It was a cloudy, dank night at Great Woods, perfect weather for hearing
The Cure.  The English gloom masters closed out the summer season at Great
Woods last night, drawing a relatively sparse crowd of about 7,000.
 
   The  Cure  is all about lead singer  Robert Smith,  whose plaintive wail
and brooding, obsessive lyric
s define the band's sound - and whose haystack hairdo, heavy makeup and
penchant for black has spawned its share of imitators among the band's
devoted fans.
 
   It's hard to imagine anyone looking less at home in a Boston Bruins
jersey,which is what Smith wore on stage last night.
 
   Smith & Co. played for almost three hours; no one can accuse them of not
giving good money's worth.  Actually, the show could have used some editing
-there were some very strong moments, particularly in the encores, but some
flat patches as well.
 
   The  Cure  ran through a generous selection from their new record, Wild
Mood Swings, but kept their fa
ns happy with a show that reached back to the older material as well.
 
   A saving grace for The  Cure  is that for all of Smith's mopey angst, the
band has also produced a surprising number of very catchy, very danceable
songs.   Accompanied by dense clouds of smoke and flashing lights, The  Cure
began with the new "Want," then won cheers early on for "Fascination Street"
and "Lullaby." "Pictures of You" was classic  Cure,  with Smith's melancholy
vocal riding on top of a strong bass line and billowy synthesizer. 

There were plenty of mood swings on hand, such as the transition from the
jaunty "Just Like Heaven" to the mournful "Jupiter Crash," a song from the
new record.
 
   That album also supplied the anti-drug song, "Numb," and the tough, angry
"Trap."
 
   Smith emoted with everything he had - which is plenty - on the
melodramatic "Prayers for Rain."
 
   The encores were the best part of the show, starting with the sunny
"Friday I'm In Love," with Smith strumming ringing chords on his acoustic
12-string guitar.
 
   He kept things rocking with "Hot Hot Hot," and by the time he got to
"Let's Go to Bed" a fan had jumped onto the stage, tried to grab the star
and had to berestrained by security.  
   "Why Can't I Be You" was a fine romp, with Smith lying down on stage,
fendingoff another overly enthusiastic fan, then sitting at the edge of the
stage to get up close and personal with the front rows.  From somewhere,
Smith found a feather boa to add to his Bruins jersey, making a unique
fashion statement.
 
  Back for a second encore, The  Cure  did a guitar-driven "Boys Don't Cry,"
a surging "10:15" and the driving, angular "Killing An Arab," inspired by
French writer Albert Camus.
 
   The  Cure  would have done well to stop there, but Smith kept going with
the moody "Forest."
 
   A generous show is admirable, but knowing what not to play also has its
virtues.

By far the most fucking excellent show I've ever seen. Everything was 
perfect. The weather was just on the verge of storming. The place was 
packed.
The sound was great. Everyone was into it, and it definitely made a 
difference. I think they really played their hearts out, and this crowd 
really appreciated it. All the songs were great. Every one stood out as a 
peak performance.Flawless. But the real entertainment was the interaction of 
the crowd with Robert and the rest of the band. Where to begin. Well first 
of all I think he was pretty trashed by the first encore. If you've ever
noticed,most of the cups he keeps below Jason's drum kit are not filled with
water.I guess it all started during Lets Go To Bed.The stage at Great Woods
buts right up against the audience,and there isn't the usual security pit
preventing people from getting up on stage.Well why not take advantage,
right?A bunch of girls and several guys managed to get up on stage and grab
(hug?) Robert,or they got dragged off,or pushed back into the crowd or
whatever.Robert was really great during the whole thing.He was laughing and
egging the crowd on.By the time WCIBY was in full swing it was way out of
hand and funny.Robert was kind of staggering in his usual way at the front
of the stage,then he fell (purposefully? who knows) backward over the
equipment at the front,did kind of a backwards sommersault,and continued
the song lying on the stage.Simon came over and joined him,and Robert was 
kind of lying there singing WCIBY to him provocatively.Then Perry came and 
joined them.So they're lying there,and a not so small girl (sorry) jumps on 
top of Robert while he's lying there.It took two security guys and more than
a few seconds to pry her off him.Everyone was dying laughing.And still
Robert goes back for more.He went to the very front of the stage and sat 
down with his legs dangling off and sang a very sweet verse of Young at
Heart to the crowd around him.Then he pulled a black feather boa from
someone in the crowd and wrapped it around his neck,and continued singing 
totalling hamming it up.When he finally got up,he skipped over to his usual
spot and the song ended with him singing "simply elegant" three times posing
with the boa.I wish they had this on film.
The final encore was fiercely amazing,Killing an Arab was loud and agressive
and A Forest ending with Forever was a spectacular loud driving close to the
best live performance I've ever seen. 

Some observations:Ladies,I noticed that Perry was looking kind of cute in
his black nylon jeans.If anyone ever takes the time to stop watching Robert,
you should check him out,and try to get him to smile.And finally this little
piece of Robert's hair stuck straight up during the whole show.It never
moved.How great is that?Hopefully some things will never change.

well, here i am finally, in boston where it's cold and rainy.  the drive
to mansfield (i believe it's located just where the edge of the world is
so if we had driven any farther we'd have all been lost forever...)
my hearing is mostly returned (two hours later)
i couldn't shout for help if i had fallen into the charles river and i'm
sure those cigarettes did nothing to help the situation...

i've been to two previous shows:
san jose arena, san jose california
cal expo amphitheatre, sacramento california

and now this one.  i was impressed and let down.  but i'll get to the
good stuff first.

as you can tell it wasn't a tremendous concert from the vantage point of
old or rare songs, but the ones they did play were fantastic.

i was a little ways back but close enough to tell when roger was smiling
at the twitterpated girls in the audience and when robert was
experiencing moments of discomfort.

there was no artificial fog before the band came on to clue anyone in. 
all of a sudden all the house lights went off and the tape of want began
to roll.  it really caught everyone off guard.  but it was fine.
want had it's usual opening song strength and nothing spectacular
happened during singing or playing except the lights were fantastic. 
having seen the san jose and sacramento shows i really think they must
have sacked whoever did the lights for those and replaced him or her
with a genius...  they were incredible.  the lights as well.

club america was nifty as well.  i forget where, but robert early on in
the song threw in about 6 or 7 notes that don't appear in the song at
the point he played them.  i also noticed a theme with the lights.  red
white and blue.  mock patriotism.  i smiled

fascination street was intense.  simon was very into it and robert was
practically screaming out the lyrics with real emphasis and emotion. 
lights again were fantastic.

lullaby was good.  robert decided to throw everyone off by strumming his
guitar in a non lullaby fashion.  i was half expecting a song i didn't
know.  the lighting was equally good with the web effect and all the
black and white contrast.

pictures of you.  there's not much to say there.  they played it,
everyone loved it except the few of us who've heard perhaps one too many
times.  it's stilla good song though.  this is where the crowd finally
moved.  when the lights went off everyone stood up but just stood there
like mindless minions of the undead.  appropriate i thought.
robert was talking in between the songs as he always does, but the words
were almost unintelligible as he slurred and mumbled.  i suppose his
wine glass was empty pretty early on in the evening.

numb.  half the people couldn't understand what robert had just said so
they were turning to their rides and neighbours to figure out if anyone
else had.  in truth they hadn't...  and as numb isn't a main fixture on
the album or tour, most people decided to twirl their hair, twirl their
neighbour's hair or leave to get drunk.  i tried to keep count of how
many beers the people around me had purchased, but when everyone had
consumed about 5 i gave up the fight... numb was sort of painful as the
setup and acoustics of the amphitheatre didn't really allow for the
intimate sound that numb uses.

high. perhaps in poetic irony, perhaps in poetic contrast, perhaps just
to confuse everyone, high was played after numb.  hmmmm. what sort of
message is this?  it had all its grandeur from the wish tour.  simply
lovely

just like heaven.  i suppose it was for everyone.  robert faded in and
out with the lyrics from time to time most likely because the audience
was loud enough on its own.  robert didn't need to sing.  all in all i
suppose it was good.

jupiter crash had all the great and wonderful stars floating about and
blurring.  i must admit i cried quite a lot during this song.  it was
fabulous.  again, this was when most people unfamiliar that the cure
even had a new album out since friday i'm in love was released went to
go get more beer.  what can one do???

round et al. was quite worth it.  i think it pulled the band and those
of us in the audience who knew the emotions present in jupiter back to a
more happy state.  it's one of those songs that always applies to the
social parasites in a group but never oneself.  i wonder how that works.

love song was next and everyone got close to their neighbours again. 
robert was forceful with a few of the lines which added to the
experience.

like cockatoos.  robert insisted throughout the concert that they were
playing songs that they didn't do often.  if you do your homework, boys
and girls, you'll find that most of the songs on teh above list have
been played many times this tour.  especially the kiss me songs that
'they don't do much'  still, i liked the fragmented live sound.  it adds
to the departure of the live performance from the album and to those of
us who've read t h white's story it adds a little touch of remembrance.

strange attraction was vastly different from the other times i'd seen
it. not only did the screen not 'pull out' but it opened with these
funny little orange stars that appeared to the notes in what i swear is
part of holst's mars from the planets.  
robert's name was not spelled out like it had been in california and the
song was less stressed (perhaps because gone! is the next single and not
attraction).  he uncharacteristically stretched out the last line. 
pausing for at least two seconds between each repetition.

mint car was well received for a song that peaked at 58 on the american
charts, known fondly as 'that new cure song' among less dedicated fans. 
i believe this is where simon started his massive fit of skipping across
the whole stage.  he continued to do this for hours.

catch.  i really wanted robert to sing the alternate line 'she used to
just stand there and scream'  for the first time i actually pictured
what a girl smiling with rolled up eyes looked like.  i get a vague
impression of a browning monologue, but maybe that's just me.

if only... was fucking intense.  never have they played that song with
more emotion strength or time.  it must have gone on 6 or more minutes. 
i was very touched and moved.  a high point in the concert.

charlotte sometimes.  i had trouble recognising this song at first. 
perhaps all the complaints about close to me (which you might note was
not played at all tonight) should now be transfered to charlotte.  it
took me about 7 actual seconds to register what song it was.  robert
jumped passed a few verses and mixed the others around.  it was fairly
good.  i don't remember when, but now's a good time to mention this,
there were two people very close to the stage (at least 5 rows) holding
up a huge double sign for homesick.  i think we have groupies on our
hands... at one point or another robert told them that he couldn't read
them anyway and that they were playing what was to be played.  that was
the idea i got anyway...

return was well received and even though robert repeated himself and
missed a few lines everyone was quite forgiving.  a good song 

treasure and trap passed uneventfully but were both good.  trap was more
recognised perhaps because it's a good song about a bad experience (that
we've all had)

prayers for rain was the singlemost disappointing part of the evening. 
or it might have been.  we're used to robert holding that note for well
over twenty seconds right?  he only did about seventeen, which leads one
to wonder...did he do that on purpose?  my guess would be no, he
probably didn't get enough air before he started to sing and just
tapered off early.  it was a shame, but hey: seventeen seconds is better
than nothing.

in between and from the edge redeemed the event for a lot of people who
remember from the edge from the wish tour and who know in between days
and those few others by heart.  nothing special really.  just a good
performance.

bare made me cry, but it unfortunately made a lot of others do unseemly
things.  a young man groping his girlfriend fervently comes to mind. 
there were a great many people who perhaps didn't fit in with the
expected crowd.  that is to say there were a lot of really old people. 
i sat next to a bald 50ish man who couldn't sing a line of a cure song
or dance to save his miserable pathetic soul.  at least he had good
taste.

disintegration was again, like if only tonight..., one of the most
intense and violent versions of the song i've heard.  the glass breaking
kept on throughout the song, which is rather rare from my experience...

---------and then they left.  this is where a dull audience suddenly
came alive.  i don't even think they were going to encore, but seats
were thumped hands were clapped and throats were screamed bloody
(ahem...) 

robert and the boys came back out all happy and enthused (it took them a
while to come out as well)  and they started with friday.  the lights
werea bit much for this one.  too many colours.

then came hot hot hot!!! which was teh supreme fuck up of robert's
evening.  he got lines from all three verses into the first verse and
then skipped half a chorus only to go back to do the second and third
verses again and missing another chorus.  i think he tried to improvise
somewhere but it was lost in the relay.

let's go to bed was a general success as are all idiot pop singles.  but
then that's the point, so i liked it.  here's where the morrissey-esque
fun began.  it didn't reach its peak until:

why can't i be you.... i could write pages.  here are the important
bits.  roger decided to play some random chords that no one could
recognise but that sounded familiar.  robert lost his balance
intentionally or by drunken stupour just after the stuck like glue
vignette he does and fell down and rolled about on the floor (catch
anyone?) simon was still in a playful mood so he lay down next to robert
and they just lay there in front of perry playing and singing.  perry
then joined the fun.  roger and jason obviosly abstained from the
merriment as they needed to keep the song going.  simon got up when why
can't i be you's base line changed.  apparently gravity has something to
do playing properly (so much for gravity) this was where the cure show
suddenly became a morrissey event as at least 7 different people lobbed
themselves onstage to grab hold of robert.  he just kept singing. 
stagehands and security people hurled themselves across the stage (like
tennis ball fetchers actually) to tear the girls and boys from robert. 
however, robert wouldn't let go of one particular girl.  maybe m should
worry...
robert got down on the floor for young at heart and for the first time i
could actually understand every word.  i couldn't write any of them
down, but i could hear them.
the lovecats went as expected: he ran through the lyrics quickly twice
and then the rest of the group changed to lovecats.  the song made it's
way back to why can't i be you eventually.

----------and here the boys left the stage again.

they came back and played boys don't cry, which i've proved to be
wrong.  

then 10.15.  i haven't heard people clap the way they did tonight since
10.15 was the only solid hit the cure had.  it was astounding.  very
energetic and rousing.  the one true cure punk song that has survived
all these years.... sigh

then killing an arab.  you'd think they might not play this one because
of all the crap they've hit in the past.  apparently not.  it went over
well with robert positively howling half the song.

then a forest.  robert simon and roger all congregated on stage right
(for the audience) and stood there talking while roger fingered out the
necessary notes.  i actually thought they might make him screw up, but
he held it well.  i don't think we're ever destined to hear simon play
his famous first chords ever again.  forever keeps coming in between us
and those chords.  surprisingly enough this version hearkened back very
closely to the paris 84 version which appears in short on the curiosity
tape.  robert even stole a few lines verbatim from it.  a good theme
never dies, much like a good dream.

there was about 15 seconds of a possible third encore where dressing up
most likely would have been played.  but you can't ever top forever.  my
guess is that it will be made an instrumental and put on the end of some
future release.  but i'm not clairvoyant so don't come bothering me
about it.

other bits i've missed.  while singing ycibu robert was given (took
maybe?) someone's black scarf and completely mimicked the video at the
end with the feather boa.  and he said you're simply elegant about 5
times.  roger kept grabbing the bits and pieces from the audience on his
side and so did robert, who incidentally almost was pulled in.  


it's now really damned late, i've got an early class tomorrow and a
paper due; i haven't slept more than 14 hours this week.  so thank you
all for putting up with this bit of journalism and may you see the cure
if you missed them and may you see them again if you didn't.

how on earth are they going to top this show in new york?  i wait to be
impressed.

so...great woods...i had much better seats here, about third row on 
roger's side.  we got there early to hear some bits of soundcheck, but 
encountered more just-doing-their-job-ruining-the-harmless-fun security 
and couldn't even watch it from afar.  but the first cool part to me was 
sitting in my seat before it started and not many people where there and 
roger walked right down the aisle feet from me and jumped on the stage 
and walked back...pathetically that's as close to any of them as i've 
been when they aren't on stage.
so yeah, like someone already said, they just shut the lights and started 
the music.  oh, btw, does anyone know what the music playing before was?
i won't give my play by play rundown of every song, just say i was very 
happy to hear the kiss me and disintegration songs.  very very happy.
and some moments of crowd/band interaction that stick in my head...
in the dark before a song started some clever person threw their program 
on stage and hit roger in the head, whereupon he picked it up and flung 
it back into the crowd..those really fly well i notice.
and in case he doesn't post, if anyone saw down there on the side near 
the stage, a crazy guy holding up a shirt, i was right there...watching 
mike's incessant valiant effort to get them to play piggy in the mirror, 
to which roger saw and kept saying no to, until the encore when the 
entire front section rushed the stage and we were caught right at the 
edge and roger motioned for him to throw it up, and he went and lay it 
down in front of robert.   i half expected them to play it for us then, 
but no.  most of my best impressions are from the encore when we were 
allowed to go right up to the stage, and of being crushed from behind, 
being the person closest against the stage when robert came over during 
let's go to bed.  why can't i be you/etc was pretty funny, as someone 
already said, about ten people jumped onto the stage and ran toward 
robert, most were thwarted by the security and thrown back off into the 
crowd, but a couple people proved themselves excellent tackle dodgers, 
including the one who fell on robert 
when he was lying down, i thought that was a guy btw, who made it to 
throw themselves around him and be escorted off stage by the back,or some
who just jumped up danced a bit and jumped back down when the guys came.
maybe it was just my perspective, which was very good, but when robert 
and simon and perry were on the floor, robert kissed simon in the 
everything you do is simply kissable part, has that happened before?
i can't really think of anything else right now, i only have three hours 
of sleep because i woke up to go to my wretched 9 oclock class, so forgive 
me please.
 um, i can't really hear anything with my left ear anymore, the 
wall of speakers was right there, my head stopped throbbing about four this 
morning, but it's really kinda neat to be shaken by the soundwaves.
of the three shows i've seen, so far, worcester and albany being the 
other two, this one by very far blew the others away in my memory, i 
still haven't recovered i think, fucking excellent as robert would say.
anyhow, i have to go to sleep now, anyone going to hartford??

Still recovering from an incredible show last night at great woods.
The show made worcester seem like a soundcheck.  Robert was wearing a
Boston Bruins jersey (damn fine taste if you ask me).  The mood of the
show got chaotic towards the end.  The Cure seemed like they were in a
really happy mood, as they all had huge smiles on their face .  And when
people started to jump up on stage, all hell broke loose.  Robert kept
on messing up lyrics as he interacted with the people pressed up against
the stage.  He dropped his mic a couple of times and just smiled madly.
He came right over to where i was, and he stared at me for what seemed
to be an eternity.  I'll never forget his expression.
I reached out my hand and he took it, and gave me one of those "never
enough' video grins which simply made my night.  There was a lot of
interaction between the band and the crowd, mainly from Roger and Robert
.  I had made a "please play piggy in the mirror' sign, and every time
roger lokked over and saw my sign, he would smile and shake his head
"no" or give me the thumbs down gesture.
When i was up against the stage towards the end of the show, Roger
motioned me to throw my sign to him.  He took the sign and placed it
right in front of robert's mic stand on the floor, hoping maybe Robert
would play it.  They didn't end up playing it, but it didn't matter.
A couple of interesting things:
1)  The group "orgy" during wciby...Robert had tripped over a monitor
and fell on the floor in front of Jason.  He continued to stay on the
florr and sing, and he was quickly joined by first Simon, then Perry. It
was hilarious to see them playing while lying on the stage.  Yes Robert
did kiss Simon during this song.
2) Robert mentioned something about being scared of the crowd who had
just pressed their way to the front of the stage, me included !  Yet he
went right to the edge of the stage a few minutes later.
3)'Forever' was simply amazing- maybe the most intense song of night.
 
The crowd was excellent. and seemed to be full of knowledgeable fans !
There were probably about 8,000 people in attendance which was to me
disappointing to see.  It was just in '89 when they sold out two nights
at great woods.  
It seems as if the set list was modifided because they didn't want to
play the same songs which they played at worcester.  Robert mentioned
something about not remembering if they had played a certain song before
in worcester a few times last night.
Robert did say at the end, 'we'll see you again."   --whether this means
anything or not is very debatable, but i hope it does.  They seemed to
be enjoying themselves so much last night that i couldn't imagine them
breaking up at the end of this tour.