GROUP STAYS INSYNC WITH THE AUDIENCE VIA NONSTOP BARRAGE OF HITS---The Cure gets a bum rap.As one of only a handful of bands to graduate from the New Wave '80s into the post-grunge '90s with their artistic integrity intact, the Cure -- lead singer Robert Smith especially -- is still dogged by the cartoonish mope-meister tag, even though it left most of the gloomy stuff years ago. Sure, Smith still sports the dark makeup and the teased-up fright hair, although it did lose a bit of height at the band's Gund Arena show Tuesday night. And the final song of the 32-song marathon was an extended version of its darkest song, A Forest. But the bulk of the two-hour, 40-minute show in Cleveland was filled with three-minute pop gems. And it left the crowd wanting more. The chatter on the way out of the Gund was about the songs that weren't played as much as the incredible number that were. Among the missing: The Love Cats, Caterpillar, The Walk, Pictures of You, Hot! Hot! Hot!, and The 13th, the band's current single. But you can only expect so much from a band. And that's the main problem for the Cure these days. It isn't new anymore. It has a history. Much of its catalog is considered "retro" or even "classic," even though the plinky synths and danceable beats stand out just as much in these guitar-dominated days as they did when New Wave was lining up as the Next Big Thing in 1981. If Wild Mood Swings was a debut album, it would likely be hailed as a masterpiece, an album of the year contender. And the songs the band rolled out live were the best of the bunch. Mint Car, Gone! and Round and Round and Round are near-perfect examples of perky synth-based pop. The lush This is a Lie was more wrenching than on record. The U2-esque Club America shows Our Bob hasn't been locked in his room without records or a radio, abandoning his trademark quirky high-register for a croon. But Robert and the guys aren't new. And they aren't part of the Brit pack. So Wild Mood Swings is simply the latest Cure record. And their concert -- which by today's standards, where guitar pyrotechnics and rock star posturing are practically standard issue, was tame -- is another Cure show. But the Cure has never been that dynamic a live band. And it never shows a great deal of musical prowess. Its concerts have always been more like hanging out at a dance bar with 10,000 of your best friends. But that doesn't really matter. When the band uncorks a dance-floor fave like Inbetween Days, everyone gets up to dance regardless of Smith's actions, or inactions. Some of the songs are dead-on to their recorded versions, others are more revved up (Just Like Heaven) or more laid back (Boys Don't Cry). And once the band moved into a fabulous string of hits for the encores -- Love Song, Close to Me, Let's Go to Bed, Why Can't I Be You? -- there's no question why the fans keep coming back year after year. They come to sing along with Smith. They come to shriek, "We love you, Robert!" They come to relate to Smith and his wild mood swings. They relate to angst, being love struck and being darn happy. And as long as they continue that connection, the Cure will always have an audience.

I was incredibly happy to hear Strange Day.  It made the show for me.  The
Why Can't I
be You medley was really cool.  Besides the usual "Young At Heart" and
"Witchcraft"
bits, they started to hash out Lovecats.  I'm not sure if they were just
playing around,
but it seemed like Roger was making it up as he went along.  It sounded
good though
and it was cool to see them put it all together the next night in Pittsburgh.

I didn't like sitting so far on the side, I was just about behind the band
on the side of
the stage.  The light show didn't work from there, but there was a good
thing to it.
I could really watch Robert inbetween songs and how he gets into them.
Before he
picks up a guitar, it's like he stops for a second, thinks about it,
contemplates, then
picks it up and off he goes.

The set list was ok, but Strange Day made it up for me.

Robert started out with three very rocking songs and joked that he was in
the right city to rock{for those who don't know we have the rock hall,that I
still haven't had time to tour}
Robert was wearing a Lumberjacks{our hockey team} jearsey.
I have never seen any one wearing one in this city before but I am sure that
footlocker will be selling plentyy of them tommorrow:)

The best song played tonight was Prayers for Rain,Robert sang a note that had
to be heard to believed{I swear it was 2 minutes long} killing an arab set
the crowd jumping for thier lives and the whole crowd seemed blown away by
This is a lie,Robert used his mike as a slide in one of his solos,and changed
some of the words in lets go to bed just to do it or to screw up all of us
who were singing along:)

My only complaint was that Pictures of you and Lovecats  were not played:(
I Prayed that the lights wouldn't turn on till I heard them but even with
the three or four encores{I lost count}the songs didn't get played.
I understand with so many years and albums that some of my favorites
wouldn't be played but I really wanted to hear pictures of you,because The
last tour {wish}It really floored me and still gives me chills.

Robert wore a LumberJack's
Hockey jersey to correspond with Cleveland's hockey team.....

the light show was excellent......jason did a great job on drums.....simon
rules.....and robert was so much more animatated during the first encore
than in any other part of the show.....

i noticed that there were many many vacant seats everywhere...i guess
because they have so many other dates in ohio/PA.....it was overall a good
show....