DALLAS - Just a few years ago, The Cure coming through town and playing a radio-station-sponsored show in a venue the size of the Bronco Bowl was, well, silly.

This is a band, after all, that has been playing sheds and stadiums (including, in 1992, Texas Stadium, before about 25,000 people) for more than a decade and whose leader, Robert Smith, he of the perpetual bad hair day, is one of '80s rock's ultimate icons.

But times change, the band's latest studio CD, 1996's vastly underrated Wild Mood Swings, performed poorly, and the crowds did not come out on the subsequent tour.

Which means that Smith and company (guitarist Perry Bamonte, bassist Simon Gallup, keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and drummer Jason Cooper) are no longer nearly as hot as they once were.

And so, this year at least, they're playing nine alternative-radio-station-sponsored pre-Christmas concerts, including last night's show at a sold-out Bronco Bowl as guests of KDGE/94.5 FM, trying to boost sales of the recent Galore - The Singles 1987-1997 compilation.

All this, however, is all to the good if you were one of the 3,000 or so who snapped up the tickets. Playing Dallas for the first time since the summer of 1996, the band delivered a strong set.

As always, there was not a whole lot of "show" to a Cure show.

Smith stood center stage and sang - everyone else was in the shadows and smoke.

Smith has always used the music's dark pull - and great lighting -to carry the band in concert. and on this night the combination was more than enough. The venue's intimacy threw the forcefulness of Smith's voice and his ability to mix melancholy, smart pop craftsmanship and just a hint of menace into sharper relief than a shed show could ever provide.

And this was true whether the band was doing a hit such as Fascination Street or a slightly more obscure song such as Torture or the opening Shake Dog Shake. The days of mass sales may be gone, but the Cure's music still has a dark, alluring power to it.

The Ghost of Christmas Past showed up Sunday night at the Bronco Bowl to transport fans back to the mid-1980s - an era when gloomy Brit-pop singers ruled the airwaves.

The occasion was the annual KDGE-FM (94.5) Christmas concert, and the time-capsule acts were the Cure and Richard Butler, the foghorn voice of the Psychedelic Furs who now leads Love Spit Love. But unlike Scrooge's ghost, this one didn't have an agenda - except to remind us how much fun those old moody English rockers can be.

The Cure, who headlined the sold-out concert, has grown to mythical status in the last decade. Legions of angst-filled fans still dress like band leader Robert Smith (he of black fright-wig hair, red lipstick and cadaverous skin); bands such as the Sundays and Deep Blue Something still borrow its melancholy sound; and director Mike Leigh even built his latest movie, Career Girls, around two women who are Cure fanatics.

It was easy to remember what all the fuss was about as soon as the quintet lurched into songs such as "In Between Days" and "Pictures of You." Where Bauhaus and Joy Division were all Goth-rock angst, the Cure knew how to balance the darkness with uplifting hooks and sing-along melodies. Sunday night, the crowd crooned every word to the 1987 hit "Just Like Heaven" with such a fervor it drowned out Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith - the only founding member left - managed to make his old sobs and moans sound fresh again during early-'80s obscurities such as "Shake Dog Shake" (the show opener) and "Killing an Arab" (the show-closing ode to Albert Camus' The Stranger). But while Mr. Smith is the Cure to many fans, the singer relied heavily on guitarist Perry Bamonte and keyboardist Roger O'Donnell, who drove songs such as "Push" with their edgy riffs.

The only drawback to the 90-minute set was the murky stage lighting. Incessant fog and strobe lights dazzled us back in 1987, but now its only effect is possible retinal damage and a bad headache.

Love Spit Love opened the show with an all-too-brief 30-minute set. Mr. Butler downplayed his Furs heyday - no "Pretty in Pink," though he did overhaul "Mr. Jones" - and focused instead on haunting new songs such as "Long Long Time" and "Fall on Tears."

But it barely mattered what Mr. Butler sang. Just hearing that magnificent Bowie-inspired rasp was good enough.

The show's odd band out was Seven Mary Three, an innocuous guitar-rock quartet from Orlando, Fla., that performed the middle set. Overly dramatic and derivative (dub them the Pearl Temple Pilots), the group played the most aptly titled song of the night: "Cumbersome."

My friend Jared and I arrived too early for the show, but I'm glad we did, I met so many people! So I have to say hello to Dayna, Ruth, Craig Hogan, and the other cool people I met whom I'm forgetting right now.

Security was non-existant, eveyone just walked in, you could have brought ANYTHING inside. I was sitting diagonally left facing the stage, this is my second time to see the Cure live. Love Spit Love came on promptly at 8pm, and had a fairly good set. Seven Mary Three started at about 9pm and bored the crowd to death. Finally at 10:20, the Cure made their appearance.

The sound was well mixed, I could hear Robert's vocals and guitar clearly. My only complaint would be that Perry's guitar could have been a tad louder at times. Robert seemed to be in a great mood, and the rest of the band was in high spirits...Roger flirted with the crowd most of the show. Shake Dog Shake was a brilliant opener, strobes and chaos. Torture was nice to hear, but there was definately something missing from it. Fascination Street was the single version of course, tightly performed and well sung. Suprisingly, A Night Like This was probably my second favorite song of the night...the band was clicking and Robert sang passionately with an aggressive guitar solo. Very nice. Push is always nice to hear, and no mess-ups...Inbetween Days was standard.

One Hundred Years was easily the best song of tonight, the synth drum loop with Jason playing over it was superb, as was Roberts guitars and vocals. Simply awesome. Robert messed up the lyrics bad at the beginning of Pictures of You, and the song never recovered, it also seemed to be too slow. Just Like Heaven was nice, Jason seems to have finally gotten the hang of this one. Deep Green Sea was nice, but again seemed a bit slow, as did Never Enough. Wrong Number was brilliant, came off very nice live, so did the next one Cut. Disintegration was normal speed, and quite noisy, Robert's solo at the end was done on guitar.

Encore: Untitled was beautiful, sung very nice by Robert with a great six-string bass outro...followed by typical rousing versions of 10:15 and Killing An Arab. In general, a good show, though I would have liked to hear more old stuff. Jason is definately improving, but still can't kick certain songs into the next level.

One other note: my friend Elia saw the soundcheck, which was just Roger and Jason, and they soundchecked parts of Wrong Number, Homesick, Untitled, All Cats Are Gray, The Holy Hour, and maybe a couple more.

Mind-blowing! Ear-splitting! Heart-wrenching! These are all terms which describe The Cure's performance at the Bronco Bowl on December 7, 1997. Having been an avid fan for the past eleven years, as well as a recent "Cure Groupie," I know from which I speak. The evening started oddly enough for my brother, "uncle," and sister. First, a clarification: last year during the Swing Tour, my sister and a friend met the band at the Dallas show, becoming quite close with Perry and Roger in the process. As a result, I was given the fantastic opportunity to meet and hang out with the band at the Houston show. My sister and her friend kept their ties with Perry and Roger, and with the announcement of the 1997 Dallas show, made plans for us to meet the band again at the Bronco Bowl. This leads us to the evening of December 7. We met my sister at her apartment only to find her on the phone with Roger! Roger explained that he and Jason were the only Cures presently in town (at 5:30 p.m.!!!!!!), as Robert, Simon and Perry had had a delayed flight. Roger and Jason hadn't gone to bed until 5:00 a.m. that morning and were forced to do the sound check alone! They were both really tired. After setting up final details, we zoomed off to the Bronco Bowl. When we got there, we had a few hassles. The people at will-call were short a couple of backstage passes; the security guards were being difficult; and the Seven Mary Three was terrible!!!!!! After a bit of confusion and a run-in with a big, fat, ugly, pony-tailed security guard who was intent to keep me and my comrades from following my sister backstage (she had HER pass!), we finally got our passes and headed for the floor for the show. The concert was brilliant in most areas of the set. It was fairly standard for this mini-tour, but Shake Dog Shake, 100 Years, Wrong Number, Untitled, and Killing An Arab were simply delicious! 100 Years especially, a real "rip and slash" version with electronic drum loops and everything! I was greatly impressed, even after having seen three previous tours. After the concert, we went backstage and hung out. The band was tired and had decided to head back to The Melrose Hotel to rest. Even though they didn't go, WE got to take the limo and all of it's "tasty beverages" to the Lizard Lounge for the aftershow party. The entire second floor had been roped off for us and the band, with more "tasty beverages" I might add! We partied until around 4:00 a.m. and had a good time even without the band present. Roger felt bad about not coming after all the arrangements, but we understood their fatigue. Overall, yet another amazing experience, courtesy of "Bob and the boys." Thanks again for everything, Roger! We appreciate your attention! I can't WAIT for the summer tour!

unfortunately, the band lacked flare and intensity during the core of "rock" songs in the middle (FTEOTDGS thru Disintegration). the tempo was way slow and sapped the energy from the songs. it doesn't seem to be jason's fault, either. the band is performing in accordance with him. it would seem that if he was the slow one, that one of the other 4 would be off, and they weren't. reeves did not play, either. so the guitar songs were short one performer. also, they had to restart pictures of you and robert completely biffed the beginning of JLH.

enough with the bad (and yes, it was bad). shake dog shake was one of the most intense songs i have EVER seen them perform. between the furiousity of the playing and the incredible light show, this WAS the best song of the night. torture was interesting to hear live. 100 years was as powerful as i have been hoping (for about 5 years!) it would be. very full sounding as compared to the LP version (more instruments, doh!). and untitled was absolutlely sublime. very similar to teh LP cut, except it was much easier to feel it. *grin* also, killing an arab was the most intense i have seen live. very quick and sharp.

overall, it was a mixed performance. you could tell that they had been working probably exclusively on the older stuff that is not played often. however, seeing so many songs that i had longed for forever (and that were played supurbly) made it brilliant. well worth the 10 hour roadtrip from albuquerque.

I was there and, yes, it was great. I was waiting for Untitled the whole time, and when it was played as the first song in the encore it was just magic. I had pretty bad seats, but right before the cure came on this guy who was (apparently) a scalper or knew a scalper who couldn't sell their tickets, because he offered me 3 floor seat tickets for $40. I bought them, we ran to the floor, fought our way to the front, and by the beginning of the opening song (Shake Dog Shake!) I was three feet from the stage. I stayed there the whole time. I really thought Simon bore a frightening resemblance to Slash, The way his hair was cut and with the style in which he was playing. Hee Hee. They all seemed to be really into the show and Robert was having a lot of fun. I don't have the set list - I was too enthralled to keep track. They played a really rocked out version of Killing an Arab for the finale. Just Like Heaven was not at it's best, and Wrong Number was defiantly missing Reeves Gabriel... Push was really good. I will say I was disappointed that they didn't play more obscure songs. They did play fairly old ones, but they were pretty much the usual fair. I was hoping for some B-Sides... Ah, well. I suppose I'll recover.

Well, the trip to Dallas far exceeded any of my expectations!!! I don't even know where to begin. Frostbite, Ruth, and myself got up at the crack of dawn to drive from Norman, Oklahoma to the Big D. Fueled by Twizzlers, chips, and much Dr. Pepper, we finally rolled into town and after checking into our hotel, we went straight to the venue. I had been told so much about the Bronco Bowl, but none of that did it justice. This place rocks!!! Gawdy neon everywhere you looked, black light pool tables, an arcade, a bar, the Canyon Club, a bowling alley... oh, and of course the arena... what more could anyone need?

We got there around 12:45pm or so and a few people were already in line. I planted myself right there as I prepared to wait until 7pm when the doors would open. To my surprise, the doors to the venue were open... so, my curiosity got the better of me and I wandered inside only to see the crew setting up the equipment. I also saw one of my online friends (Hi Elia!!) down by the stage, so I went to say hi. By this time many more people had wandered inside the arena. I talked to Elia for a little while and before we knew it, we looked around and everyone else that had wandered in had been asked to leave. About that time, Roger came out and I said hi, but not much conversation was to be had with him. Oh well. Elia and I got to hear the entire soundcheck (I swear it seemed to last 2 hours or more).

While we were listening to the soundcheck (we were sitting right behind the soundboard), to the left of me was Jason. He had been sitting there the entire time and we never noticed at all!! I went over and asked if he would mind taking a picture and signing my ticket. He said not at all and we talked for a while. I asked him if they would be playing any surprises that evening. He said there are always surprises. I told him I wouldn't ask him to divulge the setlist and he replied that he didn't even know himself what they would play until about 2 hours before the show. He also said that they don't REALLY soundcheck at these types of shows. He and Roger just show up to test the equipment, but the other band members were still at the hotel. Jason was very chatty and friendly as I knew he would be. He said it was nice to meet you as he ran to the stage to finish soundchecking. They ended up soundchecking The Same Deep Water As You, All Cats Are Grey, Untitled, Wrong Number (which almost sounded complete even without guitars, all it would have needed was vocals... hmm..), and even Open.

Elia and I listened to the rest of the soundcheck and went back to our place in line, which was graciously being held by Ruth (thanks so much!!). From there, a few drinks later, I met some of the GREATEST fans that I always knew of online, but I had never met in person (you were great guys Jason, Jared, Craig, Jimi, Elia, J.J.!!). We chatted and the time just flew by and before I knew it, the doors were being propped open. Everyone just surged through the door, nothing was checked, barely even the tickets for the venue!! I rushed down to the front and staked out my spot to the right of the stage in front of Perry and Simon's area. For those who were there, I was the annoying girl with the glow-stick-necklace-thingamajigger.

>From there it seemed like eternity until the Cure came on. Love Spit Love was pretty good, although I was going deaf from the lead singer getting out a megaphone and using it to scream into the microphone. Seven Mary Three were even more boring than I ever dreamed was possible. I did feel kind of sorry for them though. At one point, the lead singer guy said "Everyone in the first 10 rows look dazed, well right back at'cha!".

Finally, the Cure came on!! Shake Dog Shake was excellent. I believe it was one of the most powerfully emotional songs I've ever heard them play. One thing that stuck out in my mind was how blinding the strobe lights were. I think I was getting a sensory overload of some type, it was just indescribable!! Torture was not as good as I thought it would be live. It's one of my favorite songs, but it just lacked that certain Je ne sais quoi. A bunch of songs were played from The Head On The Door- Inbetween Days, Push, A Night Like This. Robert said something like "This is another one from Head On The Door, you might feel like you're going back in time." Pictures Of You started out good, until Robert got up there to sing. I think he was getting a drink and he lost his place with the words because he got to the microphone just a bit too late (like half-way through where the first verse should be), and then he just couldn't recover it, so he made up the lyrics until the chorus line. One hundred years was INCREDIBLE. I think the drum loops made all of the difference in the world. It gave me a completely new perspective and respect for this song... wow!

People kept shoving and pushing and by about 1 hour and 15 minutes into the show, I started feeling faint (thanks to the girl behind me who was literally on my back and wouldn't give me any room as much as I asked her to- If you're out there, thanks A LOT!!), so I had to leave and go to the back which still ended up being excellent because there wasn't a bad seat in the whole place!! I met back up with Frostbite and Ruth where we sat amusedly watching these two "wild and crazy kind of guys" as Jess put it (and it's true, they fit the mold completely!) during Wrong Number, which was excellent live by the way. About this time, or a song or two after, some guy jumped up on stage and clung onto Robert giving him a kiss. He held on for quite a long time even after the security guard got to him, then he finally let go. At this event, it wouldn't have been very hard to do. The stage was only 3ft. high and there was about 2 feet between the barracade and the stage. It was funny though, to say the least.

The encores were beautifully played. Robert was getting ready to sing and someone yelled something to him and he said "Now you've ruined my mood and he turned around, kind of jokingly, walked back to get a drink and then came back to the microphone and said "We're going to play a few songs that have a good mood to go home by" (or something like that anyway). Then came Untitled and it was so beautiful. 10:15 was after that, a definite mood change (I was hoping for The Same Deep Water As You or Faith- I had a red balloon that I got from the Canyon Club and I wrote Faith on it. I had every intention of tossing it up onstage during the show. I held the damn thing through Love Spit Love, Seven Mary Three, and then this fat security guard squeezed by the barricade popping my little red Faith ballon. "He killed my Faith balloon... you bastard!!", sorry to digress like this, I'm a little bitter). Killing An Arab was excellent, the best that I had seen of that song performed live. A lot of aggression. Then the show was over and Robert said something like "See you again next year when we have a real album". I hope they will come again and soon.

After the show we waited until the band left, around 1:45 or so. It was freezing and there were only about 8 of us there, but the band got in their van and left as we all waved goodbye. One of the people that was backstage, J.J., came out and talked with us afterwards saying that Robert thought it was one of the best shows they had done. I couldn't have asked for a better day... Excellent!

By the way, I put up a few pictures of the show in my picture section. Check it out!

right. stayed up drinking friday until i had to get on my 7 am plane back home to oklahoma, flew, dealt with my family for a few hours, had some indian food, stayed up late, got up early, and found myself southbound on i-35 with dayna and ruth by 8:30 am sunday...

got there early, had my mind blown by the weirdness of the bronco bowl and its wacky "new wave southwest" motif, was amazed so few people were there, and began to pace the parking lot relentlessly in the rain. pace, smoke, feel like a highschool student as i sneak to the car for more alcohol, pace, smoke, haul out the laptop to show babblers' setlists to ppl in line with us, pace, smoke, get rained on, etc.

a lucky friend got in and wasn't chased away, so she reported on soundcheck for us.. not that we couldn't hear most of it in the hall anyway.. (got to love the bronco bowl; you get to wait inside, you can drink and eat and pee and play pinball... )

getting desperate for tickets, i run off with some strangers from tulsa to find a ticket broker.. of course, this being dallas, we got hopelessly lost several times.. by the end, we've all smoked a pack each, are quivering, have gotten floor tickets pretty cheaply (the broker is desperate; by the time we find his place, doors are half an hour away), and have driven like bats out of hell back to the BB.

and suddenly we're IN and i am standing 3 rows from the front, there in the crush, staring in amazement at the ceiling of the theatre, remembering being there for my first cure show, remembering how huge it seemed then and realising how tiny it seems now.

love spit love are good at the thankless job that is opening for the cure. but then i've been playing the p.furs' retrospective cd into the ground at work, so perhaps that's just my soft spot talking.

seven mary three just suck and are contemptuous fuckheads to boot. people around me boo them as they taunt the audience and i actually fall asleep standing up for a while.

i spot faces from years past in the audience and then suddenly, finally, the cure are on. just like 11 years ago, they start with "shake dog shake" and i have a few moments of utter disorientation.

perhaps knowing the other nights' setlists made me expect stuff i wasn't going to get. not that i was disappointed, mind you.. although i won't lie and say that i wouldn't gladly trade 1,000 just like heavens for one holy hour, remembering how it was in 1989..

someone else beat me to the punch here, but i have to echo it anyway: everything sounded SLOW. i mean, REALLY slow. "push" was practically unrecognisable.

the sound up front sucked, all drums and bass monitors.. so after nearly killing someone for being a fuck during "100 years", having a bunch of surfing brats kick me in the head a few times, and thinking of 3000 ways to kill the girls behind me ("it wasn't this packed at the Rage show.. tell the bouncer you lost your pager, he'll let you up front to look for it.. i wish this bitch in front of me was shorter"), i remember that the idiots : sane people ratio at cure shows isn't what it once was and decide i'll see the rest from the back.. i'll be able to hear, and i know what the damn band looks like, right?

i work my way to the back and wish that they had *their* lighting ppl doing this show.. the way it's lit, it looks like RS and his All-Star Anonymous Backing Band.. *grumble*. from the back, though, the sound is better, and i can stand next to ruth and giggle menacingly at the drunk guys who keep trying to touch my hair/start up a conversation with me. during "wrong number" (which worked perfectly well live; i take back all earlier remarks about them being too wussy to play it) these two begin to dance and i begin to wish that THEY had been in the video. they are, indeed, "two wild and crrrazy guys". heh.

the middle of the show is sort of odd.. a loss of momentum or something. i know, someone else already said that, too, but it's worth mentioning. i close my eyes and remember robert's face during "100 years", looking in the amber spotlight like an earlier version of himself, one *i* am certainly too young to ever have seen.

i walk around in the crowd for a while, taking comfort in the faces of the few who are rapt, entranced, delighted, and ignoring the ones bitching about their math classes. i watch the jumbotron for a while and notice that RS never leaves his mic stand, never venturing near the edge of the stage, really hardly making eye contact with people at all. i wonder if the girl up front who had the book for him had a chance to give it to him (she didn't) and run into dayna, who'd been pulled out of the front row after being wrapped around the barricade a few times...

they play on and i try not to wish for things i know i won't hear. i know, i'm a spoiled brat and should be grateful for every "killing an arab" ending that i get, but...

i don't know. it was a good show, not the best, not the worst. i didn't come away swearing that i *would* go to chicago's show, no matter what, although it will still feel strange to sit at work and know that they are onstage here in my city.

afterwards i hide from babblers, hoping that nobody finds out who i am and decides to debate the Finer Points Of G*th with me.. heh. actually i talk to a few that i know and probably alienate a few others by being distracted. 3 ppl ask me if anaconda is there (you WEREN'T, were you?), which i think is a little odd... what am i, y'all.. his personal secretary? heh.

people wait and wait in the cold for the band to leave. i meet up with a few online ppl that i had been looking for all day and they seduce me into coming with them, following the bus... i have never really done it before and feel a little weird about it..

we end up being the first car in line, and at the hotel all is craziness as ppl try to get rs to sign things. i hardly glimpse him, but get a keeping-secrets-style grin anyway, through the heads of the crowd.

perry tells me (after scolding me for not working on my site recently, which makes me wriggle in delight like the nerdy fangirl i am) that the chicago/wxrt thing, as reported here, is not a real "show".. just a few songs ("3 at the most") for the small audience.. most likely at the radio station itself. (yay, i have friday off.. who wants to have breakfast with me?) he implies that the band are not too thrilled, that the label had set it up, and that they are faintly annoyed that the station is turning it into such a big deal.

i decide that i will not, in fact, die if i cannot get in. all is good.

the rest of the evening is spent discovering that apparently every denny's in dallas is fucking closed. whee. and bonding in real life with people i already feel bonded to in nebulous net world. (arr, matey!)

dragged myself back here to chicago and - still without much sleep - have to go to work now. a longer, more thoughtful version of this, with pictures, will exist within a few days at http://www.geocities.com/~subxero/mlicl-dallas97.html.

thanks for your time, dahlings.. have fun out west, and i am sure i'll see some of you in chicago.

First of all, this venue was such a bizarre place for this band to be playing! The Bronco Bowl is a Family Entertainment Complex complete with a bowling alley, an arcade, and kiddie rides. The center is in good shape--not run down or anything-- rather its almost the opposite: New carpet and seating with the feel of a happy mega mall. So, that said, it was a very comfortable venue, just quite Ronald McDonnald. Bizarre environs for "100 Years" & "Disintegration". The Cure used to sell out stadium size arenas, now they're playing bowling alleys.

However, the venue was small and it was easy to see the band from any seat, its just that it had all the intimacy of the food court at the mall, complete with the nachos. So, while surrounded in this neon-cheesy environment I thought 'what the hell, when in Rome...' as I ordered up some of those mall nachos and munched away. (mmmm....nachos...)

So, this was my 42nd Cure show. We drove 200 miles from Austin without tickets. But that bothered us very little-- we went to New York for the Halloween show without tickets and had no trouble getting in there free.

We showed up at the venue around 7:30-- so the doors were open, but no bands had taken the stage yet. We bluffed our way in--which was unusually easy at this venue. We only had to try 3 doors before we found a guard we could convince. I've learned that the $300 ticket broker tickets are very rarely necessary for us. If you're dressed a certain way (namely, harmless) I've found it's not hard to get in. But, that does take some of the fun out of it.

Anyway, once in we politely found empty seats. LoveSpitLove was all right, though I prefer older Psychedelic Furrs. Seven Mary Three was out of place at this show, and even said as much. The lead singer said "The first 10 rows are staring at us in a daze, like 'what the fuck are these guys doing here'-- well, right back at you. We have no idea what we're doing here either. We just couldn't resist the offer to play with such great rock bands." They had to put up with a very unfriendly, uninterested crowd as well as screams of "get off the stage" etc. What kind of asshole screams this out? Just let them play-- the cure will be on soon.

So, as I write this 7Mary3 is on the stage and my girlfriend has gone to get passes. I'm not sure if she'll get them: sometimes it works, sometimes not. I tell ya, start writing notes at a concert and people around you get real curious. Three people have asked me if I was a reporter--then proceeded to talk to me when I said no. Its a real tame, Polo shirt, Ralph Loren type of crowd-- very friendly though. The button up shirt preppies (um, that would include me tonight) mix with the leather, velvet, black lace clad segment of the audience. For the most part a real mellow group of kids. Then again, maybe its the wholesomeness of the venue influencing my opinion (mmmmm... mall nachos...)

Well, after walking around after 7Mary3 left the stage I'm changing my mind about the audience. Actually quite a few from the harder set than I'd first given them credit for. But its still very mixed between the Polo shirt types and the hard-core. It's Middle America meets the Methadone clinic.

Lights go out for the Cure.

The entire place gets on their feet, for the first time in the evening. This response is quite the opposite of what I'd read on Babble about previous shows this mini-tour. From what I've read about the crowds there, by the time the Cure was on half the audience had left because they didn't recognize any big hits. Not the Dallas crowd. They were here only for the Cure.

Fascination St.-- people crowd surfing during this. Strange and funny and stupid. well, at least they're excited down front.

A Night Like This-- 99% of the crowd is still on their feet, and the other 1% seemed to be sitting down to do assorted drugs. (well, really pot for the most part)

I've long since lost the ability to explain why I go to all these shows.

The band started Pictures of You, then aborted it. Then started it up again with some miscellaneous lyrics to begin the song with.

Bizarrely beginning Just Like Heaven

Edge Deep Green Sea-- with some talking that couldn't be understood. Smith fucked up lyrics-- well, he often changes them, but usually what he changes them to are interesting. This time what he said didn't fit at all.

Wrong Number: To depart from what some of my Babble friends have thought, I thought this version was bad, especially at the beginning. The New York Halloween version was great, so I don't know what the difference was. The woman's operator voice failed to announce, if indeed it was supposed to. I'm pretty certain it did in NY. Anyway, Smith did seem to try and make this song work after it had been going poorly. His effort did salvage it, and it improved from it's start to a reasonable finish.

Disintegration: Smith trailed off in the most intense portion of this song! He just stopped singing for a wile, a bit that really damaged the impact of this song. He did pick back up a bit later, but the most intense part (for me) was gone.

After the break Smith returned and provided some unusually clear comments about how much time was left and that they would only be able to play couple songs. He said they'd play one slow one, which they did.

Untitled.

Killing An Arab: good, strong, medium-hard version.

So comes the end of the show. 90-95% of the audience are still there, and standing. Again, the opposite of what I'd read about previous shows.

We waited after the show but never did go backstage. We found out later that the girl who said she'd delivered our message never actually did. We waited and talked with the patient, cold group of fans that remained. Very nice people! Nice to meet some more babblers in person! Actually, I'm going to re-iterate how friendly the group at this venue was. Talking while waiting after the show ended was enjoyable-- usually there are some assholes who are just sure they are the ultimate cure fans and who just wish everybody else would go away. Tonight the group was nice.

Back at the hotel the band was very gracious. When their van arrived Simon, Jason, and Roger went inside fairly quickly. They were outside just long enough to sign autographs for the quick people, then retreated to the sanctity of the 4-star behind them.

Smith was quite patient and very nice to the group of fans that clustered in near wonderment around him. He signed things handed to him and waited for pictures to be taken. I don't know that I'd like people putting their arms around me, like we were the closest of friends, while they take a picture. I don't know if Smith likes it either, but he did indulge those who wanted that. Anyway, he stood still for pictures, humored those who wanted to hug him, and was very patient, very accommodating to his fans. Plus, he was funny! Can't remember the comments now, but he was genuinely funny.

Perry and Smith greeted me and my girlfriend by name, which was pleasant. We were actually surprised just how well they know us-- of course we know them and remember what they're doing at such-and-such time, we just didn't expect that they'd remember the same about us. Then again, its not like we're strangers--42 times in recent years. That is a lot.

Perry was urged inside after a bit, leaving Smith with some security people-- who were also quite gracious this evening. I don't know if the people who were at the hotel that night realize it, but this was not the standard experience one might expect at their hotel. Often they are shot inside quickly without talking at all, let alone the 10 minutes or so they spent talking this time. So, we were lucky to have had such a pleasant hotel meeting.

hey you guys! well......the dallas show was wonderful!!! i live in houston so we didn't have to travel far at all! and my boyfriend and i sneaked in the arena to hear the soundcheck and surprisingly enough they didn't kick us out!!! we were able to catch rodger and jason play....they're the only ones that went early anyway...then my boyfriend and i went BACKSTAGE...and walked around...we checked out their dressing room and there was this security guy sitting in front of the room and my boyfriend asked him if he's seen robert or anyone else around....and he said no...did you check upstairs?! it was really funny.....we checked but of course they weren't there!!! the concert was AMAZING....and afterwards we hung around to see the cure hop into their bus....AND THEN WE FOLLOWED THEM!!! my friends and i arrived dallas on friday night so we had all weekend to find out what hotels they were staying at...BILL helped us a lot....actually he's the one that told me where they were staying. for those of you that DON'T know him....he's the bloody bloke that has a bunch of cool stuff in his record store but the catch is that none of it has a price....you ask him and he tells you....and if he knows you're a die hard fan....he gives you DIE HARD prices. i spent almost 200 bucks and i just bought an album a t0shirt and a couple of cd's....actually it really wasn't that bad....i'm not bitter. anyway......my friends and i along with 15 other cars followed them to the hotel and we met them! we were all standing there hoping the band would come out and talk to us for a little while and then robert comes out of the van.......and the next thing i know he's standing right in front of me waiting for me to give him my shaking pen!!!! he signed my cd first and i told him my name and he said "michelle? what a beautiful name...." then i asked if i could hug him and when i did i kissed him too......that has been my dream since i was 10!!!!! then i met simon and perry....rodger and jason didn't hang around at all....THEN i went back to robert so that he could sign my cd disc because he olny signed the cover....he kind of chuckled and signed it anyway..and then i said "umm, i play the guitar and i was wondering what kind of pick you use to play your guitar..." AND he looked up at the sky and dug deep into his pockets and said i belive it's this kind....and handed it to me! i said...i can keep it? i swear i was going to faint right there!!!!! i'm so happy now.......he was as wonderful as i imagined him to be...simon and perry as well....perry was extremly nice!!! he gave me his pick too!!!! actually we use the same pick!!!! i was soooo elated, i still am! i gave perry's to my boyfriend but roberts is framed in my room along with his autograph................dreams do come true....after 9 adoring years and i'm sure i'll forever adore them.....robert is pure brilliance....but i'm sure you guys already know that!!!!! well, talk to you guys later!!!!! take care everyone and i apologize if this bored any of you.....i'm just so HAPPY now!!!!