European Summer Festival Tour 2005


August 18th, 2005 - Avenches, Switzerland (Rock OZ' Arenes)

Open, Fascination Street, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, alt.end, The Blood, The End of the World, Shake Dog Shake, Us or Them, A Night
Like This, Push, Friday I'm In Love, Just Like Heaven, A Letter to Elise, Lullaby, Never Enough, Signal to Noise, The Baby Screams, One Hundred Years, End

1st encore: At Night, M, Play For Today, A Forest

2nd encore: Lets Go To Bed, Why Can't I Be You

3rd encore: Boys Don't Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night.

Show was 2 hours and 15 minutes.

(Thanks to Sandro, Patricia, Monghi, Mikael, Gabor, Arnaud, Guy, Sascha, Filipe, Patrick, Chris, Gerald for the setlist)

Photos

COF - Couleur 3


(Thanks Olivier)

Reviews


After my review from the Route du Rock, St Malo (seen on tv), here is my review from the festival Rock oz'Arenes, Avenches, 18/08.

(First, here's my personnal story: For me, it started badly:  living in Lyon, France, I had planned a 4 hours drive to go to Avenches by car.  Unfortunately, when ready in the morning, it just happened that my car didn't start!  I had to left it for repair.  I should have known since the last time I wanted to go to a CURE concert in Switzerland, my car already broke down and it already cost me a lot of money!   I don't think I'll ever go again to a CURE concert in Switzerland by car ever again.
Thus, I decided to go there hitch-hiking.  Somewhere I waited 2h30 in a burning sun, later and elsewhere I waited 0h30 under the rain, but I managed
to arrive in Avenches in time, at around 18h00. As I took a walk around this beautiful ancient small town, I decided to spent the full evening at the backstage entrance instead of going in the venue to see alll the other bands, because there were many italian people there who seemed to be waiting to see THE CURE and I thought that after 18 years following the band, it was about time I try and ask my favourite band an autograph too. 
So we waited, and waited again.  Some people brought some Bailey's and an expresso coffee machine (for which band?), we could see some people with GOOD CHARLOTTE pass going in and out the venue.  Another young guy with a THE CURE pass didn't care about any of the fan out there waiting, excepted for two young 'bimbos' (all blond, high-heeled and white and pink short-dressed, sort of Paris Hilton look alike).  Make yourself your own opinion on this, I have mine about this guy.  Wa....

Later, a woman and a man came in thanks to their THE CURE pass as well, and as they passed by me, I heard the woman saying "Roger, the keyboard player, he's such an extraordinary smart guy!".
Later in the evening, a car with black glasses drove in the backstage area and I heard some fans said they thought it was Robert because they thought to have recognized the hair!  From that moment, speculations were high on if he was already there or not, and if not, were he was staying (a local hotel?).  The festival and security guys were not helpful with information, and almost all the fans finally decided to leave, certainly thinking robert was in and he wouldn't come back to se us at the gates.
So I waited alone for a while, then some other french fans, an italian girl, and three swiss guys came back and we discussed about if it was worth it to
wait any longer.  Finally, at around 23h00, another black car arrived with Jason and Porl.  This time we thought the band would come to see us so the
frenchies left.
Thus, we were 5 or 6 staying there at 23h30, and I decided that there was only one chance left for us, and the group thought it could be a good idea.
So, as a woman with a THE CURE pass was about to go out, I stopped her and asked:  "It seems that the band won't come to see us here at the gates, so don't you think you could take our tickets, have them signed by the band, wherever they are so they don't have to come at the gates, and bring the tickets back to us?"  But as I said that she absolutely had to bring us the tickets otherwise we wouldn't be able to go in and see the concert (which would be terrible), she said it was too much responsability for her and that anyway Robert had already left the band's area with the manager to go somewhere in the venue, so she wouldn't be able to find him.  So my plan was only a good try but it didn't work.  Nevertheless, at least the woman was understanding and nice with us.  She also accepted to take some Swiss chocolate that a fan with an orange shirt wanted to give to the bank.  The
operation was not successful but it was 23h45, and time to go in. To my surprise, even at this late hor just before the show, there was still many shirts to buy (not like in Aix les Bains festival last year). The venue was great.  A roman amphitheatre, obviously uch smaller than Orange but just as nice, and with a great sound obviously, as in all such theatres.
And just at 00h00, it all began...

1 ("hello") open 
(the intro just like on Show, brings back a lot of good memories.  Robert has a blue rubbon in the hair, and I think it comes from his shirt, as there
is one at his left hand; I believe he cutted it off from his right hand to avoid it to distrurb his right-hand playing.  There is not the typical 'England' flag on Simon's amp; there is one but it looks like a football flag but it's white with a blue sort of sun.  Finally, there are two big screens by the stage.  The gig s filmed by several cameras and played on the screens, one can see there is a small sort of yello teddy bear (no, it's more like, a duck?) on Porl's amp.  I decide not to watch the screens anymore, I'm here to see THE CURE, not tv.)

2 fascination street
("thank you", robert drinks, Porl takes off his jacket).

3 from the edge of the deep green sea -
(at one time during the song, Robert turns to Jason (asking for louder drums?)  this piano note is missing so much!  "thank you")

4 alt.end
(Simon is super excited, jumping all around and playing hard on his bass; strange end though, unfortunately.)

5 the blood 
(should I say again the keyboards are missing?  sometimes it sounds strange, not as loud as it should be, and the guitar solo part is...  not so great)

6 the end of the world
(strange voice. although i'm not good with technic, it just doesn't sound right, it's like they all play in different keys, without the keyboards once again it doesn' sound right.  it's a shame because i really think it's a good pop song, everyone should sing along the 'oooooo eeeee oooooo' parts during concerts (but noone did).  Years ago, Robert used to do some chords at the end of songs (or play a few chords of 'tib' before plaing 'bdc'; it sounded great.  Today, at the end of the song, he plays a few chords and it doesn't sound right anymore.)

7 shake dog shake
(Robert hasn't got his 20 year's old voice anymore.  I believe he can't sing as high and as hard for long anymore.  ex: "you're face...." and he doesn't
sing the rest of the line - because he just can't?  "Thank you.  Welcome Porl back".)

8 us or them
(powerful!  with the red and white light show it seemed to come from the Pornography era!  It was almost perfect until Robert sings alone several
"me... me... me... me..." at the end of the song, instead of finishing it straight, and I think it breaks all the power of the song because the audience can't cheer straight away.  too bad.  Fortunately he says "thank you, you're agreat audience".)

9 a night like this
(first of the very few 'almost calm' song.  once again, the guitar arrangements to replace the missing keyboards parts are not so great.)

10 push
(powerful!  (although I've heard better version, it was great to hear it live. Robert says something i can't understand.)

11 friday i'm in love
(still nice to hear it live.  sometimes the voice not so powerful.)

12 just like heaven
(low vocals on the second part and end of the song.  a few chords at the end of the song are useless and meaningless as the crowd has to wait before
cheering.  Robert speaks with a technician.)

13 a letter to elise
(the keyboards are ... missing. strangely, Robert sings higher on the second part.  "thank you. .(?)....wedding in Rome..(?)...")

14 lullaby
(once again, no keyboards obviously but at least Robert does the movements. Even the guitar solo part is not good.)

15 never enough
(Porl turns around himself.  Robert speaks with Simon and smiles.)

16 signal to noise
(the first time I hear this one live, it's exciting. "...(?)...sometimes..(?)...")

17 the baby screams
(without the keyboards intro, it sounds strange at first.  Robert cover his hears with his hands, as if the sound it too loud - it Is loud; and it IS great!  the louder the better!  Although, during the song, Robert makes a sign to a technician to turn (Simon's?) the sound down.)

18 one hundred years
(the three of them all group and turn in front of Jason at the end of the song and it stops straight.  it's a far better end this way (than the way they used to end it the previous years.)

19 end
(so we know it's the end of the main set (already, sigh).  during the song, Robert speaks with Simon, then he walks to speak with Porl.  Robert once
again cover his ears during most of the song.  this time, Robert solo is great.  At the end of the song, as everyone has walked out of the stage,
Robert sings one last "i'm none of these...things".  "thank you".)

-------------------

(the crowd is quit noisy during the break.  as they walk back on stage, Robert and Simon talk to each other and laugh.  "...(?)  you're so intense,
you're so...ssshhhhrrr (with his hands he make a shrinking movement) ..(?)..  something like i don't..(?)... this is the reason why I talk."

20 at night
(what's the point of havng two guitars?  we can almost not hear them, but after all they are just making 'noise' anyway.  Fortunately, the sound of
Simon's bass is so great and loud!)

21 m
(at the end of the song, Simon once again comes right in front of Jason's drums to stop the song.)

22 play for today
(unfortunately, the crowd doesn't really sing the keyboards parts like on Paris...   Robert walks in front of the stage and smiles.  Robert and Porl
laugh as thelast chords of the end of the song are slower and slower.)

23 a forest
(despite the lack of the typical keyboard intro, the intro sounds right. Robert and Porl speak together during the intro and laugh.  The guitar solo
is unfortunately not very long, and although some of us try to clap their hands, Simon's too doesn't play for long.  to finish the song, Simon stands
in front of Jason.  Robert says "...(?)...fini...")

--------------------
("thank you ...(?).....we'll try it")

24 let's go to bed
(For the first time, as Robert doesn't play the guitar, he takes the microphone in his hands, steps to the left of the stage for the whole song and DANCES! and the crowd goes wild!  he sings "wait until...7!  simply great!)

25 why can't i be you?
(once again the crowd goes wild and this time Robert stands during the whole song to the right of the stage.  he sings "everything you do is simply...")

-------
(they all walk away just a few seconds and it's a real great cheer when they appear again for a third encore.  "thank you ...(?)...i'm not sure we have
time for this")

26 boys don't cry
(brilliant obviously)

27 10 15 saturday night
(great obviously.  Robert stays alone on the stage to say thank you and other things like see you next year and walks to both ends of the stage to
say goodbye to everyone. they all walk off stage, and someone put a coat on Robert's shoulders.  this time it's the end for tonight.  total time 2h15)

(as I don't have a car i have to find someone to drive me home so hurry to the car park and i'd like to say thank you to the guy who drove me all way
back to Evian, and we listen to cure songs on the car player.)

Now, if you've read all this, you may think i didn't like the show.  Well you're not wrong but not right either. There were some bad points to me:

- Should i once again say something about the lack of keyboards?  they are really missing, and the new arrangements don't sound right.  I think Porl
makes sounds and distortion but is he really playing anything?  not from what I heard!  He's like putting his hands everywhere on his guitar to make
sounds but the songs just don't sound right!  And it's really a shame with such a line-up.  Also, at the end of several songs, Robert plays a few
chords or makes things so that the song don't stop as straight as hey should and it provide the crowd from shouting as soon as they end, and I think it
avoid them to end as powerfully as they could.  Finally, often during the songs, Robert forget or changes the lines and we can't sing along.  It seems
also obvious that his voice his not so powerful (he doesn't sing as loud and as long as he should/used to.  The final bad point is for the crowd:  MAKE
SOME NOISE!  clap your hands on the songs! sing along! It was great; you should have made it fantastic! It was a great Cure concert, for Christ's
sake!

- Now the good points:  First of all, it was a great venue, and the sound was great.  The show was filmed and played on screen so could we have a
videao release fro the summer shows later this year?  the setlist was made even more powerful and intense thanks to the fact that there was no time gap between the songs. They played quick, happy, pop, powerful songs, and it was a great gig.  Also, they all looked like they were having a great time on stage and really enjoying themselves, Porl doing the guitar hero, Simon jumping all around everywhere, and Robert always smiling and laughing and seeming really very happy (the proof is he talked a lot).  They came back for a third encore, so they must have loved it too.  We also know now that there's supposed to be a new album next year and Robert said "see you next year" so.  And Finally, It was a great Cure concert, for Christ's sake!

- Fabien G


Avenches is a fantastic city with the old theatre in the middle of the town. For me it was one of the best cure gig locations ever. The gig itself was pretty similar to Lokeren. And again I loved "Why can´t I be you?" most, because Robert was very much into this song, although he had some problems with his voice during the gig. "At night" was also magic - this song I would love to hear each Cure Concert :-)
The crowd was pretty much into the gig, which was a nice experience and worth to travel. So still Berlin to go.....

- Sven


For the first time I didn’t wanted to see my favourite band during a festival just because they don’t play songs I really enjoy… I have to admit that all these “Boys don’t cry” live, are boring…
Anyway, I finally went (like usual because I can’t say no) to Avenches where there is a “Roman Antic Amphitheatre”. Just imagine the band playing inside it.

Even I find The Cure usually good, all the problems (technical, RS was on the way to loose his voice) they had, make the show perfect (here are a few comments for fans) :
 
“Open” was so powerful and musically interesting for a beginning. RS wasn’t able to play his part on “Fascination Street”. I have to say that I’ve never heard this song perfectly played. RS took his electrical guitar for “From the edge” but not his acoustic 12 strings. Was it because it was a lack of keyboard ? “A night like this” was empty without the piano and they were too many effects on the guitar solo. RS and Porl had 2 Spanish guitars on “The blood”, Perry didn’t. “The baby screams” was perfect and powerful, kind of dream. As I said, I don’t really like songs like “Just like heaven” BUT I was expecting it without the keyboard. Again RS didn’t use his acoustic 12 strings and Porl plays in a normal way but not at the beginning. During “A letter to Elise”, Porl use an electrical 12 strings which gives another dimension to the song. RS had problems with the guitar effects on “Lullaby” so he finally decided to play it with the “wawa” : big surprise ! RS used his “wawa” again at the beginning of “Friday I’m in love”. The
next song was “Never enough” and big surprise again because this time RS had the opportunity to use this “wawa” but he didn’t really, too bad. It’s always nice to hear songs like “Push” or “Shake dog shake” and they were nicely played. RS voice on "At night" was emotionnal. “Signal to noise” is interesting and especially at the end of the break when RS starts again with the guitar.

In conclusion, I would say that it’s so nice to have Porl back and I’m sure his creativity will give another dimension to the music…

- JCB


What a push! More than 2 hours fantastic guitar sound by three heroes! Wow. They opend with OPEN and at the beginning robert had some problems with his voice. But during the show the voice came back and at some point they started to enjoy themselves. For me this point was an amazing powerful PUSH. Between the songs they had very short or even no breaks. A huge amount of songs with finally 3 encores. A beautifull audience in
this perfect arena, sometimes it was too loud and Porls guitar on the other side was difficult to hear. Robert anounced "see you next year on a Cure show"!

Conclusion: For a perfect Cure show, they need to have a piano. They managed it with an excellent Porl Thompson to build up the songs in an interesting way. It was good to have Perry in the band, but its now good to have Porl. What a guittar player!

- Reto



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