From Nashville Scene:

The once and future Starwood is a constant in the lives of many Nashvillians, much like a relative you don't see as often as you probably should. The outdoor throng of it all, the post-show performance art piece we call trying to leave the parking lot, the overpriced beers—they all make up the ritual of going to see that band you like when they've reached a certain point in their careers. As I stood in line to pick up tickets for the Curiosa Festival last week, I realized I hadn't been here since The Spice Girls in the late '90s. - Jason Shawhan

(Thanks Regina)

Although I've been a huge Cure fan for years, the show at Starwood was my first chance to see the band play live, and it surpassed my very high
expectations.  If I could have chosen my ideal opening and closing songs for a Cure show, "Plainsong" and "Boys Don't Cry" would have been them so I was absolutely elated to get to hear both songs, and the rest of the setlist was perfection. Highlights were "Shake Dog Shake" (I couldn't believe we got that one!) "Fascination Street", "Maybe Someday", "Push" (another big surprise!), and all of the Disintegration songs that were played; everything from the new CD sounded very strong too (I'd have to agree with others that Perry was a bit hard to hear at times, though). Robert's vocals were outstandingly powerful and the band was very energetic in spite of the heat. It was great to see them obviously enjoying themselves on stage. I don't think I stopped smiling, singing, and dancing for the entire set!

As far as the other bands go I only got to really watch Mogwai, and WOW! They played to a small crowd but their set just blew me away--their music is so intense it's practically a physical force that grabs you and won't let go. Just excellent and I wish more people had been there to hear them; it
was really something special. I'm definitely a convert.

And I felt like one of the luckiest people present that night, because I also got the chance of a lifetime to meet briefly with ALL of the band members backstage after the show and to chat a bit longer with Robert, Simon, and Roger. They were all incredibly kind and it was an honor to speak with them. I feel so fortunate that I was actually able to meet these talented people whom I've admired for so long and thank them for making such beautiful music. It was a perfect evening--thank you so much to the Cure for making a dream of mine come true. I know I'll never forget it. Thank you
again to all of you!

- Regina

They were tight and sounded excellent in my opinion.  I know it was another pop show but it was still good.  There's just no way to pack in all the GREAT songs with they're playing for 90 minutes or so.
 
I did get the opportunity to meet most of the band at a meet and greet through a radio station.  Robert was very kind.  I'll send in photos
tomorrow and photos from the show then.

- Robin

First off, let me say that I was right up front between Robert and Simon and actually did not die from the heat.  The weather was absolutely perfect for
this show, I mean, it was warm but not hot and there was a nice breeze! All the opening bands were nice.  The Rapture reminded me of the Happy
Mondays for some reason.  They had a lot of fun on stage and it was pretty cool.  Interpol were awesome too, be sure to check them out.  Mogwai were interesting, and right when they started getting old they were done.  There was hardly anyone there when Mogwai played, but they seemed excited anyways. During Interpol's set, we could see Robert on the side of the stage behind the house speakers, but he was facing the other way.  So everytime there would be a flash of light or a strobe, we would see the outline of his hair.
  It was really funny, because it was so perfect.  It added to the mystery! When the Cure took the stage it was very surreal for me, because I've never
been so close.  And they opened with "Plainsong", which was amazing of course, with Robert standing on the sides of the stage.  Everyone was
screaming and going nuts, and he kept saying "Thank-Q" and acting all giddy. I've never seen him act so happy to see us!
The band was in an exceptional playful mood tonight as well, especially Roger.  He kept making funny eyes and faces at the crowd, and the paper
airplane set list was hillarious.  I love seeing bands that seem like they're actually glad to be wherever they are!!!
Simon had lots of energy, and was hopping around like a champ, especially during "one hundred years" and "shake dog shake".  Speaking of "shake dog shake", I was talking to some friends right before they went on and they asked what song I really wanted to hear and I said that one.  They were
like, well, they may play that but don't get your hopes up..  Then, second song, Bam!
The lighting was amazing too, not too over the top but pretty perfect.  Very effective and each captured the mood of the song pretty right on.
The crowd in the PIT area was very nice.  Not any pushing or shoving and everyone was really respectful.  I was right up front and I actually had
enough room to move around a little, so that's nice. Highlights of the set for me included:  Shake Dog Shake, Anniversary, Maybe Someday, Push, 100 years, and Play for Today.

- Ben Wilkinson

The best Cure show I have seen yet!  They sounded amazing, very tight, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.  I was thrilled that they opened with Plainsong... and then to hear Shake Dog Shake next... wow!!  The "hits" were great, as always.  Push & Maybe Someday were pleasant surprises.  The new songs sound so much better live than they do on the CD (Anniversary has to be one of my favs).  And Disintegration... I wasn't expecting it at all and was crying by the end.  It is still one of my favorite Cure songs.  I loved the encore.  A Forest blew me away!

I thought all of the other bands were wonderful too, but Muse and Thursday rocked!  Overall, it was THE best festival I have ever attended.  The quality of the bands... the atmosphere... and it was organized perfectly.  I wish all festivals were organized that well.  And Starwood is a great venue.

The merchandise was awesome. I absolutely love the designs of all of the Cure shirts on this tour.  Really hard to choose just one, that's for sure!

I really hope that the Cure decides to have this festival every year...(or at least every other year)... 

- Strangegrl

Just came back from the last 3 shows (the only ones I will be attending - sigh)!!  What can I say, they are great!!  I have been going to the shows
since the Wish tour, i was 12, and I have never seen Robert in such high spirits, he has thouroughly been enjoying himself, it seems, this time
around, especially in WPB.  Some major highlights -   

Robert being his usual adorable shy self while taking in the crowd at all the shows

M and Play for Today - Tampa, you could hear the singing of the crowd, everyone was really into it

Shake Dog Shake - Antioch,Robert's voice is so powerful!!!!

Just Like Heaven - WPB, eventhough it is overplayed, the beauty of this song is obvious and evryone sang it as loud as they could, just a good song
to get the crowd crazy

FTEODGS - just a beautiful song, every time!!!!!!!!

Anyway, not too much to say that hasn't already been said, just that Cure fans are BEAUTIFUL people, everyone was mingling and talking, the energy has been really wonderful, eventhough the setlist could have been a little better ( Why can't we ever hear The Drowning Man????) Hopefully we will be gathering again in another 4 years??

- Magen Wilson

I don't usually do this, but I felt I had to make a comment about last night's show in Nashville. I've seen the Cure on each of their last 3 US tours. I've never seen the band so tight and well groomed. With very little editiing, this show could be distributed on a live CD-it was that good. Robert and all the guys just looked great. Simon was bouncing around again. Songs like Plainsong and Inbetween Days were just dripping with Roger's Keyboards. Although there have been shows in the past that I would have loved to have seen, but this was definately the best one that I've been a part of...so far.
 
-Clay
 

This was my first-ever Cure show -- they've only been to Nashville twice in the 16 years I've lived here, and the other time was while I was on a vacation, so this was really my first shot.  Here's my take on the sets that I saw.

The Cure:  Limited to a 1:45 set because of the curfew on outdoor shows here (everything has to end by 11 PM) and the festival schedule, they still played an expansive, well-chosen set.  The only problem was that they were following Interpol, which made leading with "Plainsong" a poor choice on the Cure's part -- after the furious blast of the Interpol boys, Robert Smith & Co. would have been better off coming out of the gate with some of the harder-edged, minimalist stuff from 17 SECONDS and FAITH before going elegiac.  But whether it was them warming up or me having to warm up to them or a combination thereof, by the fourth song or so things were swimming along.  Starwood (18,000 capacity) wasn't half full, but the crowd was far louder than sellout audiences at other shows I've seen there.  Interestingly, the girls behind us tended to sing along with the guitar riffs (except on "Play for Today," where they sang along with the keyboard riff) instead of the vocals, but it made perfect sense given the way the band's music is centered around those lovely propulsive, lateral-moving instrumental lines.  Personally, I was ecstatic to get "Play for Today" and "A Forest" in the encores.

Interpol:  The best set I've seen from anyone since Wire at the Royal Festival Hall in February 2000.  A total knockout.  If there had been a lid on the dump, they would have blown it off.  If I knew they were this great live, I would have made an effort to see them on their two Atlanta visits.  Simply amazing, and I'm still walking on air about it today.  Whoever said that Interpol "wasn't very energetic" was at a completely different show than the one I saw, and must require, um, lots of jumping up and down or something -- their set was incredibly intense.  I'm a huge Cure fan, but if I had walked out of the show after Interpol, I would have gotten full value on my $45 ticket.

Cooper Temple Clause:  another of the Young Radiohead Clones, with a small dash of Clinic thrown in, but not as interesting as that might sound.

Mogwai:  more enjoyable than I might have thought, and I could have stood maybe one song more, but probably not more than that.  A little challenging to have a group playing long mostly-instrumental tunes on the main stage, but then again, post-'85 Cure stuff sorta fits that description too. ;-)

Auf Der Maur:  Of course happenin' lookswise, but she seems less likeable as a frontperson than she was while playing foil to egomaniacs.  Her stage banter and gesticulations seemed to stem from trying too hard (frontperson must be loud! frontperson must be grand!) and overcompensating for understandable insecurity rather than from genuine assholishness.  It was my first exposure to her solo stuff, and tunewise it was just... o.k.  I probably won't be buying the album.

The Rapture:  They look like 14 year olds who are still wearing clothes they had when they were 12.  Is the new NYC hipster look "awkward, gangly teen boy"?  You'd think I'd like the Gang of Four flourishes, but both vocalists do so little for me (especially the screechy high-pitched singin' of the guitarist) that they were more of a chore than they should be, though they attacked everything with enthusiasm.  I sold their latest CD (which I'd only paid $6.99 for at Best Buy anyway) in the final CD purge during the move, and I don't regret it.

Apologies to Thursday and Muse, but old, fat people who've been at the venue since 4 PM have to eat sometime, and they also got tired of walking uphill to the almost-hidden "B-Stage." :-)

- Miles Goosens

The best live show Ive seen from them as far as how tight and sharp all of the songs were. Worth the 6 hour drive from Arkansas.  Plus the crowd
really got them into it. They seemed to enjoy playing more and more as the set went along. Simon's bass was a little distorted most of the time
it was so loud. Desintegration was a little slow....Jason kept slowing down subtlely as the song went along....I wanted to set an iambic pentameter up there for him to keep the same timing...lol. Otherwise a great performance....heard songs that hadnt been played on the festival up to this point..which was a treat for everyone there.  Huge crowd there...the lawn was pretty much full from what I could tell. I knew it would be a special night when they launched into Shake Dog Shake for the 2nd song...the crowd went nutz for that one. Robert's black schecter really has a nice sound. Roger was xlnt as usual...couldnt hear Perry's guitar that well. Robert stated to the crowd after BDC  "You made this night fucking excellent....see you again".

- Mark Green

Finally after 22 years on this Earth I lose my concert virginity to the most amazing and incredible band I have ever heard, The Cure at Curiosa
Festival in Antioch, TN.  Here's a song by song and band by band review.   I give this show an A because The Cure and Muse absolutely
kicked the crap out of me and delievered unforgettable performances.

The Freaking Awesome Bands:
The Cure
Muse

The Very Good Bands:
Interpol

The Good Bands:
Mogwai

The "I have mixed feelings" Bands:
Auf Der Maur
Cooper Temple Clause
Thursday

The Crap Bands:
The Rapture

First off I want to express how much Muse absolutely gave myself and mycousin an ass whipping with their amazing energetic unbelievable set. 
They opened with Hysteria, three songs I hadn't heard (I'm not familiar with any album except Absolution), Hurricanes & Butterflies (AMAZING,
BREATHTAKING), Time Is Running Out, and closed with Stockholm Syndrome.This is a band no one should miss.  Matthew Bellamy (lead singer,
guitars, keyboard) pointed at me after Hurricanes & Butterflies and I think he was talking to me when he said "I think you can do this better
than me!"  No one else around me was singing along except me, yes I was the Muse nut in the house and I never expected them to absolutely kick
my ass the way they did.  If you miss Muse, you are missing out.  Muse is the best band on Curiosa aside from The Cure themselves.

Interpol played a pretty good set, Obstacle 1, Say Hello To Angels, Leif Erickson, Roland, NYC, and PDA were played along with 3 new songs I
hadn't heard (and was frankly disappointed with.)  I'm amazed at how much the vocalist sounds like Ian Curtis from Joy Division.  Don't miss
Interpol.  My only complaint:  they weren't very energetic.

Mogwai jumped into Mogwai Fear Satan immediately but had an amp problem and had to cut it off, but jumped right back into it and it kicked ass
along with 2 or 3 other songs that was cool.  Mogwai deserves it's spot as a 'headliner.'

I knew after hearing Echoes that The Rapture was nothing but drivel.  I wasn't surprised as I left the Auf Der Maur set to find The Rapture
absolutely annoying myself and practically everyone around me was like "what the hell is this shit?"  No offense to Rapture fans, but I have
absolutely no idea why they are on Curiosa.  They are terrible.  Why isn't Muse in it's place?  Muse could stand on their own tour!

Now onto the main event:  The Cure.

Opened with Plainsong.  Absolutely nothing short of breathtaking.  Robert was checking out the crowd and was being all shy and bashful (you
are the man Robert) before singing his lines.  The song was just so beautiful I began to just sob tears of euphoria.  Unbelievable!

Second up was Shake Dog Shake, what a shock!  When Rob launched into "ha ha ha" I was like "HOLY SHIT SHAKE DOG SHAKE."  Us attending Nashville have been lucky with three songs that haven't been played much.  I noticed the mosh pit was acting up during that song, cool.  This song kicked all of our asses, as much expected.

Third was Fascination Street.  Unbelievable again, I love this song (it's in my top 10 all time favs) and I was grooving along singing along
and playing air bass.  I'm really glad this is standard on Cure setlists.

Next up was The End Of The World.  I love the song but would have perferred something else.

Next up for us lucky Nashville show attendees, ANNIVERSARY.  I went nuts when they played this song.  I found it cool when Robert sang the lyric
"A year ago" that the date JULY 28th, 2004 flashed on the screen behind them.  This song is very very nice live.  I was thrilled to hear it and
once again, I am very lucky.

Inbetween Days was awesome.  The crowd was very into this song.

Just Like Heaven got about the same response as Inbetween Days.

Next up was Pictures Of You.  Really nice, I actually started to choke up a little on this song because I have recently went through kind of a
painful separation.  Very very beautiful.

Maybe Someday was next I believe.  I love this song, I'm glad they played it.

(I Don't Know What's Going) On, if I remember correctly, followed Maybe Someday.  It was cool.  When they put up the fish eye camera on Rob's
mic I was like "OMG SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU" but unfortunately I was wrong.  The song was cool but even Robert was having trouble with his own falsetto, he would smile when he would mess up his own falsetto which in turn made us all smile.

Before Three I believe was next.  Absolutely breathtaking.  I got choked up on this one, I think this song is so beautiful and so romantic, and
I'm a romantic myself.

From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea.  Blew me the hell away.  I knew it would before I came into the concert, this is another one of my Cure
favs.  I loved the crowd all putting their hands in the sky in unison, as expected.

Next up, another lucky one for us in Nashville....  PUSH!!!!  Push was played, I thought I was going to crap!  This song inspired me to start
guitar in the first place because it has such a cool guitar lick.

Next up, alt.end.  Really and truly, this song was pretty cool live, the lights on this song were unbelievable.  I guess they make up for the
fact that this is one of the weak ones on the new record.

Us Or Them!  Awesome, I loved singing along with Rob.  Everyone enjoyed this one to death.  Nothing is cooler than screaming out "Get your
fucking world out of my head."  Great song.

One Hundred Years was next.  Only song on the show from Pornography. Song kicked my ass, as expected.  I was hoping for A Strange Day to
precede this but it didn't happen this time (oh well) but I'm okay because this song just kicks ass period.

I knew that either Disintegration or The Promise was next, and this time it was Disintegration.  When this song came in I was reminded of why The
Cure is my favorite band.  I would be lying to you if I didn't say I was so enveloped in the song that I began to cry while screaming out the
lyrics.  The Cure has meant a lot to me and this song I can relate to on so many different levels.  I'm really glad that they chose this song
even though I practically worship The Promise.  WPB was lucky in that they got both songs, but I'm just glad to have one.  And with that, Rob
and company went off stage.

About a minute and half later they were back for the encore.

Lovesong!  I was sort of surprised because they don't normally play this song on an encore.  But it was cool to hear.

Play For Today was awesome and the band was absolutely enjoying the hell out of playing this song.

A Forest was absolutely incredible.  I was for sure our night was done but there was one more treasure.

BOYS DONT CRY!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Man what a way to close!  Roger cracked me up because he made a paper airplane out of the setlist and threw it in the pit hitting some guy in the face and he made a gesture like "oh shit" while giggling.  The band absolutely were having a great time and so was the audience.

And with that, our short night (screw you curfew) was complete.  Robert cracked me up with his final speech, "Good night, we have to make a
fucking exit unfortunately," something along that lines.  It amazes me how bashful Robert is, he reminds me of me.  Robert IS THE MAN!!!!

This concert RULED.  I hope that I am lucky enough to see The Cure again on their next tour.

But yeah, Curiosa is a success because of two bands, MUSE and THE CURE. The rest range from very good to good to average to absolute shit
(The Rapture.)

- Travis Burgess