The Shepherds Bush Empire has a capacity of about 2,000. It has a standing area downstairs and 3 balcony levels where people sit.

Before The Cure came on the atmosphere was relatively quiet (there was no support act) but as soon the band arrived on stage at 8:30pm it was a different story. Dowstairs, everyone was pushing forward and enjoying every minute of a set which comprised a number of favourite oldies.

Although there were no major surprises compared to the recent American shows, the band didn't seem to make any mistakes and Robert was very chatty. As usual it was very hard to understand what he was saying but he was smiling a lot and so were the other members. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and looked very comfortable in such a small venue.

I don't really want to comment on each individual song, but overall the experience was great. The people sitting upstairs were relatively passive but downstairs everyone was dancing, shouting and clapping. The set was relatively short and many of the fans stayed in front of the stage for up to half an hour after the show had finished.

Maybe they were keeping their place for the second show...

small

packed

hot

and sweaty.

just like cure gigs never seem to be anymore . . . !

"we're going to play songs we don't normally play" said the shambling figure at the front of the stage.

and then they did.

in fact, they did:

shake dog shake torture fascination street ("i usually don't say anything . . . but i feel like i know you all . . ") just like heaven the holy hour one hundred years the same deep water as you pictures of you in-between days high from the edge of the deep green sea ("for everyone that's been to see us before - we do this a lot, but not with this power") never enough wrong number cut disintegration

("we're going to do two slow ones now") love song ("this one's called untitled", pause, looks bemused "this one's called untitled(?)" looks incredulous) untitled ("we always do these next two . . . but . . <shrug>") boys don't cry 10:15 saturday night killing an arab

and, strangely enough, it was really good . . . .

even if they only did one encore.

and even though robert had a cold.

it's a long time since i've been that close to a stage when the cure's been standing on it . . .

I wont go through set lists, comments etc. Colin has already done a good job of this, but I will add a few details. Robert definitely commented about his throat and cold affecting his singing after either Shake God Shake or Torture. ( I am sure it was Torture). He also said he was sure it would improve as he drunk more!

Robert was really cheery and in spite of his cold managed a little jiggle during pictures of you. Maybe he was too cheery for some of the older stuff. In contrast the only smile we got from Roger was at the end of Untitled when him and the drummer were battling as to when the song should end.

The evening was a great occasion. I felt a little let down in that the set was predictable from what had been played on the American tour. If I hadn't been expecting it The Holy Hour would have been so much more exciting. I didn't get that 'I can't believe this is happening to me, I am so happy to be alive' feeling that I got when Robert played fire in Cairo at the Xfm gig. I got the feeling from talking to people that they would really liked to have heard Plainsong, Push, Faith and All Cats Are Grey.

What really made the evening were the concert extras. e.g. getting a plectrum from the set. Standing in the cold (neigh freezing cold) talking with fellow fans for three hours (This is something I don't often get the chance to do) and meeting Robert after the after show party on his way to the car. My only regret is not having a camera to get my photo taken with him.

He said a few things that maybe of interest. He was asked if they were going to do any of the new stuff on Wednesday and Robert said that it wasn't him, implying that it was the other band members, that were holding them back on this front. He was all ready to do the new stuff. He was also asked if they would do more old stuff on the Wednesday, in particular All Cats Are Grey. He looked a little stumped by this one, as though he was thinking,"Yeah, that's a good idea" or more than likely completely out of it. I can't fully be sure, but the outcome was that it was all keyboards and there would'nt be anything for him to do, except maybe sing. On a lighter note. Nathan, who used to post about three months ago asked for a second autograph saying his girlfriend would kill him if he didn't get her one. Robert's reply was that it was a very tenuous relationship! The question was asked as to if he had sung his 200 hundred songs and if he would use Wednesday to get there. The answer was "No, How could I do it, we would have to start tommorow at 3.00!"

Anyhow this is all I can remember and the quotes aren't 100%.

A big hello to Efrat, The Barrister chap who collected my coat for me, Mary-anne (You really must post, You have been to at least four gigs on this tour and we would love to hear your thoughts on it as a whole), Mia who shared a taxi with me, Ruth at college in Bath, the 18 yeard old from Bristol, The couple from Greece and finally Dennis Ohrt (aka Dreams Never End) from Germay. Thanks to all these people who helped make the night one to remember.

Cure in freezing London We came all the way from northern Germany, just to see Cure live in concert this year, and it was worth every penny, we spent on the journey. After waiting for 4 hours in front of the doors in the cold, we entered Sheperds Bush Empire, and it was a brilliant place for a Cure show, a bit like an opera house, with downstairs standing and three floors.

8.30, the boys entered the staged, Robert said a few words, and they started with a great rendition of Shake dog shake, full of power, as all the guitar songs. The setlist was good, as was the show, lots of vintage stuff, even you still hoped for more, they played for nearly two hours.

Unfortunately their was only one encore with 5 songs (of course the old classics), but to my surprise, they didn't come out again, which was a bit disappointing, as the fans were still applauding, even 10 minutes later, when the road crew had already packed in the guitars and given out setlist and drumsticks (always to the wrong side...). That was a big mistake, I think, if they only played Faith or A forest as the last tune, everyone would've been really happy, and there wouldn't have been complaints!

The best moments were for me a brilliant version of Same deep water as you, 100 years (everyone knew the lines, and it sounded great), Untitled was great to hear live again (excellent synth lines by Roger) and of course a great welcome back to Holy hour, which I really loved. A real surprise for me was the liveversion of Wrong number, astonishing!!! It really rocked, and Robert and Perry played the guitar lines so well!

After the show, we had to wait 2 and a half hour, but then Robert and the other came out, Jason ran away very fast, but Robert was so great, really friendly, up for a joke, he signed everything, let people take photos of him and answered the questions, mine went for All cats are grey (if they will play it in the near future?), Robert said, that he could sing it, but the rest is all synth, so it would be best to ask Roger for that one!

After all, a brilliant day, and a quick hello to all the lovely people I met, Jan from Hamburg (you have to travel that far to meet fans from the same area - please contact me by email!), Marco from Berlin, the guy from Liège in Belgium (sorry, forget your name), the ones from Dessau (green tix?), Nathan from Descent Mailing List (thanx for sharing & organizing the taxi, good luck in your job!), the two guys from England outside after the show (remember sh-sh-sh-shake dog sh-sh-sh-shake? if you read it, what about a mail???), and special thanx to Mary Jane (the tea saved our lives!!! Great to meet you!) and of course to Franziska (I'll never forget this journey!).

Dennis a ka Dreams Never End (Dreams.Never.End@t-online.de)