From The St. Petersburg Times:

MOODY NIGHT Series: 2B; [SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]
GINA VIVINETTO. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Jul 26, 2004. pg. 2.B
Full Text (510  words)
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Jul 26, 2004

The Curiosa Festival rolled into Tampa on Sunday, proving there are still plenty of fans of moody goth rock, a sound popularized in the early 1980s by British headliners the Cure, and now an influence on other contemporary bands on the show's bill.

The scene at the newly opened Ford Amphitheatre was peculiar: almost 10,000 fans, many dressed in black attire, made up in garish, dark eye makeup and smeared red lipstick like their hero, Robert Smith, the Cure's singer-guitarist. The only glitch was all that makeup runs in weather creeping past 90 degrees and during a concert beginning at 5 p.m. while the Florida sun is baking.

Fans didn't seem to mind. And not everyone there was goth. Older fans of the Cure who long ago retired fright hair and trenchcoats were out in droves to hear again the band's dazzling renditions of the chestnuts such as the sultry and danceable Fascination Street, A Night Like This and Love Song. Smith's voice has grown from an odd, mopey moan to a supple, reassured thing of beauty over the decades. The crowd cheered to the opening strums of the effervescent In Between Days, a mid 1980s slice of pop perfection, which Smith performed on 12-string acoustic guitar.

The Cure's sound, steeped in keyboards that oscillate from clever off-kilter clanging to sumptuous piano rolls, is anchored by Smith's distinctive, pained vocals and subtle guitar. Has ever a guitarist been so underrated? (Yes, see: Johnny Marr of the Smiths). Smith's riffs tingle with bright notes on the happy tunes, and nearly wrap their evil strings around your rib cage on the downer tunes.

Between the old gems, Smith and company delivered winning new tunes from the Cure's self-titled new album, the band's first in four years.

Openers on the main stage - the festival broke the day's many acts into headliners and acts that performed on a smaller, second stage - included the marvelous band the Rapture. The New York-based quartet proved it's not impossible for a band used to playing nightclubs and smaller venues to translate its presence to a larger forum. The Rapture took its skittish, danceable sound and, in short, went nuts with it, its four members dancing onstage, clapping their hands over their guitars, encouraging the audience to call and response on nonsense lyrics. The band's keyboardist began the Rapture's set enthusiastically banging on a cowbell. Now, that's moxie.

Next, Interpol, also from New York, bewitched the crowd with its sound, a throwback to the days of Joy Division and not just because of lead singer Paul Bank's voice sounding uncannily like that of the late Ian Curtis. The stylish quintet - all in ties, two members in sharp suitcoats - performed a set that felt emotionally charged, nearly bipolar, featuring songs intense in lyrical despair and agony, followed by numbers bursting with so much guitar and keyboard brightness, they were impossible to resist.

(Thanks Kate)

From the Tampa Tribune:

The Cure's Tour Draws 10,000 For Dark Rock
By CURTIS ROSS cross@tampatrib.com
Published: Jul 26, 2004

TAMPA - A powerful set by The Cure capped off a long day of dark-hued rock 'n' roll, much of it inspired by the headliners, at the Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday.

Dubbed Curiosa, the two- stage, festival-style tour was designed by Cure leader Robert Smith to showcase some of his favorite young bands, as well as allow those bands to pay homage to the headline act, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It drew a crowd estimated at 10,000.

The Cure's influence, though, was evident in much of the music of the seven bands whose sets preceded group.

It could be heard in the yelping vocals of The Rapture, in the clipped rhythms of Interpol and in the naked emotion of Thursday.

It would take quite a stretch of the imagination, though, to hear The Cure's influence in the music of Head Automatica, which opened the show on the second stage at 5 p.m., with an energetic set of wiseacre punk.

Scottish outfit Mogwai played next on the main stage. The instrumental group's music has an awful majesty, threatening to carry the listener away in a swarm of funnel- cloud guitars. The calm ferocity of the set reach a climax with a seven-minute barrage of guitar feedback.

Over on the second stage, Cooper Temple Clause substituted aggression for the atmospherics of its ``Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose'' CD, with mixed results.

Second main stage act The Rapture almost was swallowed whole by its influences - U2 and The Cure - early in its set. However, the band emerged with something close to its own, beginning with the song ``The Coming of Spring.''

Melissa Auf Der Maur looked striking and mysterious while manning the bass for Hole and Smashing Pumpkins in years past. Fronting her band, Auf Der Maur, on the second stage, she ruined her mystique by opening her mouth and revealing a thin, nasally voice that sank her otherwise adequate alt-rock.

Interpol was a stylish blend of restrained emotion and channeled drive on the main stage. Daniel Kessler's vocals recalled Joy Division's Ian Curtis, but with a chilly reserve more in line with Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry.

Thursday's pummeling heartfelt punk might have been more at home on the punk-heavy Warped Tour, but it drew plenty of attention as the final band on the second stage.

The Cure moved gracefully between earlier material and songs from its latest album, ``The Cure.''

``Pictures of You'' had many in the crowd swaying, and a few weeping. ``On a Night Like This'' was bracing, near-perfect pop.

The new material, though, was of equal quality, from ``Lost,'' to the infectious ``End of the World.''

(Thanks Kate)

From the Orlando Sentinel:

On stage, Cure offers an antidote to mediocrity

By Jim Abbott
Sentinel Pop Music Critic

July 27, 2004

TAMPA -- All afternoon at Curiosa, opening bands at the summer's most highly anticipated festival tour paid homage to the Cure -- and not with obligatory award-show phoniness.

"We're kind of nervous," admitted Thursday lead singer Geoff Rickly about his band's performance time -- immediately preceding the Cure's main-stage headlining set on Sunday at the new Ford Amphitheatre.

Although the influence of the Cure's melodic and intensely emotional music was less apparent in Thursday's harder-edged screaming, it was obvious in the textured sound of other opening bands, most notably the Rapture and Interpol. That pointed more to the Cure's legacy than any words uttered from the stage.

When the Cure finally performed, after a precisely timed procession of opening acts spread over almost four hours, singer Robert Smith showed that the band isn't ready to rest on its laurels. Music from the Cure's new self-titled album sounded as strong as anything the group has ever done.

Smith opened with the album's first song, "Lost," which showcased his evocative voice at its brooding best. "I can't find myself in the head of a stranger in love," he wailed, as banks of blue spotlights formed an appropriately moody background.

The band followed with "Labyrinth," re-creating the album's pensive, rhythmically charged arrangement with almost studio clarity. The sound mix at the amphitheater was hospitable to the band's dense sonic assault even though Smith's vocals occasionally sounded harsh when he sang in the upper register above the full band.

Although the band's generous set, which ran more than 100 minutes, was loaded with new material, Smith dipped into the Cure's catalog too. Often, the older songs dovetailed perfectly, such as a beautiful version of "Love Song" that sounded more inspired than the obligatory hit it has become.

It was one of several songs from 1989's Disintegration album that the band revisited with considerable skill. The crowd, which came close to filling the amphitheater, offered a hearty roar for "Fascination Street," which lightened the show's opening moments with a dose of dance-friendly psychedelia. Later, "Pictures of You" unfolded as a gorgeous theatrical ballad.

The new songs hit with similar force, especially the epic emotional and sonic crescendo of "The Promise," which closed the show's main set with an explosion of light and sound. By comparison, the three-song encore was anti-climactic.

As for the rest of the festival, it was an efficiently constructed afternoon of music that didn't allow much room for spontaneity. It was disappointing, for instance, that ex-Smashing Pumpkins' bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur had to cut a song from her band's already short set because of time constraints.

Maybe it was the oppressive heat, but Mogwai's instrumentals sounded more lethargic than inspired in its 30 minutes on stage, although the Rapture and Interpol were both captivating. Unfortunately, none of the opening bands benefited from the time or production that helped make the Cure so memorable.

Just wanted to say that both the wpb and tampa shows were great. The band is full of energy and seem to be really enjoying playing out. wpb, the 'pop' encore was really alot of fun....robert came out and said "i really want to play this song!!" and they jumped into the set. in Tampa, they mixed things up a bit...changing the set list...I would expect that this will be the case durning the tour..so, for those going to more than one show, don't expect a 'cookie cutter' set list. You'll  hear some pop stuff for fun, some older peices...and just a great rounded out show.
Really all in all, though opinions will differ....it's great to see them playing out and having a great time of it.....lots of interaction with each other and the audience. Can't wait for ny and mansfield. 

- Gwyneth

Everything wonderful I said about WPB remained true in Tampa with the exception of the pit. It was still an *excellent* environment compared to other recent venues they've played at, but the size increase from one to the other changed the atmosphere noticeably. We got a few more of the pissy and pushy people in Tampa..Luckily no one really caused serious problems.. (We were near the really large oaf who SWORE publicly to the whole surrounding pit that he would be up front whatever it took. ugh! But funny :) ).

The heat was a bit of an issue (unfortuntely, one or two people passed out...that was too bad)...but starting the festival at 5 and not noon or something really helped out...so did really large lemonades :)

So, some band notes:

Cooper Temple Clause: Really powerful live. Hopefully these guys go far...They did seem to have some technical issues Sunday, but were worth the listen anyway. We can't wait for the new CD.

Rapture/Interpol: Same as Saturday. Great sets and loved them both...Interpol is just sounding better and better to us. As I said before, we listened to Interpol the entire trip between gigs and were stoked about hearing them again so quickly. The new material is indistinguishable in quality from the old to new listeners (us)..I can't wait to hear the new CD.

Cure:
I have to start out with "The Poster" since it was such an event for us. Paivi/Spiggy and I stopped for materials on the way to Tampa because she just *had* to hear them play Anniversary on this tour :)  When we got to the parking lot, we spent 5 or 10 minutes and put together a poster asking: "Please Play Anniversary". We used the little girl from the new CD artwork and added a huge diamond ring to her finger....a rush job...but it ended up looking like a cute child's drawing - perfect!.  A couple of girls handing out Cure posters/stickers etc. came by and took our picture. No idea who they were with, if anyone.. During the show, Paivi held it up facing the crowd and got it on the video screens.  For the rest of the show, she once in awhile put it up when she thought the guards at the front weren't looking and Robert was facing front.  He rewarded her at the start of the encores with
"Despite the most gorgeous sign I've seen in a long time, we can't play that song...:)" *yay*.  We turned the poster around and she quickly wrote "Figurehead will do!" and held it up - this got a laugh out of Simon.

The songs: Robert seemed a little more bouncy the night before and I actually liked the sound better in WPB as well...but I have no complaints about Tampa!.

Jupiter Crash was a pleasant surprise...WMS isn't the best album they've done, but it isn't completely meritless. Nice to hear it represented...
Taking Off...Glad to add it to the list of things I've heard and it was fun (I love the song)....but in a mostly-pop weekend, I missed something more driven to break things up.
FTEOTDGS: This had to have been one of the best renditions I've heard in awhile. It was a blast...
A Strange Day: Always a pleasure to hear this...It fits perfectly in almost any set. Glad they mixed it in.
Never: Hrm.  There is *not* a lot wrong with this song, but even live...whatever small thing isn't there is *very obviously* not there. Hopefully they'll adjust how this song sounds as the tour goes on...

Overall, it was a pefect ending to the weekend. It was great to be there and it was good to be around such a mix of old and new fans in the pit.  There were the "20th concerters" and the "first timers" all equally enthusiastic.  There even seemed to be at least some singing along with the new material - how cool is that?

- Jack(jofny)/Paivi(spiggy)

The set lists don't say the whole story about these shows. The quality of these performances have been excellent. Yes, it sucks that the festival wasn't
organized in such a way as to give the Cure 2 1/2 hours, but they've been great shows nonetheless.

West Palm Beach is not a hotbed of Cure fanaticism. Playing a large number of well-known pop songs made a lot of sense, and that set list went over very well there. My lingering image of that show is Robert's look of surprise and delight with the audience singing very loudly the rhythm vocal to Love Cats.  The new songs sounded great, the performance was close to note perfect (a couple of times Perry's guitar wasn't loud enough but not nearly the degree to which it was a problem at, for instance, HFS), the audience was engaged  and responsive. Too short, but we're all just going to have to live with that.

Tampa had a very different vibe. It's a town with a large goth community and a more committed fanbase. The set list wasn't radically different, but each of the changes contributed to a perceptible shift in mood. And as the show went on the band got more and more aggressive. The key here I think is Perry. When Perry's into it, everybody else kicks it up a notch in order to be heard over him and you get this really dense vital sound (keys/bass/drum can be emotionally very affecting, but the aggressive songs need that guitar). The moment of this show for me was Perry banging away with two broken strings, then shaking his head no when the roadie motioned  to bring him a different guitar, because he was having too much fun
with the broken one.

What's next? Dare we hope for a Faith encore in the near future? Will Shake Dog Shake, Maybe Someday, Anniversary, Charlotte Sometimes or Like Cockatoos be making their way into the set? Will they surprise us all with something they haven't played in years (At Night!!!)

And to everyone who hates the very idea of Curiosa, give it a chance. The opening bands are all jarringly different but there's a lot to love there. The Mogwai set is just fucking insane and while the sensitive-eared may receive injury it's easy to see why Robert finds them inspiring. The Rapture are silly geeky dance poppy fun, maybe nothing that's going to change your life but clever and energetic. And Interpol have a confidence and depth and charisma to them that makes it really easy to see as being HUGE in a few years.

Of course, I desperately hope that the band do a Cure-only theater tour in the winter where they play more Dream tour-styled shows. But Curiosa is excellent.

- Aaron Perry

Much hyberbole to follow. Beware!

I was up front center last night in Tampa - right in front of Robert. In my 20 years of Cure fandom, I have never been so close. I was able to see the detail of Robert’s necklaces (yes, I was staring) and Roger’s adorable smile. And I was wtiness to one extraordinary Cure show.
The setlist was not the previous night's “pop nightmare;" of the four Cure shows I’ve seen, it was easily the best (not that I remember ‘89 too well). A sprinkling of pop songs among newer and older classics.
The band was in high energy mode. Simon was his usual frenzied punk self, Roger was glowing with smiles, Jason was bashing away frenetically, and Perry was unusually bouncy. Robert, of course, veered between being dreamy and intense and boyishly silly.
The sound was smooth, clean, and textured. The mix was far better than it was at Coachella. The band sounded tight and mature.
Highlights of the show included a psychedelic Fascination Street, when Robert walked to the side front of the stage, beaming with smiles as fans reached out adoringly; a gorgeous Pictures of You; a quirkier than usual Lullaby, with Robert really hamming it up with his trademark gestures and mimicking voices; an angry 100 Years, where I could barely contain myself from the passion of hearing this song so vividly; a lush Jupiter Crash; and the soaringly beautiful A Night Like This. The encores, too, were such a nice surprise: the elegant M, a punchy Play For Today, where everyone joined in with the “woah ooh oohs”, and, of course, the infamous Forest.
The new songs sounded great. They opened with Lost, which was a bit toned down and more melodic and really nice. Labyrinth was less frenzied than on the album but still intense; Before Three was a lovely rendition, with the guitars just right (however, Robert improvised some lyrics, which I always find amusing if frustrating); Taking Off was cute right after Inbetween Days - at the end, as he was hitting the high notes, Robert said cutely, “As you get older it gets a bit hard to do that.” Oh, and I have even learned to like Never; it sounds much better live!
But The Promise took the cake - that song was blow-you-away-fabulous. Naysayers need to see The Promise live appreciate its epic grandeur. It’s thrashy and punky and hungry and angry and wonderfully extreme. It has become my favorite track off the new album. All in all, I felt honored to be witnessing a truly legendary band so close. If there were flaws in this show, they were trivial, and I was too blinded by amazement to notice.

- Alison Ross

I had the great experience being front and center at tonight's show in Tampa - right in front of Robert and about 4 or 5 rows of people back from the stage.  Heading into it, I was a bit worried because of what I read about W. Palm Beach; and compared to other Cure shows I have been to, I could probably come up with a long list of complaints about tonight.  But for what it was (a festival concert), this was honestly an incredible performance.  I was very pleasantly surprised to hear A Night Like This... out of six Cure concerts I have been to, this is the first time I heard my favorite Cure song performed in person, and it totally made my night.  Jupiter Crash and M were also very unexpected and great to hear.

Robert took notice of a girl holding a sign that said something to the effect of "please play Anniversary", to which Rob replied with something like "that is the most beautiful song, but unfortunately we can't play that tonight, so here's this one instead", and they head right into M.  After that, she wrote on the back of her poster "Figurehead will work then".  Simon just laughed at that.  I had exchanged a few words with this person before Cure kicked off their set, and she was very nice, so I was a little sad for her that she didn't get to hear any of her songs.  Hopefully she'll have better luck
with her next 3 Curiosa shows.

My only real complaints about tonight (other than the short set, obviously!) are about the blistering heat and some of the people.  In particular, this one fat bastard that was next to me throughout the entire Interpol and Cure sets.  This motherfu©ker kept pushing everyone around to try to make it to the front of the crowd, despite being taller than everyone around him and having absolutely no trouble seeing the stage from where he was at.  Several people in front of him who had to handle his bullshit tried to get security to remove him, but they had no luck.  I'm no small guy myself - in a sort of muscular/I'll break your legs sense - so I was able to 'deal' with him in my own way so he wouldn't spoil my evening, but I feel very sorry for the others around him that really couldn't do anything about it, and quite possibly had their evening nearly ruined because of him.  No words can
come close to describing the animosity I have for people like that.  There were a few other people in the pit who couldn't conduct themselves appropriately, but fortunately security didn't seem to have any issues about taking them out of the crowd.

So all-in-all, Curiosa was mostly a great time despite the short Cure set.  I discovered a couple new bands that I like: Interpol and Auf Der Maur.  Cure's set was a little predictable, but not quite the 'pop nightmare' of West Palm.  I still didn't like several of the new songs, but they do at least sound a lot better played live than on record (except Never, which sounds like a Rush rip-off to me, only it isn't even that good).  And I happened to notice a pair of recording mics on each end of the stage pointing toward the audience - so maybe we should be expecting a new live album in the near future...?!  I think we're well overdue for one, especially after the let down after the live Dream Tour album(s) never happened!

- Tom E.

I really enjoyed Mogwai except for the very last song which just sounded like feedback.  I'm not a fan of The Rapture, but I really enjoyed
Interpol also.  Very solid sound and set list.

The cure - it was a short set list, but having seen the West Palm Beach one, I sort of expected that.  Simon's bass sounded incredible.  I loved
his sub-second bass intro to 100 years (I haven't heard it like that before.)  The Promise sounded incredible too, much better than on studio.  Again, I thank a more pronounced bass for this.  Lots of singles, and I thought I would be annoyed by that but I'm starting to see why they play so many singles.  At least in Tampa, no one ever stands up and does anything unless it's a song they've heard nine million times.

The 17 seconds encore was a nice finish.  Before they started, Robert addressed some people, who I think were holding a sign maybe requesting
a song?  He said something like that was the most beautiful sign he'd seen in a long time, but that unfortunately, they can't do that song, so they'll
do this one instead (and then started M.)   If anyone knows exactly what he said, I'd like to hear.

- Scott McClenaghan

The "pop nightmare" was squashed in tonights setlist.  Although the show last night in West Palm Beach was excellent, I was disappointed with the
setlist.  Tonight was a much better setlist and performance.  I had expected a few changes in the setlist from last night, but not as much as they did.  Once I heard the beginning notes of "a night like this", I knew this night was going to be a treat!  I felt the crowd was more into this show than  in WPB.  Of course, that could be due to the fact I was in the front of the PIT in Tampa and 9 rows back in the seats in WPB.

One major damper on the whole day was the temperature and humidity.  It was HOT HOT HOT!!!  It was hotter today than yesterday in WPB.  It got
pretty bad during the Cure's set.  On several ocassions, people were passing out due to heat exhaustion and had to be carried to the front of
the pit and carried over the barracade to get medical attention.

And more people had shown up at the beginning of the day than in WPB. At 5:30 in WPB, it was still pretty dead when Mogwai took the stage. 
However, more people today.  And when beginning the 2nd song, he said "this song is dedicated to all the lazy people who stay in bed yesterday" (or something to that effect).

But on to the Cure performance....it was excellent!  There were still some of the pop songs to please the casual fan, but much more tonight to please the die hard fans like myself.  The biggest treat was "Jupiter Crash".  After just finishing "Taking Off" I saw that Robert kept on the 12string and was hoping for it.  Then he said "This next one is a change of mood".  I've waited to hear this live for a while now, and finally have.  But with them changing up and playing "taking off" instead of "Us or Them" from WPB, I was really hoping to hear "Anniversary" near the end of the main set....but got "never" instead.  And closed the set with a very powerful set.  Perry broke 2 of his strings during the song, but kept playing on like a trooper.

Then for the encore, I was screaming "going nowhere" at the end of the main set and as they were coming out, hoping they might play it....but
nope.  I wonder if that will come out at all in the US, since it didn't make the US version of the cd.  I still have one more concert.....Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 6th....I can cross my fingers to hear there....but i'm not holding my breath.

All in all, an EXCELLENT night!  Much better than WPB.  The songs that made my night were: A Night Like This, Jupiter Crash, Lullaby, Strange
Day, and actually getting something different for the encore. I think my long drive down to WPB and Tampa from Charleston, SC was definitely worth it after tonight's set.  Makes me wish I could afford to fly out west for some of the last shows to see if they pull anything out near the end.  Now hopefully I can hear at least one song at Merriweather that I didn't hear in WPB or Tampa and I'll be happy .

- Jared B.