Out of This World, Watching Me Fall, Want, Fascination St., The Last Day of Summer, Maybe Someday, Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Inbetween Days, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, 39, Prayers For Rain, 100 Years, Shiver & Shake, Bloodflowers

1st Encore: A Strange Day, A Forest

2nd Encore: Figurehead, Disintegration.
 

(Thanks Foreverburls, MattCURE and Mark)

The band emerged onto the stage at 8:30pm, following a 30min delay.  This may have been to accommodate a large
crowd outside which was still s-l-o-w-l-y filing in past the security check, which turned away about one out of every
five people for possessing counterfeit tickets!  What a travesty - one guy I spoke to afterward paid $150 that night,
only to have his ticket voided.  Outside, a familiar face walked around with a great smile on his face: Daryl
Bamonte is looking great these days, and is as friendly as ever!  KROQ did broadcast the entire concert, although
their  plug that the show was a 'live' simulcast was bogus, as there was an additional 30min delay for the airing (one
of Robert's lyrics was censored - a dead give-away).  On the inside, wristbands were everywhere: red for working
crew, green for KROQ (no backstage for them, ha ha!), purple for the real aftershow guests, and pink for the press.

The atmosphere was dark and brooding (surprise!), aided very little by the greens, reds and blues as directed by
the lighting woman upstairs (yes, they had a woman running the entire light show - good for her/them!).  Fat Bob, I
mean Robert Smith, has gained weight - more body to hide under the trademark  hair and red lipstick.  Yikes!  For
three weeks, I had successfully avoided ALL airplay of the new album "Bloodflowers" (which will finally be added
into my collection this week), so I was pleasantly surprised to hear how beautiful the opening song "Out Of This
World" was.  The crowd was split amongst the die-hards and the industry types (as expected, the latter did not
seem to know many of the songs).  Crowd response was good, but should have been better: at no point was more
than 70% of the crowd clapping.

The supporting cast were in excellent form, as can be expected - they are all wonderfully talented musicians.  Simon
wore his black spandex pants and sported his black hooded sweatshirt...but this doesn't mean that the bass notes
which he pounded out were poor by any means.  As always, Bob handled the lead guitar notes, with Perry
complimenting him with the rhythm guitar.  Roger exchanged his smiles with the bubbling crowd up front, constantly
maintaining eye contact.  And the drummer, Jason, is confidently entrenched  within the group, playing along nicely
even though he looks like David Spade these days.  For this Promo tour, the head of Security is Darrell Ives, a
familiar face to those who have followed Depeche and U2.

Not having seen the previous setlists, I honestly thought that the band would play only tracks from their new album,
as it was billed as a Promo gig.  But when songs such as '100 Years', 'Strange Day' and 'A Forest' filled the room,
the "Promo" tag had been dismissed.  My favorite was 'If  Only Tonight' - this band is so fucking brilliant in their
musical  expression!  They added a very fast paced 'Shiver And Shake' to the San Fran setlist from two nights
earlier - easily one of the most intense "jams" of  the night.  They also dedicated another oldie 'The Figurehead' to
their  ex-bandmate Lol Tolhurst, who is now living in L.A. and was a last-minute guest of the band watching amongst
the crowd.

In summation, the performance was a typical Cure show: brilliant.  The most noteworthy part was seeing that the
band played their new music as if they had been playing it for years - the flow with the older music was absolutely
perfect.  Fat Bob may not dance around or swing his ass in our faces, but he makes up for it in the demonstration of
his sheer talent.  The only weak point on this night was his voice - he seems to have lost some of the range which he
used to utilize; the usual highlight of 'Prayers For Rain' was literally a choke.  Let's hope it's just that he is only
getting back into singing form!

Still, in his simplistic gestures of clutching his chest, his throat, or covering up his eyes with his hands, he can still
portray the wide range of emotion which defines his music.  The Cure will ofcourse be back to the US for shows in in
late May and June, following their stint in Europe.  But realize that this may very well be their farewell tour.  Don't
fret if you miss the Promo gigs coming up this next week - they are simply warming up.  Just be sure to see them
when they return for the true "Dream Tour"!!!

This was by far the best overall Cure show I've seen.  Some personal favorites missing from the setlist of course,
but that's to be expected. The Palace is a beautiful venue, and seeing the boys there made it even more lovely.  I've
played there with my band before (1998 Cure Convention), and the stage lights are always amazing, but this night
they were particularly great, as you might imagine.  I've not seen The Cure in a better light show, and that marriage
between sight and sound created an atmospheric heaven...just like, at least...ha (eloquent, isn't it?).  ANYWAY - the
new songs sound incredible in performance, very true to the album.  I was surprised at how much  more i enjoyed
"Maybe Someday" live.  I'd seen them perform it the night before on Mad TV (front row - WOO HOO!), and it was
wonderful.  Robert ran the gamut from intensely intense to intensely cute throughout the evening, topping
everything off with a perfectly emphatic second "thank YOU!" as he wandered off the stage with promises of a
May return.  The band were all in good spirits later in the evening at the exclusive afterparty at Club North in
Hollywood, signing autographs and talking with fans.  Roger was especially funny, and that's all I'll say about that.
Robert was very sweet.  You have to love when you can get your hopes up so high, let your expectations run wild,
and still not be disappointed in someone.  That's a hard set of shoes to fill, and Robert always does it with ease.
One more thing definitely worth mentioning is Perry's guitar...absolutely gorgeous.  Not something you'd catch
Robert playing, but perfect for stage left.  You'll probably see it on Mad TV...give 'er a look!  I'll have pictures very
soon, so we'll see how they turned out and get them posted as soon as possible!

Parking was crazy there. The parking lot's were PACKED, the valet parkers parked people's cars in front of other
cars, blocking some people (like my friend and myself) from getting out of the parking lot. The line to get in
was VERY long. All the way down the block and around a corner. There were scalpers EVERYWHERE! I couldn't
walk 5 feet without someone asking me if I either had any tickets I wanted to sell, or if I wanted tickets. They
didn't open the doors until about 7:15 I believe. In front of us in line was a very nice couple. They had purchased
their tickets that night for $350, and it was the girl's birthday. Finally when we got to the door they did the standard
frisking and what not. Then you handed your ticket to a woman who checked it for authenticity. The couple before
us, turned out to have phoney tickets and weren't admitted. That was very sad. One girl wasn't let in for the same
reason and she started crying. But we got inside, got a couple drinks and got a spot pretty close to the stage. At
about 8:15 or so (I am just guessing, I had no watch) the band took the stage. The volume of the audience was
amazing and we could barely hear the band through the first couple minutes of the first song (Out of this World).
The band seemed very comfortable on stage and were amazing to say the least. Simon was wearing a beanie,
Robert wasn't wearing anything too weird, just black as usual. He had a little bit of lipstick I think and a little eye
shadow also. I was pretty impressed with Jason's drumming, he sounded great. I thought Perry's guitar had quite a
bit of feedback, but that may have just been me being so close to the speakers. 
We got out of the show at about 10:30 so it was approxtimately 2 to 2:15 hours long. Roger was defintely the least
animated out of all the band members. During the last song something was thrown at him and it landed at his feet,
and he just smiled and had some sort of wordless communication with a fan. Someone threw a note or something at
Simon, he picked it up and put it on his amplifier. Robert was very cool. The first half of the concert he played the
guitar a lot, but towards the second half he got more comfortable and started doing more hand and arm gestures and
putting more emotion in his singing (which was astounding by the way -- Robert has some pipes!). My personal
favorite performances of the night were either Watching me Fall or In Between Days. Once we got out of the
concert, it was still on the radio. There was about a 20-30 minute delay between the show and the broadcast on
KROQ. All in all, it was probably one of the best concerts I have ever been to, by the end I was about 20 feet from
the stage. The Dream Tour is going to rock, and I hope to see them when they come back to southern California.

For my part, I can only say that the concert was incredible and that it was worth everyone of the $350 I spent to see
it.  Fascination Street, 100 Years, Disintegration, A Strange Day; so many classics so well done!  And the new
songs all sounded fantastic.  They did play Just Like Heaven in the soundcheck...but alas, not in concert.  And I
have to say that I found Shiver and Shake a particularly amusing choice, given Lol's presence at the concert last
night.  Bob never ceases to amuse.
Well, after the concert (to which I went alone, incidentally), I was on my way back to my car, to go meet some
people I met at the concert at Denny's, when I noticed the van that the Cure arrived in sitting in the other Palace
parking lot.  So, I figured I'd stake it out for a little bit.  Several other fans (though by no means a huge number) had
the same idea.  We waited for about an hour before the guys started coming out!  We had all agreed to play it low
key to try and get it to last.  I managed to get Perry's autograph on my BF CD booklet (!).  Robert stopped well
behind the van and took his time signing lots of autographs and even talking to some fans.  Just then, people from
the other side of the building noticed he was there and in a huge rushing throng, came clamboring toward him.  Bob,
in his eternal public awkwardness, decided it was time to go.  As he came to the side of the van to get in (where I
was), a few of us profered things for him to sign.  He actually reached for mine, then mumbled something totally
incomprehensible and got in the van.  Oh cruel fate!  Well, at lease I got to be that close to him.
And, of course, a quick PS to those I was supposed to meet at Denny's: My apologies, but I'm sure you understand.

pt.2 What made this show even more unique is the fact that they actually used the balcony and floor method.
Usually they just let everyone file in wherever they want. This way it felt more organized. We were lucky enough to
be on the floor. There we were no more than 15 feet away from the band I idolized for nearly 15 years. The show
lasted I would say about 2 hours, I was so mesmerized I felt I was under a trance. Well the show was well worth the
$250 we had to pay the ticket agency we felt that raped us. Oh well a big price to pay a ticket agency, but a small
price to pay to see the cure. Oh one last thing when they were getting off stage Robert said "Thank you very much
we'll see you in may":)

So here I am taping the show direct to DAT.  Started with a brief interview of Robert Smith, he mentions an
upcoming solo project and the fact that this likely will not be the last Cure album, now that he thinks the band is
settled and he's very happy with things.

Out Of This World, makes a great start, very similar to Plainsong, seemed to take Robert a little while to get into
the singing mode. Watching Me Fall and Last Day Of Summer are great live songs ! Playing Want third sounded
like they were starting over again, it's such the show opening kind of song. Fascination St. was great as ever.  I
don't think Maybe Someday worked too well live, might just be me, but the studio version is definitely superior.
Deep Green Sea was great as ever.  Inbetween Days was a surprise and sounded tight as usual. If Only Tonight
was wonderful, one of my favorites.  39 was great live, as was Bloodflowers, the new album is so great I hope they
start playing the other songs in concert ! Prayers For Rain and 100 Years were perfect, and Shiver And Shake was
a big shock. Strange Day was wonderful.  A Forest was kind of a let down, no jam at all really. Figurehead was
perfect and I can't think of a better song to end a show with than Disintegration.

At the end of the show Robert says "See you in May"

Just a bit of information to get everyone talking: Lol was at the Palace in Los Angeles for the show right before
sound check. Nobody in the band knew he was coming and he had to talk to three different people before they
would let him in the gate. There were a bunch of fans outside but nobody approached him until my friend started
talking to him. He said he is living in L.A. now and that it has been a really long time since he had talked to anyone
in the band. To top it off, the Cure played Shiver and Shake in sound check!!

They played all the same songs in order as in San Franscisco except they played in addition shiver and shake
before bloodflowers.  Robert dedicated Figurehead to Lol.  Robert said see you in May at the end.  Robert choked
on the rain in prayers for rain, somewhat embarrasing.