For all I know, the Cure had a perfectly foolproof reason for calling their latest release ``Wild Mood Swings.'' But it certainly couldn't begin to describe the set they played last night at the Civic Arena. The mood barely flinched, and they talk about swinging? Wild, of course, is a word that fits Robert Smith like an oversized Penguins jersey. Yes, that's what he wore. But the crowd-pleasing shirt and the cheery new single, ``Mint Car,'' were merely the sore thumb sticking out in a fistful of old-school mope-rock. For a guy who seems perfectly happy singing a line like ``I'm so happy I could scream'' on ``Mint Car,'' Smith sure has a talent for picking a gloomy, meandering set list. Things picked up a bit on the moody, danceable ``Pictures of You,'' and ``Just Like Heaven'' nearly single-handedly saved the day. But other than that, ``Mint Car'' was the only real break in the mope-rock clouds. It's a shame, too, considering that most of their greatest hits have been the upbeat, quirky songs in the vein of ``Just Like Heaven.'' For whatever reason, probably boredom, the set leaned heavily on songs from the new album and ``Disintegration.'' And speaking of sets, the stage show, at least, was a keeper. Smith and his latest musicians stood in the shadow of a broken carnival ride, its giant, twisted tracks covered in lights that brightened the mood between songs. A mint car floated across the ever-changing backdrop on ``Mint Car,'' but that was just one of the welcome distractions, including a top-flight light show. Vocally, Smith was more than up to the task of giving the smallish arena crowd what it wanted, from melodrama to bombast. And though he strummed an acoustic for much of the set, his occasional leads were as catchy as ever. Now if only he'd work on the set list, to borrow a phrase from ``Mint Car,'' ``there's nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be.''

This was the BEST show of the four I saw.  Great set list, great mood.
I'm just so glad I made the trip.

Great setlist in my opinion.  Piggy, Catch, Pictures, Walk, even Gone.
Gone really gives Roger a chance to shine on the keys.  The Why
Can't I Be You medley finally saw a full verse of Lovecats plus the
the usual bits.  They pulled it off much better than the night before
in Cleveland.  The best thing was at the end of A Forest, Simon
handed Perry his bass and ran off stage.  Then Perry thrashed out
the last notes of the song.  He was grinning the whole time.  It was
hilarious.

Just a great show.  Robert even gave his "It's been fucking excellent"
before he left.

	well i have to say that i was *very* surprised at the way the 
show went last night....to say the very very least it was Incredible! 
although a lot of things are still a blur for me i'll try to touch on the 
highlights...they went on around 8:30 and finished around 11.....the 
light show was just spectacular, it really enhanced the songs....i don't 
remember the setlist exactly, but right after about the 3rd or 4th song 
Robert said that they were gonna play a song that they don't play very often
"piggy in the mirror"! i couldn't believe it.....it was completely Awesome.
at sound check they were playing "like cockatoos", but they didn't play 
it at the show.....in the  first encore they also played "catch"...it 
sounded very good.....and they had these fish "swimming" across a red 
screen....they also played "gone", "primary", and "lovesong"...(i listed 
these cos it doesn't seem they've been played too often yet) anyway, i 
can't say enough about it and let me say that hearing "boys don't cry", 
"killing an arab", "10.15 saturday night", and "the walk" _live_ on a 
recording is one HELL of a different experience than hearing them *LIVE* 
at a concert.....Incredible energy to say the _least_....

	most of the ppl there seemed kind of young (i'm 22 so...) a lot 
of ppl seemed to really be into it, and then there were some like this 
guy in fron of me who was jumping up and down during "want" and "club 
america", but when they started "a night like this" he sat down and 
didn't move for the rest of the show.....-i guess he didn't really know 
any of the other songs....i don't know......
	
	a couple final notes.....they played "why can't i be you" with 
"the lovecats" mixed in...:) it was so cool!!.....Robert went over to 
Roger and said something like "try this" and he started humming the first 
part of it....it was so great.....and of course, they ended with "a 
forest", it was Fucking Awesome!, i'm not sure how long it lasted, but it 
had to be about 14 or 15 minutes....he sang a very long improv part.... i 
couldn't make out most of what he was singing, but one part of it was 
"and she says i can be hideously kinky"....:) all in all it was a *perfect* 
show...oh, and in "prayers for rain" he seemed to hold out the 
"raaaaaiin" even longer than on the "entreat" version......it all ended 
though after Simon handed Perry the bass to finish the final part of "a 
forest", then Robert said a few things that were well kind of hard to 
understand, but the last thing he said was "it was fucking excellent!"...
indeed it was..........

The whole show was awesome... It lasted about 2 hours and 40 minutes, and as
soon as they came out to recorded begining of "Want" I stood, and remained
standing for the entire show.  Everybody around me was dancing to most of
the faster songs.  
        It was interesting watching Perry switch back and forth between
guitar and keyboards for different songs.  Jason had a second drum set (used
on songs like "This is a Lie" and "Jupiter Crash") to the left side of the
stage..

The light show was INCREDIBLE!  There were different patterns/colors on
almost every single song, and they always fit the mood of the song!  

        I wish I had more time to talk about every song, but I must go, so
I'll say that my favorites of the night were: Pictures of You,
Disentigration, FTEOTDGS, A Forest, and Bare (incredible light show on this
one--lots of stars).