Some new bands that haven't quite made it and some old bands that still have what it takes shook the Patriot Center Sunday night at the HFSmas Holiday Nutcracker, the annual Christmastime concert sponsored by alternative rock station WHFS (Radio 99.1 FM).

The highlight of the six-hour, six-band, sold-out show was the Cure, led by a pasty-white Robert Smith. With his 21 years of brooding onstage and spitting out biting lyrics, Mr. Smith conducted a tutorial for the fledgling bands and the many teeny-boppers in the crowd, grabbing another generation of fans.

The low light of the night was the Verve, which might want to change its name to the Verveless. Lead singer Richard Ashcroft sleepwalked through a lackluster set that felled one teen-ager - centered between towering stacks of amplifiers - into a deep sleep.

Before the Verve and the Cure took the stage, Days of the New played a few mediocre songs, Save Ferris inspired heavy skanking (dancing to ska music), Everclear sounded like, well, Everclear, and Sugar Ray KO'd the crowd of 7,500.

The night started weird. Two guys clad in silver suits and motorcycle helmets strode down a runway to a pair of keyboards. The duo - called Moog Cookbook - ran through a bizarre medley of non-techno-tunes-turned-techno, including "Cat Scratch Fever," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Winter Wonderland" and "Born to Be Wild." They got a smattering of applause, and in return stints between bands, the crowd cheered only when they left the stage.

Days of the New was first onstage. Singer Travis Meeks, 17, performed sans shirt, strumming an acoustic guitar throughout. He and his three boyhood buddies from Charleston, Ind., looked from afar like a motley Hanson. They weren't quite as perky, though.

Save Ferris, which took its name from a sign in the John Hughes movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," skanked onto the stage next and made Days of the New look like the Kevorkian Brothers.

From the beginning, Ferris had the crowd dancing in the aisles with its blaring ska.

Singer Monique Powell, clad in a slinky red dress and blessed with a Judy Garland-like stage presence, looked as if she was having a blast onstage. Backed by a powerful horn section and bassist Bill Uechi, the band raced through a rocking set that joined ska with a big band and bebop. Each song was, judging from the crowd, music to jump by.

Just after they jammed through the Dexy's Midnight Runners' classic "Come on Eileen" (a ska song in disguise all along), out came the Specials. These British ska lords, who played with Madness and the Swinging Cats back in the '80s, brought their own horns, turning the small stage into a crowd scene.

After more Moog Cookbook, Everclear took the stage and did some songs. Then it left.

Sugar Ray was next. Influenced by Black Flag and the Sex Pistols, singer Mark McGrath lit out for the far reaches of the hall, equipped with a portable microphone.

The band, which spent a good deal of time spitting on the stage, blasted out a run of punk tunes, with Mr. McGrath stalking the runway. After kissing a fan and taking a teddy bear from her, he chucked the stuffed animal in the air; it suffered greatly at the feet of other band members.

Fans of "Fly," Sugar Ray's hit pop song featuring scat man Super Cat, might have been surprised by the band's hard-core rock. Even if they weren't, most were disappointed when the band performed the song without the scat singer.

The Verve then limped onstage. After a throbbing "Catching That Butterfly," Mr. Ashcroft attempted to take the audience to the dreamy place where he appeared already to be. It didn't work. Despite his close friendship with the Gallagher brothers of Oasis, the band offered only monotonous songs that went nowhere.

The Cure's Mr. Smith watched from offstage. One can only hope the Verve took notes when he performed. From the beginning, Mr. Smith was on. A perfectionist, he didn't like the band's sound after opening with "Shake, Dog, Shake." As the band segued into "Fascination Street," Mr. Smith was incensed with the volume of the bass. "Down!" he shouted to the sound crew, pointing to bassist Michael Dempsey. When that failed, and just before he jumped into the song, Mr. Smith mouthed a sarcastic "thank you" to his crew.

But that was the only glitch. His face illuminated with a million-watt bulb - setting off his mascara-rimmed eyes and lipsticked mouth - Mr. Smith slammed through more than 1 1/2 hours of hits, new and old.

The band performed the classic "In Between Days" as if it were new, and the new "Wrong Number" as if it were a classic, which it soon will be.

Mr. Smith gives everything in performance, but after every song, he made a sneering face as if the song the band had just finished could have been much better.

Judging from the crowd, most of whom stayed until after midnight, fans didn't agree.

TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS

WHAT: HFSmas Holiday Nutcracker

WHERE: Patriot Center

WHEN: Sunday

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Cure's frontman Robert Smith had finally shown up, six sweat-filled, dance-crazy hours after the first note blared through the George Mason Patriot Center.

And he wasn't a moment too soon.

Long-awaited, and the hands-down favorite, Smith and his beloved Cure reinvigorated an emotionally and physically exhausted audience Sunday as they blasted their way on stage with guitars blaring, strobe lights flashing and smoke billowing. At first, Smith's squiggly voice was lost amid the chaos. Only the blaze of biting, unmistakably Cure-like guitars filled the air, notes ringing like massive bells.

But soon enough Smith's voice climbed to audible levels and you could hear him squealing his way around the first of many of the night's hits, which included "Fascination Street," "Just Like Heaven," and their new one, "Wrong Number" (RealAudio excerpt).

The Cure headlined the 5th Annual "HFSmas Nutcracker" concert sponsored by WHFS-FM, the Washington, D.C.-based radio station. Their 90-minute set followed five other bands who had tapped the energy of an audience waiting to hear their black- clad icon. From the low-key set by Days of the New to the degrading booing of The Verve, the Nutcracker was a mix of high energy and inertia.

Days of the New opened the night to an almost silent crowd that seemed to be wondering at times if they'd shown up at the wrong show. The hundreds in attendance never stirred from their seats, yet all eyes remained focused on the stage as if the power of lead singer Travis Meeks' amazingly deep voice held them captive.

Then one of the show's shining lights, Save Ferris, ran onto the stage, horns sounding. The crowd was on its feet, kicking to the frenetic speed of ska beats. The band's hyperactive dancing seemed to infect the audience. A portal to the concourse was jammed with kids jumping and screaming to the band's rendition of Dexy's Midnight Runners' '80s hit "Come On Eileen." Still, Save Ferris had another ace up their sleeve, inviting the gods of ska, The Specials, on stage for a kicking finale.

Next came Everclear, who jumped onstage, and the crowd leapt to their feet to greet them. Although Art Alexakis' muddy vocals had trouble cutting through the wrenching guitars, Everclear had the crowd hooked from song one, sending teenagers pogoing in ecstasy and the entire audience singing like a bad choir to "Santa Monica."

After a rare pause, the crowd was back on its feet to meet Sugar Ray. Lead singer and model wannabe, Mark McGrath, was all over the catwalk, playing to an audience ready to eat up his aerobic stage act. He shook hands, ran into the crowd, stood on speakers and brought the token female audience-member onto the stage, electrifying the hopes of every other adoring fan in the house. McGrath, no doubt, knew the formula and the audience -- filled with teen-age girls -- loved every gyrating move from his chiseled physique.

Then, in one of the night's most unexpected moments, The Verve sauntered onto the darkened stage as smoke rose slowly behind their lanky silhouettes. Tripped-out guitars and moody vocals clipped the high energy built by the last three bands; and the audience just sat and stared. The Verve's huge sound on tunes such as "Bittersweet Symphony" (RealAudio excerpt) pounded the bleachers, but the crowd seemed unfazed (or perhaps entranced), some fidgeting in their seats. The reaction prompted lead singer Richard Ashcroft to shout an annoyed "Come On!"

The band left the stage prematurely and were met with booing when WHFS DJ Gina Crash shouted, "Let's hear it for The Verve!"

By this point, fans had listened, danced and screamed for six hours, but they mustered up whatever energy they had left for the much-anticipated final band, the Cure, who closed the night with old favorites such as "In Between Days" and "Just Like Heaven." Even as fans shouted their love for the band, they no longer kicked or jumped but moved in a slow, steady sway.

The audience cheered and stomped for an encore, which was delivered somberly after Smith announced, "This may be the last time we ever play." His remark sent a rumble through the crowd.

Well past midnight, the show ended with the last chords of the Cure's farewell song echoing across emptied bleachers. The remnants of the sold-out audience shuffled their way back into the night wondering just what Smith had meant, and thankful that if this was to be the Cure's last tour, they were here to see it. [Sat., Dec. 6, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

The setlist was the same with only one exception. The encore was Untitled. Killing an Arab was not played. The rest of the set list was the same, only in a slightly different order. Reeves Gabrels, again joined the band on stage for the same songs as the night before. The band didn't seem as into it as they did the night before. The crowd, though it was larger (8,000) was not as into it either. This may be attributed to the nature of the set. It does not cater to the casual listener. It was funny watching the crowd during 100 Years, Green Sea, and Disintegration.

The guys came on around 10:35 or so and kicked in with Shake Dog Shake which I used to think this was one of the weaker opening songs, but not after this, the song was simply an event - a lot of flange. Ithought Anight Like This was one of the best I've ever heard. Everything else was normal until 100 Years which rolled in with the wall of drums -guess they used a track- Robert left out the 2nd verse but made up for it with an extended outro that was gorgeous (I love structured screeching and feedback). Deep Green Sea was Perry at his best. The feedback he wailed with before the lead was nothing shy of My Bloody Valentine. If anyone knows the MBV song Glider you know what I mean. When Reeves same on it was once again great to hear the 3 guitar Cure, which in its day was only reached by the present day Radiohead. Disintegration was interesting because of the great changes from soft to loud. Untitled seemed a little longer and you could hear the guitar harmonies very well.

I also made a recording of the show if anyone's interested it's not bad a little too much on the high end but that can be adjusted. I also recorded the Verve if interested again.You can dial me up at cmason@wlu.edu.

The set was basically the same as the philly show (no WMS songs), but all of the songs were played better here in my opinion, except for 100 Years and Never Enough (but it was still better than the single version because of Reeves.) Torture sounded much, much better, and Robert didn't mess up Just Like Heaven's lyrics this time like he did in Philly. Robert did mess Wrong Number up though. the best song from philly in my opinion: 100 years. the best from from fairfax: untitled. also for all you jason haters: his drumming has improved a lot.

Well..I suppose the show was pretty damn good..except for sitting through what I have found to be the most tedious band in the world...THE VERVE. Ugh! Horrible! Even when Save Ferris got up and did their little remake of Come on Eileen I thought The Verve was the worst. But anyways, I did think it sorta sucked that The Cure played less songs than they did at Philly (I think) and we really didn't get any different songs from the Philly show. But it was definitely funny when they started playing and all these people in front of me (well, EVERYONE was in front of me, seeing that I was in the back row of the whole damn place) had the most confusing faces and were like, uhhh...this sux! And they left! It got pretty empty towards the end of the show, and this one group in front of me left before the encore..the mother was saying "well, i'm sure THEY won't be doing an encore so let's just go now." Ah well! Anyways...I guess the show was pretty good..I think the version of Deep Green Sea was better than at the Fairfax show last year..probably the best I've ever heard, and Disintegration was pretty damn good too. Even tho I had to walk through millions of Robert Smith look-alikes (who incidentally were also trying to sell pictures of Robert singing at concerts..hmm)...I think the show was good.

The overall event was pretty horrid. The sound system was just horrible. The Cure was phenominal, I was glad to hear untitled, a good emotional closer. The P.A. in the begining did not seem to work, Robert's vocals on "Shake" could not be heard until halfway through. Roger seemed to be wiping the stage constantly with a white rag (I don't know why though). One of the better versions of Disintegration I thought. It wouldn't be a Cure show without screwed up words as with Disintegration, Never Enough, and 100 Years. All in all a very good show that I still seem to be at being that I havent slept since before the show and am suffering from sleep deprivation.

I'm so sleepy... we spent all weekend driving, I got back just in time for my classes this morning. I think I'm going on 31 hours up now, so excuse me if this is short and doesn't make sense. The shows were good. We had awesome seats for Philly and was surprised to hear shake dog shake, torture, and a hundred years. I was so excited that the set was mostly older songs. Reeves played at both- wrong #, disentegration, never enough, maybe FTEOTDGS, but I'm too tired to have any accuracy. It took forever to get to VA with all the traffic. dissapointing that the set was the same except for reversing the order of never enough and wrong , but they encored with untitled which made it all worth the traffic and rain and sleepiness and nosebleed seats. simon and perry had fun with 100 years and extended the ending a bit. I had a great time watching them and Fairfax. I love watching robert, but he even had the same hand and dance moves and philly and he talked a lot more there,too, so there was more time to study elsewhere. There was a little catwalk out from the stage, but I guess robert isn't trying that after radio city last year... they came out and signed stuff before the philly show after they soundchecked with wrong #. After the show they came out too, but the security had us all behind their already running van, trapped in carbon monoxide fumes for so long that I just took my zoom lens and watched from a distance. I think they figured they could poison some of us, and then they'd get out of there faster...sorry if I repeating stuff people have posted already, i haven't read any messages yet. goodnight!

Not to sound like a pessimist, but after the show last night in Fairfax, I have come to the conclusion that the Cure probably shouldn't play festival shows like this. It was clear from the beginning of the show, that most of the fans were there to see one-hit-wonders (Everclear and Sugar Ray). The place was going crazy and was packed when the very untalented Sugar Ray singer was running through the crowd, yet people were fleeing out the doors when Robert was rocking out One Hundred Years. By the end of the Cure set, I'd say the sold-out venue was barely half filled. When they weren't playing Just Like Heaven, the crowd simply wasn't into it.

On top of that, I thought that the sound people were terrible for most of their set. Robert's microphone wasn't turned on until the second verse of Shake Dog Shake. Jason's drums weren't turned up loud enough the entire show. You couldn't hear Roger during Torture or Simon at all during Disintegration until the last verse. Robert looked visibly pissed about the sound, as he repeatedly pointed at the amps throughout the set.

Unfortunately, all these problems overshadowed a great show by the band. Untitled at the end was awesome although it felt like they played it because Robert was upset and didn't want to play Forest or Killing an Arab.

Overall, it was good to see them play, but not nearly as good as Fairfax a year before.