickets and passes.He smiled and said,"Not a problem".We got tons of
pictures with everyone,including Jason and Simon who eventually walked in.
A word for the wise...take it easy on Simon,he has a difficult time with
crowds and if everyone will just give him a chance to get used to being in
the crowd without him being mauled he becomes VERY friendly and happy to 
sign or take pictures or whatever.
Robert never came out and people began to leave.A few of us stuck around
when finally he walked passed us into another room.A security guard peeked
in and announced that he was sleeping.Well we waited anyways...he has to
get on the bus sometime!He did finally emerge in a shirt and shorts.. and
everyone got real quite.I was standing closest to the door so he came out
and just stared at me with a funny grin on his face.I didn't know what to
say (I'm such an idiot!)  He just turned and walked down the hall.We were
all bummed!Well,we ended up running to the car and then we waited til the
bus left.It was a true CURE caravan...probably 30 cars following the bus.
We came to the hotel and waited til they got out.Finally Robert came out.
(Round and round and round and round and round we go...) HE WAS VERY SHY!
When he finally warmed up to the crowd he signed and took pictures.He was so
nice and pleasant.(...how much we love them all) Although I have to say what
a bunch of wankers the two guys were who brought fifteen records each for
Robert to sign.(...and laugh at all the stupid lines oh we've got to love
them all!) If you guys are reading this...crawl in a hole and die! Robert 
Wasn't very happy about signing so many things...but he did it anyways.
Someone did ask Robert how Mary was doing.He said she was crying when he
left her last.Someone also asked him if he was planning on having a "little"
Robert in the near future.He shyly shook his head no.
All in all it was a great night! It was a bit sad because this is the last
show I'll see,but the rumor is out that they may be touring again soon!
Have fun. 

Just got back myself.  Man it was awesome!  Only a couple of things to add
to that... 

Prayers for Rain... Rain was 19 seconds...time it.  :)

Catch.  Poor Robert has the hardest time with that song.  Roger once again
was laughing at him because he screwed up the first verse as he mixed the
second verse into it and ended up repeating 2 lines again.  Rather funny.

Man that third set ROCKED.  It seems that the older the songs were, the
faster and louder they were!  Killing an Arab was just incredible.  

At the end of the concert, he didn't say goodbye or thank you (like he had
many times before).  He walked up to the mic and said something to the
effect of "You just watched us go fucking crazy up here."  And that they
did.  Forever was an excellent end to the concert.  

Oh well...time for bed.  I loved it.