I was possibly the only English fan there which was a shame seeing as the English contingent at the festival seemed have to turned up for Oasis (why
God why?). If you were there I was the sad girl with the Cure flag.
  I was a complete wreck on that Friday I was so nervous that something would prevent me, at the eleventh hour, from seeing the band for the first
time.  I am terrified of flying so just getting to Spain was an ordeal and only the Cure could make the horror of air travel worthwhile.  And what's
more I'd foolishly ruined my feet dancing around like a loon to the Polyphonic Spree and the Tears the night before!
  So finally we come to Friday night, the security taking away my flag pole so I'm left with trying to hold it up between myself and my mum.  But before
we get the Cure I get a reminder of just how skin-tearingly awful Athlete are, we have to be at the front so reserving our space is a must.  My feet are killing me and I'm behaving like a bitch towards everyone. Athlete thankfully don't last too long mercifully, who are Yo La Tengo again? Oh they're rubbish. And long. And noodle-doodle.  It was amusund to see the amount of murderously bored Cure fans at the front, the word "boring" seems
to bridge the language divide nicely.
  Where are the Cure? I've had to take painkillers, stupid goth boots..where's my camera?.....

  Bang! Oh hell yes. It's Open just as I'd epected! The first wave of adrenalin knocks out any thought of pain. Simon appears to have draped a Reading F.C. flag over an amp. There's some sort of problem with his bass and Robert looks like he's gona kill the tech. Fascination Street! Woooo
fucking bring it on.  I worried that without a keyboatd it would be a bit rubbish but it's the best thing I've ever seen or heard.  Hearing the Blood live in Spain is a treat I'm sure I don't deserve.  Lullaby is the moment it really kicks in, my mum finally looks happy.  Robert see's my flag! He gives
me an "Ah bless, daft cow" look. It all flies by far to quick, I'm reduced to begging for water after the double bellow-a-thon of Disintergration and
100 Years. l forget that I'm even in a festival, that I'm outdoors in a foreign land, it's just me, the band and the fans.

  It's the encore. It's Friday I'm in love! And it is! With this I think (yes I'm ridiculously biased I know) that the Cure completely take the festival, certainly every other band couldn't hold a candle to this moment.  Finally Boys Don't Cry, I know I was born for this moment.  And then the spell is broken Robert leaves my field of vision and I realise I can hardly walk.  I'm crawl off to the bar and down two and a half litres of Fanta lemon (oh sorry, limon).  I'm exhausted but deliriously happy.

  Ultimately I wasn't listening all that objectively but while I agree that Alt. End was a bit of a mess, I wanted to attack people shouting out "In Your House", I think it was a complete stormer I got pretty much all my favourite tracks and at no point did I think the lack of a keyboard damaged the sound to a great extent, although we definitely want one back just for completeness. Porl's a hero who more than makes up. The new song are
tremendous, especially Us or Them.  I think it was as good as anything I've heard them do live but then again I'll wait for the dvd to come out before I
can back this up.

I feel privilaged to have finally seen them after bleakly concluding I'd never get the chance because I came to the party so late (this show marked a
year since I properly got into them, for shame!).

But please Robert can we make it London next time? Like I hollered out at the show "England loves you!!!!"

- April

´I´ve been cured´
 
I
 
Before I took The Cure:
 
... Something says to me ´Get down to earth´.
 
Saturday august 06-2005:
 
Today at midday, I came back from Benicàssim. Last night, friday august 5th 2005, I saw The Cure for the first time in my life, at F.I.B
(International Festival Benicàssim).
 
I don´t know how is going to be this chronicle. I´m physically tired and spiritually confused. I still want to sleep...
My black clothes are hung up on the rope, enjoying the wind and the sun, I had to enjoy importants amounts of liquid and something of food
to try to recover myself.
 
The trip to Benicàssim lasted about 3 hours. Of course, I first had to take another train from another station (ayyy the sacrifices that we do
for you Robert!).

Although the festival lasted 3 days, I decided to go only the day that would play The Cure, ´cause I didn´t feel myself prepared nor motivated, to resist an unbearable sun and precarious conditions.
 
II
 
Where is it the burial...?:
 
At 19 hs. p.m., we, a good number of fans, were going to meet at a determinated point. We know each other from the forum Hispacure.
We were going to recognize us for the place, and for our black clothes! We met, took pictures, and the note of color was that at some moment, a journalist and a cameraman from channel TV3, made a little interview to Ivan and me, wich we had to develop in catalan (Ivan pretending his valencian accent to be catalan, and me making a mix between catalan and spanish with argentine accent ? !) :)
 
Towards 21 hs. p.m., we approached to the stage. We had to support the performances of "Athlete" and "Yo la tengo".
 
Here I want to write a complaint: it´s impossible that this bands were put in the same night that The Cure. This bands may sound good, be good, have their fans, but they have nothing to do next to a band like The Cure. The FIB´s organization is too bad, from my point of view. The band´s selection is a lack of respect to the audience. The truth is that I have to say that in Argentina I have seen and enjoyed too many better concerts, with excellents
sound and stages and artists from first line.
 
III
 
´I really don´t know what I´m doing here´:
  
Towards 23:40 hs. p.m., respecting the traditional english punctuality, Robert showed his halo and began to captivate to the audience, with an amazing ´Open´. The scream of ´I really don´t know what I´m doing here´ still is scratching me the entrails...
 
We expected songs from ´Wish´, because is the album where probably, the excellent Porl Thompson, has did his best as a guitarist.
 
Although the absence of Roger O´ Donnell in the keyboards was noticed, is necessary to consider, that the band must be crossing a readjustment
process, so the weak points that later I am going to mark, we can be pardoned considering the case. To start: this  was the first concert of the series that are going to do here in Europe, and the first appetizer opened, was with the concise presentation in LIVE 8. So I suppose that  they are still ´training´.
 
I did not cry at any moment, I say this because several friends of mine have told me, how and how much they have cried during the concerts when
listening certain song... I do not know...I believe that the emotion that I had was so great...that I had a state like of catatonia. In addition, we were able to be more or less in the third row (left), so I could saw them too closely. When Robert watched towards the zone where we were, sincerely I felt as if it caught to me. Its glance is so special, so deep...produces chills...We shouted like crazy, raised up our hands, and there was a boy in front of mine who always shouted "Robertoooooo", when a moment of silence was done. Others shouted to Porl: "Porl stay in The Cure".
  
The Setlist was hallucinating. There were songs that I never thought in my life, they would play. They made an exquisite selection for fans,there were very few hits. "The blood", "The baby screams", "M", "AT night", "Signal to noise", "Disintegration", were the songs that surprised to me more.
They began with Open and they finished with Friday I´m in love... (Robert commented out more or less this: "and... well, as it is Friday... we must finish with this one")
 
IV
One by one
 
- Porl and its right hand:
I remained myself hallucinated watching the right hand of Porl Thompson. It is like a precise hammer. He is very safe when it plays. It changed  guitars all the night. He was concentrated, retaking the reins of its times of glory...I reached to count six different guitars on the scene.
 

- Robert and his unremovable throne:
 
Robert almost did not move. He arrived at the scene and he got lazy himself in his place. He was concentrated. Something that called me out the attention  was that he remembered the lyrics of each song very well. This time he did not improvise anything. He did not add nor it removed,
did not play...his voice was not of the best thing.
In the songs from the last album the voice had to force much, to obtain something more or less similar. It had an accesory like of strass in the hair.
He was not so fat. He looked better. His skin shone.
 
- Simon and its arms:
 
I did not watch too much to Simon, but the little I saw, I remained pledged with its arms: muscular, strong, like two heavy and skilful, ready gears to make hard and precise a work. He was totally concentrated and given to its instrument.
 

- Jason in the lost land:
 
I didn´t see Jason. There was a drumer, yes. Somebody played drums. Yes. knock, knock is there any life there...?
 

V
 
My favourites:
 
My favorite songs were Disintegration and One hundred years. The first, because it is my favorite of all the times. It is that song, that I know that it I could sing on a stage and give me by satisfied. After that, I could die in peace, the seconds, because of his intensity, the lyrics, the album wich it belongs, but the prettiest gift, was than they played one after the other. I almost die of the emotion.
 

Strong points:
 
Good selection of songs.
Puntuality- Lights (impressive the game of purples, pinks, blues and yellows)
the return of a legend like Porl.
The very calm public as far as they do not move, they respected their places, etc...but is not the warm and crazy public to whom I was used in Argentina.
 
Weak points:
 
Everyone could notices they did not do soundcheck.
There were some strange noises. Unbalanced sounds.
The recorded castanets of "The Blood", were out of place.
They did not have keyboards nor effects, so that effect stood out too much.
The voice of Robert was not optimal.
I did not see too many Cure fans, as I hoped. but I suppose that was because it wasn´t a concert of the single band.

VI
 
We, the fans:
I sang as crazy and danced the most  I could between the great amount of people. The concert was emotionating because it was my FIRST concert.
I would liked to have them in a concert of they alone. I would liked to get their presences, to lose me...Of The Cure I always stood with the privacy and the complicity that they generate between its fans, and that in a festival like this one, almost did not feel, but also I must say that I am more
than satisfied, than to have had the luck to attend a concert where it played an alive legend as it is Porl Thompson, is was more than great.
 
... All the experiences that I had in this concert of course include the mates of the forum. Without them, these occasions wouldn´t enjoy so much.
Together we can be delirious, laugh, to fantasy, to share opinions, emotions, ways, glasses of beers, make up, cookies,t-shirtgs, anxieties, hopes, memories, illusions, disappointments, candys, frankfurts, pictures, hours without sleeping, dreams, empty or flood train´s stations, burst feet of the fatigue, stairs of stations that act like beds, headaches, stomach aches, coffee, bags, hugs, conversations, silence, and... all those things that you are remembering and that I am forgetting to mention!
 
we are this way: adorables!
 
From a blue cloud and wanting to sleep, the one that never wants to wake up.

- Victoria

I come back to france with dreams in my head, weather in spain was rather hot but respirable.

Arrived a little late,  i pass with energy people and some passage of security while me making insulted copiously.... The problem with the festivals it's that certain people came without appreciating the artists and the music... its came especially to have fun between friends....  Curiously the music is secondary for many. This fact,  people is not really enthusiastic when they see the groups..... We are far away of the time that festivals were "war, punk attitude, pogo" and simply pleasure of music... ...I’m happy to know that the cure make a real tour next year.

In front of the stage, a hundred fans stuck there, I recognize fans here and there... In a general way, the return of porl is enormous...guitar is everywhere.

Robert really let "free" Porl in the way of playing... the titles like “end, baby screams just like heaven, alt end, deep green sea, never enough" are magic... The problem, it is that the guitar of porl has a tendency to drown the other instruments out like the drum... I would say that we heard the songs of Robert and the guitar of porl... (a real pleasure)

With Roger and Perry there was a kind of osmosis  with the drum of jason (same level musical)... but there, Porl is largely with the top of this level... (it’s my opinion )... I believe that jason murders the songs like At night and Never enough... (hubbub of cymbal).. A song like At night is splendid (remember  it during the wish tour paris zenith), and here it loses all its spirit... , but jason is the favourite of Robert...! All that for saying that we miss Boris terribly...

Otherwise there were some technical problems at the beginning of the show, with the bass of Simon and on the microphone of Robert who was angry
with a roadie! (big anger)

The blood was magnificiently played in guitar (thank you Porl)... I had the impression to hear a version of Page and Plant... the surprise was a letter to elise, played well as in 1997. Signal to noise surprising... (join the dots is not very far).

End of the world was played and sang in a strange version... i have trouble with this song..It doesn’t sound like a good Cure but like a song formatted for mtv. I believe that  would be a very good song for the craneberries..!

Lullaby and fascination street awakened the large crowd... played correctly but no more, without interest.

The show took off with Shake Dog Shake, Us of Them, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (solo guitar of porl...like show in 1992), Disintegration, One Hundred Years, End.

Friday and boys were perfect....

The show was good generally and certainly more energetic than last year... The absence of keyboard is not a problem...It’s a great winning return of PORL.. He  is simply brilliant... and allows Robert to take a nap with his guitar (joke).. Simon is always the same : perfect.

Sometimes Robert lost his voice a little...(it’s normal after more thousand concerts) but it  remains single and splendid despite everything... Robert is the cure and his heart....

With soon for lokeren... 

- Jupiter Attraction

Another trip to see The Cure... This time to Benicassim.
 
Since they didn't come to Portugal I had to go to southeast of Spain. As I was expecting, they've started with Open, a very good version of it and Fascination Street was also really nice, watching Porl playing it, it's very different than watching Perry. The music of the night for me was The Blood almost unexpected, and I just say almost, because we were in Spain, otherwise i would say, totally unexpected.
I have to say that in some songs, i've missed the keyboards... Lullaby and Disintegration but most of all sound very good.
Totally unexpected was Signal To Noise...it was nice, but it's far from being one of my favorites.
Other music that we all liked was a Letter to Elise, a very good version.
 From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea was wonderfull as ever, but take a look at Porl he plays it so differently than Perry...
At Night was another pleasent surprise.
To finish the concert, what everybody was expecting (except the fans), just like it happened last year in Santiago and Vilar de Mouros, Friday
I'm Love was the explosion of happiness and joy, just like Boys Don't Cry.
 
This was my 5th concert in festivals, and i think they don't change very much their setlist...and that's a pitty. I was expecting with this new
line-up a very different set... but it didn't happen...
 
Anyway it was unique and it worths seeing it.

There are a few pictures of the show in my site http://thecure.do.sapo.pt/index_arquivos/Page13107.htm.

- Sandro