"The Cure's hungarian followers will make a real familiar Cure drink before the show. The place: JATE Club. Meeting 14.00 Hungarian time at the Sziget Budapest.

The latest news from the Cure is that they stayed in (hotel name deleted) in Budapest on 30th july, and they made a little trip around the big city, and they watched the interesting statues and the buildings.

The good news about The sziget festival, that most of the people are going to Sziget on the very first day only to see the Cure's gig."

(Thanks Cureme)

"I just wanted to tell you my unexpected meeting with almost half of The Cure. My friend and I were at Rennes airport (Brittany, France) on Sunday 21 July, the day after the Vieilles Charrues concert. We were waiting for our flight to London City Airport, still stunned by the gig, when we bumped into Perry, Roger and a member of the Cure staff... It came as a huge surprise because we were going to London precisely to see the band again in London's Hyde Park ! Rennes airport is quite a small place and the last thing we expected was to meet international rockstars there !!!

We were the only Cure fans there and we didn't want to bother them. Yet, my friend couldn't help asking them for an autograph which they very kindly signed on her Vieilles Charrues ticket (see scan attached). Perry and Roger were really friendly. My friend talked with them a bit and Roger said that the concert in Benicassim would start quite late at night, last two hours and be particularly great (we fans know they're all great anyway !!!). Because of the late timing for the Spanish gig, Roger feared the band would be asleep! As I hate pestering fans, I didn't want to ask Perry and Roger to pose for a photo and I took some pictures from a distance. (See two pictures attached to this mail : Perry at the check-in with member of Cure staff, and Roger and Perry enjoying the sun outside the airport lounge.)

Perry took a flight to Rome (via Lyon) and Roger boarded the same plane as we !!! Our seats were just one row away from his on the opposite side. A very nice flight indeed !!! I'll try to put other photos of Roger and Perry on a special page on Plainsong (www.plainsong.net), the site I'm running with my Curefellow Jérôme.

By the way, I don't think any reviews of the Hyde Park concert mention that the venue was far from full. Almost half of the seats were empty and we had quite a lot of room in the pit. It wasn't a problem though ! The audience was all made up of refined connoisseurs ! Rumors about the concert being almost sold out were obviously commercial lies !"

(Thanks David)

Zillo (359 votes) - 79%

Woodstage (55 votes) - 12%

Arvika (39 votes) - 9%

No surprise that Zillo wins by an even wider margin than Conegliano did. Be sure to vote in the Week 3 poll on the front page.

"From Festival Mailing list for Spain:

"The Reindeer Section have had personal problems, and won¹t be able to come, too. Instead, we will have Cranes on Friday. They headlined one of the days of the first edition of the Festival, back in 1995, in a memorable concert, and this year promises to be also unforgettable.

More additions: Dot Allison on Sunday, covering the gap of Cornelius, who has had production problems. Also, many fans had requested a longer concert of The Cure. Well, finally they will play two hours instead of one."

(Thanks Ange and Jan)

"I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but belgium band MINIMALISTIX did a techno/dance cover of A forest (http://www.minimalistix.be) - just saw a video for that one on luxembourg channel TANGO TV. video is ananimated walk through a forest + parts of the lyrics are screened. main structure of the song is the same, but of course all electronic + with technotrhythms, quite strange... "

(Thanks Dennis)

"Those at Hyde Park can't have failed to have noticed a guy wondering around the site (and on stage during The Cure's set) with a digital camcorder, an all areas pass and a draw string bag on his back.

I understand, from overhearing a conversation between him and another fan near to me, that he is part of the team that produces the "Roadies" reality series on the UK cable/satellite station UK Horizons (http://www.ukhorizons.co.uk) and that the episode featuring The Cure's Hyde Park gig and their roadies is pencilled in for broadcast in Januray 2003.

Keep your eyes peeled for developments..."

(Thanks Rich)

"20.00 / 20.40: Plástica

21.00 / 21.40: Blasted Mechanism

22.00 / 23.00: The Electric Soft Parade

23.30 / 00.45: Muse

01.15: The Cure

So it seems The Cure doesn´t have an ending time."

(Thanks Cláudio)

"According to the "Zuerichexpress" the cure were leader of all paleo webcasts: 16,000 people watched the concert on the web!"

(Thanks Riet)

"From Rolling Stone Magazine, August 2002.

"THE NEXT WAVE, TEN ARTISTS TO WATCH" Bright Eyes: Indie rock's great Midwestern hope. Sound: Stately, heartbreaking tales of romance, religion and self-doubt scored for guitar, drums, flute, organ, violin and cello. Oberst's voice quavers and splinters in all the right places, not unlike the Cure's Robert Smth. On his last tour, Oberst had an all-girl backing band dressed in formalwear. "

(Thanks Rust)

" I am back from London where I had a good look at this nice guitar.

So it's a: Schecter DIAMOND SERIES TSH 1B Silver Sparkle

Body-Flame Maple on Mahogany (hollow)

Neck-Maple/Rosewood

Pickups-2 Duncan Designed Humbuckers

Finishes-Trans. Orange, Silver Sparkle

List Price...$649 "

(Thanks Guillaume)

"The Cure were mentioned on the 28th july in the newspaper called 'Vasarnapi Blikk'. Here's the original text:

" Tavaly, a brit The Cure fennállásának 25. évfordulóján Robert Smith (43) fel akarta oszlatni kísérletezõ kedvû pop-rock zenekarát, de legutóbbi stúdió albumuk (Bloodflowers) turnéjának végén nem érzett kimerültséget, épp ellenkezõleg. Utóbb válogatáslemezt adtak ki, várható, hogy minden slágerüket eljátszák: boys don't cry, friday i'm in love, lullaby, close to me, stb.."

And here's my really wrong english translating:

"" Last year, the 25th anniversary of the british The Cure Robert Smith (43) wanted to split up his experimenting pop-rock band, but at the end of the last studio album's (Bloodflowers) tour he didn't feel exhaustion, on the contrary. Lately they released a compilation album, so it' s to be expected that they play all their hits: boys don't cry,friday i'm in love, lullaby, close to me, stb.."

My personal impression: i hope they will not play all the hits:-) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

(Thanks Cureme)

I need scans of the tickets for Hungary, Spain and Portugal? Can anyone help me out?

I'm setting up a traders page for the current tour, since I'm getting requests to do it again. If you're interested, here's what you need to do - send me a list of the shows you have from this tour (audio or video), your name, an e-mail address for traders to contact you, and the link to your trading page (if you have one). Please note that this is only for TRADING, not selling shows.

THE CURE LIVE THROUGH THE AGES 2002-07-25

They have been one of art-rocks biggest bands ever since the early seventies. Robert Smith and his men have for 20 years and 12 albums created their own world of mystique based around their dark black rock that have caught the hearts of millions of people around the world.

The Cure are known for their amazing live performances. This summer they are doing their first tour for a long time. When they were headlining the Arvika festival MTV´s Lars Beckung met up with their charismatic frontman Robert Smith to confront him with his past and present demons and the joys of playing festivals. We also give you their classic "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" live from the festival.

You are playing a lot of festivals this summer. How do you like that?

Generally speaking they are completely different from what we normally do. We always really enjoy them when they are good. When we do our own show everything is up to us, so if we play well it´s a good show. At festivals there are so many other things. When you look at the bill and think "we´re probably not going to like that", it´s probably the best one. There are so many factors that are important at a festival and that´s why we like them. We play festivals every 2-3 years. We do 13 this summer. The unpredictability keeps us on our toes.

The Cure have been going on some turbulence. Was there any specific moments when you started feeling that there is a future for the band?

Through all the years that I´ve been doing this there has been a number of moments where I felt that it has run its course but then something happens. Back 1983 when I joined "Siouxie and the Banshees" I thought it was it and that it would be my future. Again, in 1989 when we did "Disintegration" I thought that it was going to be the end of the band because there was a lot of upheaval. And in 1997 I didn´t enjoy the Cure anymore, that was the first time ever I disliked being in the Cure. I just had enough, but I wanted to do one last record and that was the "Blood Flowers" album. When we made that and went on tour I started liking being in the band again.

Do You ever get nervous before going onstage?

I never really got nervous. I feel a weird mixture of excitement and apprehension. So many times things have gone wrong, there is very little that hasn´t happened to me that I can be nervous about [Laugh]. The first big show that we did this year when we played in Athens last week was the first show we done since Roskilde last year and I felt more apprehension than excitement because I wasn´t really sure of what we were going to do. The others make up for it though, they are incredibly nervous. Maybe I have to bury my nervousness in a phasade to calm the others.

Before a show do you have any preparations you have to go through?

On a show day everyone know that the only thing important is the show. Fifteen minutes before we´re just together talking about what we´re going to do. There is no ritual.

Do You feel like your stage persona has changed in the passing of the years?

I think that during the Blood Flowers tour in 2000 I was notably a lot happier. We played my favourite songs, the big, emotional ones and we didn´t do any pop songs. I was just there smiling. I think a lot of people picked that up. They´d come up to me and say how happy I looked. Mentally I have sort of shifted attitude, realising how much older I am than the audience. I don´t want to be arrogant or dismissive. I feel more engaged with the audience now. I´ve always wanted us to be the best band that we can be, first I wanted that for my own sake now I want it for the audience´s sake.

Is that because you are more confident now?

The only thing I´m more confident about now is the band, I´ve always been confident about the music. Since "Blood Flowers" I´ve felt that as long as we what we are good at we are a really good band, it´s when we do what we don´t do very well that we´re bad.

What is the most important feedback you get as a band?

We run our own websites. We get a lot of feedback from that. There is a huge network of Cure fans. We do get an awful lot of honest feedback, sometimes it´s too honest. We find ourselves thinking "what will they think?." In the old days we didn´t really care. During festivals we meet a lot of people, at airports or backstage. You just get a feel for what people want. Now, we play more what we think people want to hear. So in that way we´ve changed.

Has there been any stand-out compliments you remember?

When it has been someone´s first show. At the "Blood Flowers" tour we met people who´d seen their first show and they were in tears. It´s a real nice feeling to see someone so happy.

You are practically an unsigned band at the moment. For a lot of bands that is a bad thing. But you think it´s quite good?

Yeah, I´ve been signed since I was 18 so I´ve been unsigned now for about 8 months and I´m really enjoying it. What we do next can be exactly how we want and we won´t have to ask anyone else. It´s a really nice feeling.

You have had some plans on releasing music on the Internet. How do you think people consuming music on the Internet and in their computers rather than on their stereos will affect music in the long-term?

I think that in the long-term it will be unavoidable to stop and it´s a good thing I think. The fact that it can instantly get to people. In reality I could do something at home and actually have it out on our website the same moment. We still have not quite decided how we´re gonna do our next thing. We don´t want to make it difficult for less known bands by making things too freely available. Though we could do it and afford it. The problem is that at the moment most people haven´t got broadband connections, I haven´t. That makes it painful to download music on the Internet. We were thinking last year about just releasing what we do next online but we won´t. It will be available in the real world as well.

Do you think that in the future bands won´t be professional and make as much money as they have been in the past?

There will always be gateways for music to reach fans and for it to spread. The most important thing is that people want to hear music and discover music.

In Television there has been a lot of focus lately on people trying to grasp a piece of fame. How does that strike you?

I don´t really have much of an opinion about that. I´m aware of how modern culture has changed just during the time that I´ve been in the Cure. Actually becoming famous is more important than what you actually do which to is a very bad thing. Even my own nephews and nieces want to become famous without knowing what to do. For me , when I was young I wanted to be creating something. I had no idea that I would ever get well known. What you many times miss out in is that there is a lot more people in the world now that when I was young and there is still a lot of people who want to do something for the actual sake of it and don´t care whether they get famous. Most of the people that I admired when I was young were really famous like Bowie and Hendrix. But Nick Drake was probably the most influential person that I listened to and no one ever knew who he was. Even if a lot of people haven´t heard him yet his music is still as good. Making something creative is more important than being famous.

There are also 5 interview clips and a live clip of FTEOTDGS on the mtve.com site.

(Thanks Joe)

"You can download it easily with a program called "Asfrecorder".

After running the program go to file>open url and type mms://213.162.11.181/paleo/ed_3/paleo_ed_3_live-thecure_01.wmv for the windows media player file or rtsp://rns1-gva.orbital.ch/paleo/ed_3/paleo_ed_3_live-thecure_01.rm for the real player file (the last is said to have slightly better quality..). The download should take a while, it's about 220 Mb. But it works, personally tested it. Note:For moving the video forward or backward u must open it with asfrecorder or the old microsoft media player."

(Thanks Christopher)

"Here is what to do to get the files (Windows Media file or Real Media File):

1.Downlad StreamBox VCR program (the best program from many) here: http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/archive/streambox_vcr_guide.cfm

2.Install it using the manual that is on the same site (with the crack). The manual also serves to learn basics how to download files. It's quite easy.

3.The URLs for the files archived are these:

mms://213.162.11.181/paleo/ed_3/paleo_ed_3_live-thecure_01.wmv FOR THE WINDOWS MEDIA FILE

rtsp://rns1-gva.orbital.ch/paleo/ed_3/paleo_ed_3_live-thecure_01.rm FOR THE REAL MEDIA FILE

4. Just copy them to the StreamBox program and start downloading.

The WinMedia file is about 220 MB and it is in 251 Kbps. The Real Media file is 200 MB and is in 225 Kbps. However I think the Real Media is still better quality. "

(Thanks Milos)

(Thanks also to Dom, Eddie, BirdmadBoy, Curro and Rob for their help)

So the big show is finally here! It seems like just about everyone is either in London today or on their way there. Fans from the US, Mexico, South America, Canada, Europe, Australia and even Japan are all gathering in London today for what is expected to be THE show of the tour. How they can possibly top Conegliano, Zillo and Rome is the big question, but I'm sure they'll come up with something.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish all of you a great time tonight and hope you get a spectacular show. Don't forget the big Curedrink before you head over to the park, and please send in any & all reports as soon as you can. Remember, many of us are trapped somewhere much less exciting today and therefore have to live vicariously through you. : )

Have a wonderful time and a safe journey home!

"Does anyone know what this nice white guitar that Robert is using during the two cover songs. First I thought that it was a solid body GRETSCH but it seem not.... "

"The Aug. 2002 Marie Claire magazine asked guys what situations made them lie. A 35 yr. old musician said he lied whenever his girlfriend wanted an opinion about a new hairstyle, because the last time he was honest was when his then-girlfriend got a dreadful cut that he described as cross between Susan Powters and Robert Smith, and his comments did not go over too well."

(Thanks Amy)

"I found this article in a swiss newspaper presenting the Cure as the old Crows of the festival. Basically the article says that the group have never been able since 1992 to reach the quality of the music they have made before, and that Robert is a kind a prisoner of the own univers he has created. They also compare the Cure with "indochine " a french band, pale copy of the cure they says comparing these 2 bands will be as comparing Frank Sinatra and Robbie Williams, or Robert de Niro and Aldo Maccionne !!! Good for us U can find this article in the news-paper website : www.24heures.ch

By the way they are talking about the live presentation of the group in a very good way, telling that with so many good song to play the concert cannot be bad."

(Thanks Martin)

"THE CURE posttour radio night

1. 8 pm CET broadcast starts

2. Last recordings of shows The Cure

3. Contact with DJ's by the phone [+48(56) 611-4900], chat [chat.thecure.pl] and e-mail [curehere@yahoo.co.uk]

4. Remembrances of the shows

5. Results of the contest "favorite setlist"

6. The Bands which played with the cure in 2002

CONTEST!!! Send us your "favorite setlist" address curehere@o2.pl or curehere@yahoo.co.uk

- I propose 10+3+3"

(Thanks CureHere)

"I am male and 26 years old and come from Hampshire an hour south of London and my name is Sam. I bought 2 seat tickets for the Hyde Park concert in block 1 row R a few months ago. I can not seem to get any of my friends to come to the concert with me and it looks like my Dad may have to come with me and he is not really a Cure fan.I have been really looking forward to this concert for a long time now. I really want to go to the concert with a Cure fan male or female. It would be great to hang out with some Cure fan at the Concert. I hope someone can help. The ticket will cost you £35. You can get in touch with me on my e-mail address which is jamiesonsam@hotmail.com"

"I am an italian guy who's going to london just to see the show. I had to come with a friend of mine so i bought two tickets via ticketmaster that i'm going to pick up (at least i hope) at the box office. Unfortunately my mate has an exam on saturday so he would not be able to come and i have two tickets but i'm alone. Whoever wants it should contact me at the only condition that you must demonstrate, however you want, to be a really huge cure fan. Right now it's 1 A.M. (friday) and i'm gonna take my plane in 5 hours so i'll be in london for noon. For those who are interested in getting the ticket, please write an e-mail to howtheendalwaysis@yahoo.it trying to be very precise about the place and the time we have to meet to go to the show together. Please consider that i have to use public internet points to check my mails so it would better if we'll organize everything in brief comunications. So all u have to do is: surprise me with something about your love for the band and be precise about the organization stuff, otherwise the choose will be random, depending on the weather and on my humor. Hope to see some of you very, very soon. Sergio"

(Thanks Dennis)

"I'm in Nyon.. this is the latest news :

I was in the soundcheck at 12am (GMT+1), the technicians played a piece of "play for today" on keyboard and "a forest" with the bass, and some melody sounds like cure songs...

the others bands before cure are : dionysos and indochine, two french bands very big fans of cure, dionysos plays a forest on a cure covers CD (15 imaginary songs)"

(Thanks José)

"Nicolas of Indochine was asked what did he say to Robert Smith in the afternoon, and he was just joking 'Hello, don't drink too much'... (asked during couleur 3 interview)."

(Thanks Dennis)

"my girlfriend can't join me for the show, so i have one "standing" ticket left over for sale. anyone who's still looking for one please email me before friday 9 a.m. as i'm leaving soon for the plane!

i will pick up the tickets around 3 p.m. at the box office, so we could meet there.

thanks, sascha mortimer_stenstock@yahoo.com"

The Cure are scheduled to go on at 11:45pm, so that will be 5:45pm eastern / 4:45pm central / 3:45pm mountain / 2:45pm pacific. If there are any changes, I'll post them here.

Update - Here's the official e-mail I just received from the Paleo festival team:

"We have the pleasure to inform you that the live show of The Cure at Paleo Festival Nyon (Switzerland) will be available in live streaming tonight at 23h45 (gmt +1) on the Paleo Festival website http://www.paleo.ch. The show will stay archived during the festival (until sunday 28 july 2002).

ENJOY !

Team Live Paleo"

And it WILL be a video webcast.

"Yesterday, the JDM broadcasted a short extract of an interview they had with Robert Smith at the Vieilles Charues festival.

Robert said that festivals were a great opportunity to listen to new bands, different styles of music.

He said that the other bands they meet in festivals respect The Cure a lot for what they've done, and for still being here.

He also said that, in these events, in the past, they used to play the greatest hits, but now they prefer to satisfy their fans."

(Thanks Frederic)

"I saw Robert Smith yesterday on MCM He just said that :

Now, in festival, he prefers doing songs for fans instead of singles songs. The Cure has been criticized about that by the press for the first festival in Greece.

They love play in festival cause they don't be in a promotion of album or others stuffs. They can play songs they want.

it's been long time that they play in festival (Their first is the Reading Festival in 1978, said robert).

Robert like to listen to the others bands and listen to new sounds. The others bands, that they meet in festival, even if they don't like Cure music, have always some respect for The Cure and their twenty five years of existence."

(Thanks LVG)

"I just listened to the live-broadcast of the jovanotti (big star in italy) concert from the paleo festival on swiss radio drs3... well, the bad news is, that they repeated 3 times that jovanotti was almost the only one who gave the permission for the live-broadcast of his show. all the others who were supposed to be "on air" during this week (cure, pet shop boys, zucchero...) of paleo festival, didn't give their permission... so i suppose you won't hear it tomorrow (not even on couleur3) :-(

In any case, the address of radio drs3 is: www.drs3.ch - and then click on drs3 (on the left). "

And just in case they do get permission, here's some info on how to get Couleur3:

"The swiss radio Couleur 3 is available on satellite and on the web too : http://www.couleur3.ch/ .

I guess it helps french fans and maybe fans from other country in Europe : Satellite Astra 19° east (digital) porteuse 11,141 GHz polarisation horizontale sous-porteuse : 8,46 MHz "

(Thanks Koyldo and Toodess)

"Spanish radio 3 will also be at benicassim, broadcasting each day from at least 10pm to 4am... http://www.rtve.es/rne/r3/index.htm"

(Thanks Dennis)

(Thanks Candide)

(Thanks Dennis)

"Couleur 3, FM 98.5 play the Cure concert on the 25th of July. You can also see official concerts live on www.paleo.ch but I don't know yet if the Cure concert's will be on the site, the programm of Thursday will be announced soon..."

(Thanks Sandra)

"At the Veilles Charrues festival I was lucky to get a press pass having been a fan since I was only 12 years old I was soo excited and yes it happened I met Robert Smith he sat right next to me during the interview !

I didnt have the nerve to ask a proper question but I can tell you that he said that the new album is gonna be hard rock (not sure if he's making that up though he said ithonestly). He also commented about the events saying something about all the old Cure members being brought together for maybe three events.

He was everything I had hoped for a dreamy thoughtful man and to top it all he played amazingly I said his name on exit and asked for a song in Hyde Park now obviously my favourite songs were already being played at these festivals so I asked for something a bit more out of character not to spoil it but he said he might play it.

Anyway he also made some tongue in cheek comments which im not sure if the french understood - apparently the translattion was poor what was really annoying was that some very loud band were playing the whole time during the interview to which he made comment also.

(Thanks Kerrie)

(Thanks Lord Spider)

(Thanks Bill)

"This is just to let you know that Robert Smith appears on page 131 of Time Out London this week with a picture and interview entitled "Ask a Silly Question". Here are the best bits:

TO: Tell us how fantastic is your Hyde Park going to be?

RS: It will be the best show that anyone sees this summer. And there'll be songs we've never played in front of an audience.

TO: New ones?

RS: Other people's ones."

(Thanks Fab G)

"On the french music channel "MCM", during the daily program "Le JDM", they gave news about Les Vieilles Charues and they showed a bit of the Cure playing "39". They added that wednesday (during the JDM) an interview of Robert speaking about the next album would be aired. Tomorrow, tuesday, they also would give some more info about Les Vieilles Charues.

(A couple of days ago, they showed Robert giving his habitual comments about the hits, with pieces of some videos)"

(Thanks Tanguy)

"I am told from avery trustable source that there will be these broadcasts for the show taking place on the 25th July at the Paléo festival (Nyon, Switzerland):

- live during the festival (might include speeches, interviews from some or other people, known or unknown, commercials...). Till 1 AM so I hope they don't stop the broadcast during the concert!

- this coming fall (no date yet), during the "plus de bruit le samedi" radio show (taking place as it says on Saturdays :) ).

This will be on the radio Couleur3. To european people, I know it's on the CanalSatellite radio pages, so you may be able to record digitaly the show (ain't that great?).

For the live webcast: couleur3.ch (or couleur3.com). Click on the "C3 en direct" then whatever option you want (RealAudio or QuickTime). There are also 2 buttons on the main page that say "Couleur 3 en direct" (same thing, either "RealAudio RA" or "QuickTime QT").

And I hope there's not too much trafic this night :)

Ah also they broadcast each night during the festival, live. Apparently till 1AM, I'm trying to ask them more info whether they'll wait the end of the show or not (talking about The Cure show...)

Update - "If they cut the live broadcast at 1 AM, they'll try to broadcast the end of the show the next day or so. Still from reliable source.

One more thing, there are no commercials on this radio on the swiss broadcast (this radio is based in Geneva). I guess the broadcast is done with the swiss programm (there are broadcasts in France too, I guess with commercials... can't remember)."

Update - "the channel can also received via eutelsat (hot bird)."

Of course all of this is worthless if The Cure doesn't give permission for them to broadcast their set. Keep your fingers crossed.

(Thanks Tonton Blino and Dennis)

"There is an article + one photo of Robert at Les Vieilles Charues in Le Telegramme newspaper. http://service.bretagne.com/supplements/vc/l_cure.htm

Same thing in Ouest France newspaper with a bad review by a journalist that seemed not to like The Cure, so why they left him doing this fucking review ?

(Thanks Mik.)

"I've heard a lot about The Cure's performance in the Vieilles Charues festival. This is a very popular festival in France. Yesterday morning, in France Info (famous French information radio), they spoke about the Cure's great come-back ("Le Grand Retour")! "

(Thanks Frederic)

"I was drifting about another one of my favorite industrial band’s websites (Assemblage 23 http://www.synthetic.org/a23/frameset.html), glancing over a list of industrial covers Tom Shear created, and I noticed quite a few Cure songs. I’ve heard of some of these before, although others are new to me- so I thought I’d share...

Zeitmahl - A Forest

Wreckage - Pornography

Waltari - A Forest

Vision System - The Walk

Test Infection - A Night Like This

Razed in Black - Disintigration

Philtron - A Forest

Leaether Strip - Lullaby

Kreigbereit - A Forest

Kill Switch...Klick - Jumping Someone Else's Train

Kiethevez – Lovesong

Kiethevez - A Foolish Arrangement

The Gerogerigegege - Boys Don't Cry

Fictional - The Walk

Electric Hellfire Club - Killing an Arab

Crocodile Shop - Let's Go To Bed

Children Within - A Forest"

(Thanks midnightt the cure cat girl)

"the other day my brother gave me a clipping out of a magazine (i'm not sure what one) and it was a full page picture of a lipstick. at the bottom it says:

RED LIPSTICK, 1995

BELONGS TO: The Cure's Robert Smith

WITHOUT LIPSTICK: large, pasty, moody, lad

WITH LIPSTICK: so wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully pretty

" The lipstick is Jane's. It's called 'reddest'" - Robert Smith"

Update - This came from Spin Magazine April 2000. Their 15th anniversary issue.

(Thanks Nando and Christopher)

"I know mention has already been made of the 80's box set, however, there was an interesting AP article that came in the Festiva section of the Brownsville (TX) Herald. The author stated that the Cure was one of his favorite bands when he was growing up but said he would have gotten in trouble with his parents if he whined like they do in their songs."

(Thanks Amy)

"Dear XXX

Your tickets will be waiting for you to collect from the box office on the day of the event, please take your credit card and confirmation number with you as id.

Please note that you have been refunded for the cost of overseas post."

That only covers TM, but what about the other agencies? Has anyone heard anything from them?

"Has anyone who bought tickets to the Hyde Park show thru Stargreen Box received tickts yet? I rang them last Tuesday and they said they would start posting the next day. I'm getting a bit worried as it's nearing the date."

(Thanks Andy and Yoonsun)

"only to say that TV BREIZH (canasatellite channel in france) have showed 2 hours of vielles charrues festival. After one hour, we can see the cure. Only one song and it was IN BETWEEN DAYS (too short): beautiful stage and lights, lot of people, not too many fans, band was happy to play, robert did a good smile to the cure fans...was great.... "

(Thanks JP)

"I stumbled across this website http://www.celebriducks.com/index.html where they are selling rubber ducks for the bath that are fashioned like celebrities. Since you can "Suggest a Duck", I thought it might be fun to suggest a Robert Smith duck. If you think it's a good idea, go to the site and make the suggestion."

Update - The "Make a Robert Duck" movement is gaining strength. Here are a couple of replies from Craig Wolfe, president of Celebriducks:

"Yes a lot of Cure votes this morning...we're going to have to learn more about this group...".

"Thanks, we have gotten a lot of nice mail for Robert.... "

"I'm just realizing how big these guys are....."

"all his fans need to take up a collection and send us his greatest hits.....I think we need to listen to more of their music here....he certainly has a lot of fans....thanks..."

"Guten Tag....thanks for the note.... this guy has great fans!.."

So if you really want one, be sure to write in and let them know you'd buy one if it were made.

(Thanks Jim, Gregory, Lauren, Colin, Frank)

Update - Well after sitting through 3 hours of terrible "music", no Cure. Did they even mention a reason why they didn't air it? I hope they get a ton of angry calls and e-mails.

The special "secret" event would be in October, not September.

Robert has about 40 songs to choose from for the new album, not 14.

To listen to Le Mouv, go to http://www.radio-france.fr/chaines/lemouv/sommaire/index.php and look for the menu on the right side that says Les Radios. Beneath that is a pulldown menu that says En Direct. Choose Le Mouv from that menu and you'll get a pop-up window asking you which format you want to listen to it in. Make your choice and that's it. Enjoy the show!

(Thanks Dennis)

"Zillo does a poll about their festival, asking which band we liked the most etc. What a question! Go to http://www.zillo.de an click "Online-Umfrage zum Zillo-Festival 2002" to vote.

The Woodstage homepage features some pictures of this year's open air, including some good shots of Robert. Visit http://www.inmove.de/deutsch/reviewset.html and click "Woodstage Summer Open Air".

They review The Cure's show very positive on their website: "The Cure gingen auf die Bühne und legten mit einem exclusiven, mit Highlights bestückten Set los, was sofort für Begeisterung sorgte. Es wurden Stücke dargeboten, die sich die härtesten Fans nicht zu erträumen wagten. Nach gut zwei Stunden erstklassischen Sounds und Songs beendete ein sichtlich gerührter Robert Smith mit seinen mannen und dem Kultsong A Forest das diesjährige Woodstage würdig."

They ask people to send their comments about the festival and their bandwishes for next year to info@inmove.de.

And while you're at the Woodstage site, get one of the t-shirts:

"You're still able to buy this years's official Woodstage Open Air t-shirt. It looks quite nice with "The Cure" written on its back. The t-shirts are available in different sizes and colours. One is 15 Euro. Go to http://www.inmove.de/wood/shop/ for all info."

(Thanks Simon)

"Last summer a friend and I went to Spain for a music festival at the seaside. We had a lovely time there in the sun, with three full days of music, and a beach party at the end. This year The Cure are playing for two hours! There are many other bands and artists playing, as an inspection of the festival’s site shows - http://english.fiberfib.com/, but a few names here – Radiohead, Primal Scream, Belle and Sebastian, Saint Etienne, Sigur Rós, DJ shadow, The Chemical Brothers.

This year we’re going again, but it will be by coach this time (flying to Barcelona and traveling on by train was an awkward journey). We’ll leave Central London sometime on Thursday 1 August, and be back sometime on the 7th. A campsite is included in the festival ticket price, so we’ll take tents, and aim to get at least one meal cooked together each day. We’re in touch with the organizers and hoping to negotiate a good place on the site. The lovely town of Benicàssim has many restaurants, some suitable for vegetarians, and food and drink is cheaper than in the UK. The cost of the coach ride (during which everyone will have a nice air-conditioned time) and festival ticket together will be less than £250. It’s a very friendly festival. Sure, we queued up for the showers, but there are lots of nice touches, like the free internet access tent, which is being expanded this year. Sun and sea are guaranteed.

If you’re interested in being among the 49 people going there at the end of this month, you should get in touch with james.booth@btinternet.com or 07774983718."

(Thanks Mick)

"For Le Mouv, go to http://www.radio-france.fr/chaines/lemouv/sommaire/index.php and on the right side there is menus, one has a logo with a *.wav file sytle and says les radios - under that one you can find a pulldown menu saying en direct - there you click onto Le Mouv + some pop up should appear asking you which player you want to use to listen to it live..."

For those in the US, The Cure should be going on around 5pm eastern, 4pm central, 3pm mountain and 2pm pacific. You might want to check in a bit earlier though, just in case.

Update - Sounds like we will have to wait to hear the show:

"I don't know if you're listening to the broadcast, but I'm afraid I understood that Robert didn't permit Le Mouv to broadcast it live; he did permit them to record it, and the radio guy said they would maybe broadcast it tomorrow; but I don't know when; that's all I've heard; but I'll keep on listening, in case they would change their mind ! "

"I am listening to the festival coverage on the the french radio and they just said that robert did not want the concert to be broacasted live tonight and then they said that they might broadcast a part of it tomorow. "

Update 2 - The show (or parts of it) will be broadcast tomorrow night at the same time it was supposed to air tonight, 22:00-01:00.

(Thanks Dennis, Morgan and Tony)

"Just seen this on http://www.eag.fr, the official website from a French soccer team. It means that the Cure will play tonight with the official shirt of this team.

EN AVANT DE GUINGAMP : ACTUALITÉ 20/07/2002. En Avant The Cure ! par Antoine Le groupe de rock anglais The Cure se produit ce soir en tête d'affiche du festival des Vieilles Charrues de Carhaix (Finistère). Jusque là, pas grand chose en rapport avec En Avant...

Oui, mais les britishs sont des passionnés de Football. Pas étonnant pour des anglais me direz vous... Si ce n'est qu'ils ont insisté auprès de l'organisation pour se produire devant les 40.000 festivaliers de Kerampuil vêtus de maillot du club phare de la Bretagne... requête reçue 5/5 à Carhaix : les organisateurs leur ont commandé des maillots d'En Avant de Guingamp floqués "THE CURE", qu'ils porteront ce samedi soir durant leur prestation à l'occasion du plus grand festival musical de France, l'un des plus grands d'Europe."

(Thanks Bruno)

"The Cure was mentioned on the daily newspaper called 'Vas Nepe' in the ad' was th theme about the Sziget festival, and The Cure was mentioned as one of the biggest star band. also another Cure-news thet the band will get hopefully 2 whole hours-that means that they begins 21.00 cet. "

(Thanks Cureme)

"Allo- a few recent cure sightings/readings in on the web and in the print media...

I was looking up lyrics on apoptygma berzerk's website (http://www.apoptygma.eu.org/) and wandered to the history page.... and look what I found: "The new album 'Welcome to Earth' is a delirious combination of modern trance with electro values, and deservedly both debuts and stays at No.1 in the German Alternative Chart. It's success across Europe and America is equally complete, and the 'Welcome to Earth' tour takes APB to ecstatic crowds across both continents, culminating in nominations for Best Live Act and Best Album at the German Alternative music awards, placing APB alongside such luminaries as the Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure."

*Luminaries- I think like that.... *

Also: The current issue of Newsweek (with "Beyond Hormone Therapy" on the cover) has a lovely article about "Plugging In to Electroclash" (ahh my kind of music! Just please don’t let it get too popular...) and also a complementary article called "It Looks Marvelous" on a new 80s box set by Rhino Records called “Like Omigod! The 80’s Pop Culture Box (Totally)”- that The Cure is apparently included on... The quote is: " It took producer David McLees four years and two coproducers to choose tracks for the collection. 'This is definitely not a scholarly survey of ’80s trends,' he says. 'It’s more like skimming a stone over the decade and hitting the highlights, with an obvious emphasis on kitschiness. It hopefully makes people smile when they hear something they haven’t heard in years, whether it’s Melissa Manchester or the Cure.'"

Online links to the articles are under "entertainment" at http://www.msnbc.com/news/NW-front_Front.asp currently- and also still for sale right now I believe...."

(Thanks midnightt the cure cat girl)

"Well, though I missed the actual performance, comedy central showed the cure's saturday night live appearance from a number of years back (I'm guessing about 96) yesterday afternoon. Also, vh1 classic has been playing cure videos on occasion...mostly during their blocks of 80's videos. Last night they showed the video for lovecats. side note...if you have the ability to receive vh1 classic, I recommend doing so. I tend to think of it as the best channel on tv...especially when they're showing the cure."

(Thanks Erik)

"Finally, due to the cancellation of the Gus Gus Iceland group concert, The Cure will have two hours in Benicassim the 2nd of August ( 1.50-3.50 am ) as all the fans and the group wanted."

(Thanks Maria)

For those who might have missed it, the show did premiere on July 7th on BBC Choice, and I have the audio of it up on the Audio/Video page.

"Today, MCM, the French music channel, will broadcast in its programme called JDM a very short report regarding The Cure and the "Vieilles Charues" festival (JDM lasts 13 mn).

Today (18 July) at 1:15pm, 8:30pm, 10:45pm and 2:00am."

(Thanks Frederic)

"I live in Belgium and I will go to the Hyde Park gig. At the moment I still haven't received my tickets, so I've sent a mail to Ticketmaster. Here is the answer, maybe it can be helpul for other Cure fans, especially the address where the ticket will be held before the show:

Dear Customer

Your tickets will be held at the box office. Please bring your confirmation number and credit card as ID. The box office is at Hyde Park near the Queen Elizabeth Gate and will be open from 2pm

Yours sincerely

(Thanks Jim)

"Just to let you know that I am selling my 2 Cure standing tickets for London on the 27th July as unfortunately we cannot attend in the end. I am selling the pair for £50 so much cheaper than at ticketmaster. For UK fans only. You can email me at fishbass2@yahoo.com"

(Thanks Fred)

Vieilles Charrues festival main scene (Glenmor Scene):

15:35 - 16:35 Louis Chedid

18:05 - 19:25 Miossec

20:35 - 21:55 Asian Dub Foundation

23:05 - 00:35 The Cure

01:45 - 03:00 Jimmy Luxury and the Tommy Rome Orchestra

Details available at http://www.vieilles-charrues.com/festival/programme.php

And it looks like there will be some live coverage on their website. They mention photos, interviews and videos, but there doesn't appear to be any mention of an actual webcast.

(Thanks Olivier)

Update - Here's the info for those who need it:

"You can already buy your ticket, on-line, to the Sudoeste Festival at: http://sudoeste.clix.pt/bilhetes/index.html

the festival usually doesn't sell out....but we'll never know...tickets are available also at the entrance."

(Thanks Paulo)

"Next sunday ( the 21st), on french tv ( tv breizh between 20h50 and 22h40)), it will be possible to watch a few live cure songs from the festival "les vielles charrures". I don't know yet how many, probably 2 or 3 as usual with this french tv."

(Thanks Nath)

"so I sent an email to the organisers in Nyon to ask for more minutes. heres the answer:

"We will do our best, with the ok of the police and the band"

... SO WE CAN HOPE "

(Thanks Riet)

- Robert watched the worldcup at home, every match, so he stayed at home the whole of june - for special games he invited friends and drank all night + watched the games drunken in the morning

- we just decide to play a few festivals, normally it coincided with some releases, this time it is just about having fun

- we recorded some demos already but didn't have the chance to mix them yet, so we decided to play some old songs, cause maybe in the future we don't have the chance to do that many times

- this is Robert's way to finalize a particular part of the cure before starting something new - which will ôòE
ever we do be in new surroundings + other people will be involved, it looks like we have to think about a new stage show for the new demos

- they are in a funny situation, cause Robert has just finished his soloalbum (after working on it for 18 months), though it is still not mixed yet. parallel to that he started to write new material for the cure, so he doesn't know what this will lead to, probably his soloalbum will be a free bonus disc alongside the new cure album

- he enjoys playing with the band again, he'd prefer the cure recording a new album + putting his soloalbum on hold, but on the other hand, it has to be promoted in some way

- best would be if the soloalbum really comes with the new cure album, if people don't enjoy it, they can simply throw it away then

- his solo stuff is very atmospheric and electronic-sounding, the new cure stuff is almost heavy rock - 2 totally different things, he still prefers it though to play with the band rather than recording on his own

- he has recorded a song with Earl Slick (Bowie guitarplayer)

- good chance there will also be more collaborations with the cure, they should invite people to play with them, as this would work well, for the first time robert thinks they are really good.

- the new album will mainly be distributed via the net, but still be connected to traditional labels - probably they sign to a label, there are 2 labels they would be happy with

- most important thing is that he gets along with the people. with majors, people working there are normally younger than him + they tell him what to do!

- there will be something special around may 2003 for the 25th anniversary, a one off show + all former members should be part of it, Lol will also be there!

(Thanks Dennis)

Gates open 4:00 pm

4:40 pm Joseph Arthur

5:25 pm Cranes

6:30 pm Mogwai

8:00 pm The Cure

10:00 pm Show finishes

For what it's worth, I've heard that The Cure will have more than 2 hours, but that's unconfirmed.

(Thanks Dave)

"I checked my order status on Rome tickets and yes, my tickets have been converted to " south steps" from "parterre". I reside in Kansas City, so this does appear to be a case of converting tickets on foreign orders from parterre to south steps.

The only link I have for the stadium is www.hotellaurentia.com/calcio.htm. This link gives a very general overview of the Olympic Stadium.

There is one upside in my opinion. Security at concerts in Europe is very lax compared to here in the US. While attending a show in Barcelona on the Dream Tour, security was more intent on keeping people out of the reserved seating area that did not hold tickets for the reserved area. There was little concern about allowing any and all fans on the floor. At Conegliano, I had to seek some form of shelter ( during Watching Me Fall ) because I was absolutely soaked and shivering cold, and left the venue to dry off at a motel across the street. The entrance to the show was completely unmanned and anybody could have entered the show if they chose to do so."

Update: another diagram of the stadium - http://www.asromacalcio.it/sito-ufficiale/botteghino/mappa.html

(Thanks Jay and Alessandro)

Conegliano (227 votes) - 66%

Frauenfeld (63 votes) - 18%

Athens (54 votes) - 16%

No surprise there, as the brilliant Conegliano set wins in a landslide. Be sure to vote in the Week 2 poll on the front page.

"An interesting cure-spotting. i was at the baltimore orioles/oakland a's on saturadua night at camden yards in baltimore. inbetween the 4th and 5th inning, they played Just Like Heaven in its entirity over the stadium PA system. very surprising. "

(Thanks Christopher)

"Six Flags Magic Mountain in California are playing the cure video cut here. The video is played while guest wait in line for the rides. I've seen it three times in one day."

(Thanks Hairynipples1999)

1. The recording of the new album may be pushed back, due to a "mystery"event (Robert wouldn't say exactly what it was) in October. Robert said they have an offer for a very special one-off event that could possibly turn into a DVD, and that was so unique and important to him that he's considering starting the recording of the new album a little later than originally planned.

2. Apparently 40 new songs exist for the upcoming album, and Robert is currently in the process of selecting the 10 or so to be recorded for the album.

3. Polydor have now agreed to a boxset release of all the b-sides / rarities due out in may 2003 to coincide with the official 25th anniversary of the band.

4. In or around May of 2003, Robert hopes to stage a one-off show featuring all of the previous bandmembers, although he's quite aware that this might be A LOT of work.

- good friends with wayne hussey (the mission)

- after the festivals the new album will be recorded + released on the bands own label

- virtually impossible to find a label in Great Britain, as we are seen as a band of a lost generation over there... the reason for universal to still count on the band was only cause we still sell lots of records (more than most of the other bands on their roster anyway), they don't have a clue how to promote our releases though

- happy about the new contract with an independent distribution that they'll sign shortly

- with bloodflowers they thought no-one at their english label cared about it, very frustrating

- still the possibility of contracts with their old distributors in some other parts of the world like italy or germany

- they will only licence the album to them.

- good to play some shows before going into the studio, not only to play these shows but also to talk to each other

- the shows are also a kind of thank you to the fans that always had to wait for a long time for a new cure album

(Thanks Dennis)

"Here's the email i got. Put it in babelfish to translate but basically it changes the general admission Parterre ticket I bought to a general admission South steps ticket. I guess it was easiest for them to change all the foreigners' tickets since they all have to do box office pickup. Does anybody italian have a seating plan of the stadio olympico? I suppose you can play dumb at the box office with your Original confirmation email in hand and make a fuss and see what happens."

(Thanks Steve)

"My name is Alessandro and i'm from Rome. Maybe i can tell you something you can undestand what happens about the tickets in Rome. The Cure will play at the Stadio Olimpico. This Stadio was closed for safety reason at the end of the Italian Soccer League, to allow some works inside to get it ready for the Athletic Golden Gala on 12th July. They didn't know if any concert was possible after that day. Now everything is ok, but they started keeping reservations before any tickets were printed. I went to a box office in Rome in May, and i got my reservation paper for 4 standing area tickets that i could change with real tickets almost a month later, when everything was ok with the concert. I think they had overselling of the standing area reservation tickets and now that everyone is changing them with real ones, they find themself with a problem. This could be the reason. This isn't official, i'm just telling you what i heard about the problems that the Stadio had (and now are gone), and what i did to get my tickets. "

(Thanks Alessandro)

(Thanks Dennis)

"Surfed in on this site : http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/t/r/tristanbro/tristanbro.html it has paintings of songs such as Lullaby(wrong spelling though) :) Boys Don't Cry, Charlotte Sometimes,...Enjoy The Silence by DM...quite nice"

(Thanks Sjauke)

"Just like to mention a Portugese band "Twilight Garden" who write really good music, they also doa few different cure covers. I've only heard Killing an Arab, A Forest, Figurehead and All I Want but they are really well done."

(Thanks Jo)

"Just to let you know that the cure's video of close to me (original mix, i.e above that water) was ranked 95 on VH1's (Europe) 100 greatest videos. Robert was speaking about it and so was tim pope. the footage of robert dated from differents periods and one was i think pretty recent."

(Thanks Alain)

"Cure on CNN

Well, it wasn't exactly flattering, but last night, on Headline News (CNN affiliate), there was a mini-story entitled "Brit Pop Flop." The story discussed how record sales by British musicians were very low in the US. The reporter mentioned that the U.S. accounts for 40% of all record sales in the world. Anyway, during the last part of the segment they played the Wrong Number video...an interesting choice since it was hardly seen on MTV when it was released. The reporter didn't actually mention the Cure, however. "

(Thanks Matthew)

"This Cure spotting is compliments of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper on Wednesday, July 10. It is found within an article entitled Whatever Happened to Big Hair?, written by Rachel Sauer for the Cox News Service. The article basically traces and mocks the appearance of "big hair" through history pointing out such people as Johann Sebastian Bach, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Kid N' Play, etc... you get the point. Here is the text from the paragraph concerning the Cure.

"And then there was Guns N' Roses, and Poison, and the Cure, and every other heavy metal or goth band with enormous hair (perhaps compensation for the fact that they were a bunch of pigeon-chested weenies). It was a look emulated by hordes of American teen-age girls and a handful of misunderstood boys. There was a run on super-powered hair spray."

Not very flattering, but none-the-less a Cure spotting. "

(Thanks Jody and Dave)

"Just to let you know this on www.xfm.co.uk:

The Hijack

Every week a top act takes over the Xfm studios to play their favourite tracks. Discover who's been playing what and let us know your ideas for future guests Sunday 17:00-18:00

Coming Soon On The Hijack - The Cure July 14"

(Thanks Cedric)

"I just spoke to Ticketmaster and there are between 20 and 30 standing tickets left for Hyde Park, and 15-20 seats!!!!!!"

(Thanks Nicci)

20:45 Australian Blonde

21:35 Electric soft parade

22:30 Supergrass

23:30 Los Planetas

00:35 Muse

01:50 The Cure

03:20 Gus Gus

(Thanks Fab G. and Chris)

"I've written to the organisation of the paleo festival, in Nyon, to know how long The Cure's set will be. They answer me they're planned to play 90 minutes, but "We never konw ! ". Perhaps, we could send a lot of mail to them to explain that it's not enough! paleo@paleo.ch "

(Thanks Steph)

"I just got an email in italian and as far as i can tell it says something about the standing tickets being oversold and i will get seats instead even though standing tickets were confirmed for me by email! My friend got the same email! I'm absolutly furious at this and have no time to sort it out as i'm leaving for Zillo tonight and will have no internet access until after i get back from Rome! if any other people have had the same experience it would be nice to send them a united protest because i absolutely do not agree with this... "

(Thanks Vicky)

"I've been getting increasingly excited as the time draws ever nearer that i get to see The Cure step out on stage and surround me once again with a musical experience that only they could.

I set off for my first adventure tomorrow evening from Sheffield bound for Germany to take in Zillo and Woodstage return home for around 36 hours before setting off again to Britany after which i return to london on the 21st (for 4 hours) then fly straight to Rome.

I have taken a couple of weeks holiday in which i will take in 5 shows and was HORRIFIED to receive an e-mail today from EasyTicket in Italy which says that due to the promoters over selling the tickets for front standing (Parterre) they have had to reduce the amount of people being admitted to the front standing area entrance. They have told me that i must gain entry elsewhere in which i will be unable to get to the front and have tried to reasure me (without success i might add) that the sound will be as good in that area. They do not understand how vital it is for me to receive the tickets (2) that i ordered and paid for when they first went on sale and i find it completely unfair of them to turn round at this time and ty to make me have something other than i am entitled to after buying them in May. Is there anything i can do? I have tried to phone them but couldn't get to speak to anyone who could talk english and have sent an e-mail explaining my plight which they haven't replied to. SURELY THEY CAN'T DO THIS!!"

(Thanks Susan)

Has anyone else received this e-mail? Any suggestions on what, if anything, can be done?

"Garden of Dreams compared again to The Cure in another review:

"Mix mid-eighties rock, comparable with The Smiths and the more poppy The Cure with a 2002 feeling and you get exactly the music served by this Chicago based band on its newest release "Sleeping Stars"......." -Sideline Magazine http://gardenofdreams.com/reviews.html .

If anyone wants to check them out, they are playing in Chicago at the Metro on Sunday, July 14th. Tickets are free before 7pm. to print tix go to www.gardenofdreams.com."

(Thanks Lana)

"August 3rd, 2002 - Mozaic (www.geocities.com/mozaic_uk) at Bognor Live - Bognor Regis, West sussex.

They've covered disetegration live, and too bad i can't vouch for how well they do it, (ocean blocking my trip) but if one happens to be in the area, perhaps one should check it out!!"

(Thanks Caro)

"I just contacted suisse drs3 radio who will broadcast each day of nyon festival from 7pm to 1am (23rd july onwards) - they can't say yet whether they will broadcast the cure's set, as these things have to be cleared with the bands/management in nyon - so it is not yet known whether we have the chance of listening to the cure's set... "

(Thanks Dennis)

"I gave a call to ticketmaster and they told me that they only had about 60 tickets available for the Hyde Park gig ! Hurry up fans !

Central seated and general admission (converted south steps) tickets for Rome have sold out. General admission tickets for East and South areas are still available."

(Thanks David)

"About 50-75 minutes in benicassim.. last year Pulp were playing only 55 minutes (like Glastonbury 98), PJ harvey about 1 hour. I have some shows of the last Benicassim, and some are complete in a simple cassette of 60 minutes.

And these are the bands that will play on friday August 2nd

- Australian Blonde

- Gus Gus (Live)

- Los Planetas

- Muse

- Supergrass

- The Cure

- The Electric Soft Parade

These bands will play on the GREEN STAGE from 20.30 till 3.30. (7 HOURS FOR 7 BANDS) "

(Thanks Curro and David)

"I've written to the organisation of "les vieilles charrues " to know how long The Cure's set will be. We will have them for 1h30."

(Thanks Fred)

"As a collector of all things Cure ! UM!! I've never seen these photos from sometime in 1980? Very nice!!! http://users.skynet.be/phicarly/index.htm "

(Thanks Chris)

"I write just to tell you that the organization of the benicassim festival only allows the cure to play between fifty minutes and one hour and fifteen minutes. It is really a shame, and i want to make a call to all spanish cure fans to email to the festival promoters to fix it!! everybody knows that 50 minutes is not enough for a real cure show."

Can this be true? If anyone finds out any more about this, please let me know.

(Thanks Eloy)

"Just wanted to send in a personal experience with Ticketmaster UK and the Hyde Park tickets. I live in Washington state, and am leaving for London the week of the 22nd. I just got off the phone with the TM UK customers service group, and was told they couldn't guarantee that the tickets would make it all the way to me via mail by Friday, July 20th. So I had no choice but to change them to box office tickets, available just a brief one hour prior to the show. I'm a bit nervous now; I was really looking forward to grasping those lovely tickets in my own hands before heading over there. But, what can you do, you know? It's worth the risk... :-) "

(Thanks Alan)

"The website of the french radio " le mouv' " ( http://www.radio-france.fr/chaines/lemouv/ephemeride/) says that the station will have some special programs about "les vieilles charrues" and benicassim festival. Like Sylvain, I can't say if there will be or not some cure stuffs in this programs (but it looks like...)."

(Thanks Pierre)

"This morning I have received the first of my Hyde Park tickets. This was a standing ticket ordered from Stargreen Box Office in London. The ticket has the ice cream design on it, so I'm not sure why it has taken so long to get them done seeing as how this design has been available for ages."

(Thanks Carl)

"This is just to confirm that I received my Hyde Park tickets this morning. I had ordered them from Stargreen box office and I live in London so I suppose that explains why I am one of the first to receive them."

(Thanks Fab G)

"Only to say that on TV BREIZ (canalsatellite channel in france) the 21th July at 9.00 PM, 2 hours of the Vieilles Charrues festival.........sure we'll see the cure!!!"

(Thanks Jean Pierre)

"Answering your question concerning possible radio broadcasts of Festivals, I have this info :

The swiss radio station Couleur 3 regularly anounces that they will have special programs live from the Paleo Festival. No word on wether it will be interviews, live performances or any other type of event though. BUT they have a program called "Direct festival" and on their website ( www.couleur3.ch ), you can read this :

"During July, couleur 3 will be live from the biggest Swiss festivals, starting at 5pm".

They should tell more by the time there is one week left before the Paleo. So let's make it clear, I am not saying that there will some Cure stuff on Couleur 3. For the moment, I am only saying that it is probable."

(Thanks Sylvain)

"Last night, Blue Audio, a one-man-synth-pop artist,played a really slow version of Just Like Heaven at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago. He played an electric guitar all the way through with samples of JLH torwards the end. It was suprisingly a really good cover. John(Blue Audio) said he also does a synthy version of "one more time". "

(Thanks Nawaznadya)

"I was just surfing the web trying to look up how ticket sales are progressing for The Cures forthcoming Hyde Park gig when I stumbled accross this nice tribute from www.keithprowse.co.uk who deals in concert hospitality suite sales...

"Through more than 20 extravagant years and 20 extraordinary albums The Cure have done it all in their own unmistakable way. Free, independent, wilful, unconfined, the band have spent most of their career creating and exploring in the strange places where the worlds of mainstream and alternative collide. They have developed a range of uniquely distinctive sounds and styles, and in the process created as great a body of contemporary music as you could wish to hear."

How refreshing that someone actually writes something both positive and accurate about The Cure in the UK, this makes quite a nice surprise. I am sure this is one brief description of the band that Robert would actually feel satisfied with...and theres not many!"

(Thanks Tom)

"I was listening to "All Things Considered" on NPR last Friday evening and they were doing a story about this guy who quite apparently has way too much free time on his hands. He created a website dedicated to making "cover chains," whereby artists are linked by the covers they've done of the previous artists work. It's grown to around 10,000 songs. The example NPR used was the very first "chain" this guy made, as their story went, it started off with Elvis covering "you ain't nothin' but a hounddog" by somebody, then it was Bob Dylan covering Elvis, Jimi Hendrix covering Dylan, and, you guessed it, the Cure covering Hendrix (they didn't say whether it was "Foxy Lady" or "Purple Haze"), then "Just Like Heaven" being covered by Dinosaur Jr. This was the only example they used, and it was great to hear the Cure mentioned so prominently--and when they talked about "Just Like Heaven," it was very matter-of-fact, like the song didn't need any introduction.

The URL is http://covers.wiw.org/, it's interesting to look at all the times the Cure have been covered, and by who (just keyword search "cure"--it's slow, be patient), and also to see the strange array of songs the site claims that the Cure have covered."

(Thanks Jeff)

"Just got 'ticketmaster' on line; for those who are comming from Belgium or France (and I guess from all the other places); the tickets are being printed now (!!) and they will be sent Thursday (11/07) or Friday (12/07). If you don't get them on the 20/07 they advise to call them (+44 20 74 13 14 31) with your confirmation number and they will prepare tickets for you to get at Hyde Park. But everyone should have their tickets on time (dixit ticketmaster).

PS: the Hyde Park gig is almost sold out !! That's what they told me; even the 'seated' places are almost gone. She asked it to her surperior and he confirmed that the Hyde Park gig will be sold out..."

Actually, there is conflicting info on whether or not the show is close to selling out, but why take a chance? You've seen the setlists, you've heard how great the shows have been so far, and it's unofficially the 25th anniversary show. Don't miss it!

(Thanks Beerschot)

"Ticketmaster UK said Hyde Park yickets are being dispatched via registerd post around the 20th July; this apparently takes only two days (well to Ireland at least) Suppose this means tickets will be at proposed postal location by the tuesday before the concert."

(Thanks Donal)

"I was watching Much Music today (July 6), and on Becoming a Rock Star (today's rock star was Pink), they were playing "Cut Here" in the background while the winner was getting her hair cut. Weird!"

(Thanks Christian)

"I was at the 6-Flags park near St. Louis, just about to take off on the little mine car ride when suddenly over the speakers came Cut Here. They played the entire song since it was still going when the ride pulled back into the station."

(Thanks Marc)

And if someone sends it, I'll have it up just as soon as I can. Audio is already up. : )

Update: Here's the first reports on how the show came across on tv -

"Well what can I say ? For once the BBC have done something to be proud of...this could have been directed by Tim Pope. It was absolutely wonderful..bright out of focus soft shots and incredibley sharp close ups of Robert and the band. not to mention a full three quarters of a second of Hugh four feet in the air playing air guitar to "Dont Believe A Word"...PRICELESS -LOL. Then a quick interview with the gormlous bloke from big brother's little brother; DERMOT (If I spent as much time researching my music as I do in the Gym I'd be good at this too )O'Learey. This gave us a chance for the camera man to show us a whole two seconds of Babs and Andy nodding in agreement to Robert's proclaimation that "Dinosaur Jnr's JLH is his favorite Cure cover". Also Robert jumping headlong into a huge LIE when he says that he thought Idlewild's cover of BDC was the best he has seen as well( It wasnt screened until 2 weeks after THIS show was recorded.....shhhhhh).

(Correction:Robert HAD seen the Idlewild cover before The Cure's performance on the show. Dermot was in the dressing room to meet the band, and he mentioned the Idlewild cover and arranged for Robert to see a video of their performance of 'Boys Don't Cry'. So Robert had seen it and was therefore able to comment on it when he was asked about it.)

It was a beautifully montaged 10 minutes of video though... It was funny though to see that during "DBAW" they substituted US for a front row of heavy metallars who were jumping up and down 4ft in the air in slow motion. ??????? It looks really good though..love it... They made us look a bit silly during forest as they looped the 10 seconds we did of hands in the air (Radio GA GA clapping) to make it look as though we did it through the whole song... You get to see the back of my head loads...LOL. It's just reminded me of what a great evening we all had there...Hope to see you all again at the Cure drink before Hyde Park..."

(Thanks Gary)

"Well, that was some nice TV for a change. They were the first on the show, ran through Love Song, the short interview - you've covered all that before - Don't Believe A Word which ran straight into A Forest (rare, never seen a band get three songs on Re:Covered before). It was an extra short version though, stopped at 'suddenly I stop' which was kind of amusing - in the sense that "hey thats cool", and then sudden realisation "hey! where's the rest of the song!". It's repeated tomorrow on BBC Choice again (9pm).

(Thanks hazard mail)

"Your enquiry of yesterday has if fact proved timely as I have been informed there had been a hold up at the printers on 2 of the Hyde Park shows but that all the tickets have actually been sent out today to all the ticket agents vending for the event. I assume all agents will look to distribute tickets to patrons asap thereafter."

So they should start sending them out by next week at the latest. But you might want to double check with whichever agency you purchased your tickets from to see if they are sending them out or will have them waiting for you at the box office, like the NME ticket line says:

"I have just spoken to the NME ticket line.

I was told that when people live abroad the tickets will not be sent out because the event is taking place within the next month and that there will be not enough to send them out to everyone (they haven’t even got the tickets yet). I suggest that all people who will travel from abroad call the ticket service they booked from and ask for their reference number and then pick up their tickets at Hyde Park, this is what I was told. Don’t expect any tickets by the post, you be waiting for nothing. "

(Thanks Tea)

"Porl Thompson news from Ice Magazine, July 2002.

"Robert Plants a New Sensation" (Excerpts):

IT'S BEEN NINE YEARS SINCE Led Zeppelin howler Robert Plant issued a solo disc, but with Dreamland, aficionados may consider the wait worthwhile. For the 10-track Universal CD, which arrives July 16, Plant and his Strange Sensation band remodel eight historical American folk, psychedelic and blues tracks by Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley, Skip Spence, Arthur Crudup and others. For good measure, two new compositions are hitched onto the disc.

Dreamland is a self-produced affair, bristling with Plant's distinct blend of folk, psychedelic, Middle Eastern, Asian and blues sounds. Strange Sensation attests to the formula, as it includes ex-Cure guitarist Porl Thompson, Sinead O'Connor guitarist Justin Adams, Page & Plant bassist Charlie Jones, Massive Attack/Tom Jones keyboardist John Baggott and Jeff Beck/Roni Size drummer Clive Dreamer.

Plant's rendition of "Hey Joe," one of the more recognizable titles on the disc, is another apt example. Unlike the original take by the Leaves or well-known versions performed by Jimi Hendrx, the Byrds, Love and the Grateful Dead, Lewis says, "It's got sort of a trip-hop feel that'd come out of a group like Portishead, but it's linked to this thing from the late '60's. Porl Thompson's guitar, however, is very psychedelic."

Also, Plant is participating in three different TV music-biograpy shows: VH-1's Storytellers, which airs mid-July, PBS's Austin City Limits and CMT's Crossroads.

(No mention if Porl will be performing on these TV shows with Plant.) "

(Thanks Rust)

(Thanks Gary)

"Just to let you know that the Argentinian Music chanel Music Country aired a Cure special a few days ago; nothing new, just some videos and history."

(Thanks Luis)

"I know you have already posted a message about this but the situation of the tickets for Hyde Park is getting ridiculous. I mean, it's less than 20 days to go for the show now and neither me nor other people have received it. I just had a word with Ticketline and they told me that the tickets have not been sent by the organizers yet.

Is this ridiculous or what? I am thinking about all the people who travel around to see the other festivals and cannot be at home, although I am not amongst these lucky ones. On top of everything I am worried because I know the Mail system is really a sinking ship in UK (personal experiences of mail lost or received months later).

The person I spoke with just told me, and this sounds alarming to me, that if tickets are not sent by the 26th then we should go in London and collect the tickets by telling them our reference number, the one they should tell you when you purchase via telephone. Personally, I was not told my reference number at the time. Now I know it, but I wonder if everyone has it.

Despite the enthusiasm for the big event, I have to say that it's a shame that a company with such a big name and a long experience displays such a lack of organization. I respect the fact that people are working and I am sure they're trying to make things nicer (i.e. promotional photos like someone said) but ... how long will it take to take these films in the dark room?"

As Davide said, this is getting serious, especially for those who are traveling. I'm trying to contact Triple A Entertainment and get a comment from them and will post it as soon as they respond. In the meantime, if you are concerned about getting your tickets you might want to contact whatever agency you bought them from and see if you can just pick them up at the box office on the day of the show. That way you won't have to worry about missing them in the mail. I have no idea if they'll let you switch, but it's worth a try. If anyone else has any suggestions, please send them in.

(Thanks Davide)

Updates: "In response to the post regarding the Hyde Park ticket fiasco...I was told when I purchased my tickets that they would be sent out approximately two weeks prior to the show on July 27th so unless you are travelling around and will not be home to receive the tix there is nothing to worry about. It is slightly worrying that they are sent out this late when alot of us ordered them nearly two months ago but this was explained to myself and a few other fans when we purchased."

(Thanks Tom)

"I have been worried for a while about the Hyde Park tickets not arriving in time. I sent an email to customer service at ticketmaster.co.uk (customer.services@ticketmaster.co.uk) and decided along with the very friendly employee that it would be best to simply pick the tickets up at the box office. She managed to change my tickets to pick up rather than mail, no problem."

(Thanks John)

Are you gone? Ok good, because I have to make some comments about the Athens setlist. Amazing is the first word that came to my mind last night. Sure, there was nothing new here that we hadn't seen on the Dream Tour (with the notable exception of The Baby Screams, which was a great addition), but the structure of the set was very different. It was great to see a main set without ANY singles and loaded with "opening tracks" (6 of 14 songs played). And to send the crowd home with a Pornography/Disintegration pairing? Unbelievable! I swear, I think only The Cure would try something like that at a festival. Very nice to see Want and Prayers For Rain take a break, and when was the last time Fascination St. wasn't played? And everyone who followed my comments about the Dream Tour knows how happy I am to see In Between Days out of the main set and into the encores. : )

It would have been so easy for them to just throw together a pop set to try and re-promote the "Hits" cd or to please the crowd, but instead, they once again surprise us with a well thought out and "difficult" set that rewards the hardcore (for lack of a better word) fans. But if you love the singles too, don't worry, I'm sure some will find there way back into the set eventually.

I've heard some complaints that it's the same stuff they played on the Dream Tour, and just the same old thing for the 3rd year in a row. While I do understand that point of view, you have to remember that the Greek fans didn't get a Dream Tour show in their country, so only had a chance to hear a set like that if they traveled to one of the shows in another country. And when we start complaining about a set like that being the same old thing again, we really don't have much left to complain about in my view. We'll get lots of new stuff next year, so enjoy this while you can.

Anyway, I'm sure that set will not be played at every show, and we'll see some of the songs being dropped and others added. Personally, I'd drop either Watching Me Fall or 39 (which always seemed to drag live), and put Sinking back in. I also hope that Charlotte can find her way back into the show as well. But regardless of what they play, it looks like we're in for another surprising and satisfying tour.

So congratulations to the band on an excellent start to the tour, and continued good luck & success for the remaining shows.

(Thanks Hugh)

"the sonic seducer interview doesn't bring any new things (in fact it is only part 1 of a 2 part interview - to be continued in september issue). the main news are a repeat of the zillo ones. main things:

- festival gigs are never only a job, it's fascinating to play those shows if there is no new album that has to be promoted

- don't have to play a particular set, we can do what we like

- going into the studio in september

- don't see each other too often, as we live quite far away from each other

- biggest difference between the bandmembers is their daily schedule, robert goes to bed at 6am and gets up 1pm... other members have more of a 'normal' life

- at the moment stuff is going into darker directions, wrong number, will probably be the last song that can be seen as sth different

- his solo album is recorded has still to be mixed

- takes too long to work on his solostuff, so it should come out with the next cure record, and people will hopefully be positively surprised

- he enjoys doing new stuff with the band

The interview is also included as an mp3 on the cd that comes with the magazine. If anyone can send it, I'll put it up for downloading.

(Thanks Dennis)

(Thanks Erin)

"Yesterday in the italian TV show "Festivalbar" they talked about the Cure concert in Roma (23rd July) with a short extract from Cut Here video."

(Thanks Michele)

"some cure spotting from england! :D

1. in a magazine called "Metal Hammer", in every issue, they do a thing called "It's Your Funeral" and they ask someone from a band a few questions, Jessica Mayers from Sugarcoma had this to say *Funeral service soundtrack? "I'd get some bands along. I'd want The Cure, Sabbath, Depeche Mode & The Doors to play "The End"*

2. "she dressed weirdly, but then so what. she'd dyed her hair nighttime black (with mouse brown roots) & used the black nail varnish exclusivley.her skin was morgue-white, she had piercings up & down her ears & nose, & heaven only knows where else. she spent weeks sequestered behind her locked bedroom door, a boom box pumping out endless rotations of albums by The Cure..."

from Douglas Coupland's "Girlfriend In A Coma"

(Thanks TheBabyScreams139)

"here's sort of a cure spotting...

i'm watching a show on PBS called "Mystery", part 1 of an episode entitled "Forgotten", and one of the characters commented on how "many people commit suicide by jumping off the cliff at Beachy Head" [not exact words, here]...

and as any freakishly devoted cure fan knows, Beachy Head is where the "Just Like Heaven" video was shot."

Update: "At risk of sounding pedantic, Mintie's statement is incorrect. The Close To Me video was filmed at Beachy Head (where the wardrobe falls off the cliff). I believe the Just Like Heaven video was filmed entirely in a studio (I have a copy of the making of JLH on video and it was all studio based)."

(Thanks Mintie and Ian)

And for those of you who are new, please send in your review of the show whenever you can. Just because there might be 5 reviews up already, doesn't mean that I don't want your review as well.

So to all of you who will be traveling to the shows this week, have a safe trip and a great time at the shows.

"The Cure - Robert Smith features on the cover of SONIC SEDUCER magazine, July/August 2002, also did an interview: http://www.sonic-seducer.de"

Can anyone provide a translation of the interview or at least a summary of what was said? Thanks.

(Thanks Karoline)

"I don't know if this is already known by all of you but since about two weeks ago you can buy one-day-tickets for Friday 5. July show of THE CURE in Frauenfeld, Switzerland at the Ministry of Rock Festival. The one-day-ticket costs 75 swiss francs (about 54 Euros). "

(Thanks Arturo)

"In the benicassim festival it looks like there will be tickets for one day only. for those poeple who will only attend the cure day. the first day. the 3rd of August.

AND

there is a contest on www.cartoonnetwork.es to win tickets for the whole festival. but it doesn´t work yet. i think. and MTV spain is also runnning a contest for the same festival. there is a phone number (906 40 41 42) and this is the text:

The Cure will be the biggest attraction on the festival this year: what's the name of the Cure's singer?

1-Robert Smith 2-Morrisey 3-Roberto Perez 4-Norman Cook

obviously , it's number 3. call now! you have time until the 15th of July (you must be client of ONO, a TV server)"

(Thanks ALe)

"On the new self-titled cd by Jalane there is a song called "Ou Va le Monde" that features a sample of "Lullaby" throughout the song. The song is sung in French, and does not credit the Cure for songwriting. It's actually a pretty good dance number..if you like that kind of thing.

Also, there a quite a few Cure samples out there. One that I don't think has been mentioned before is "Damn" by the Alkaholiks which DJ Swamp mixes with the Cure's "Hot, Hot, Hot." This mix can be found on the cd, "the Cornerstone Player."

I just realized that both of the above songs have rapping in them. There is an area that the Cure haven't yet explored: HIp-hop! LOL! "

(Thanks Rust)

"just passing on some info about a few cure items coming up on australian tv. It's on FOXTEL though, not free to air unfortunately, on the MUSIC MAX channel.

Wednesday 3d July - 9h30 pm - 'Later With Jools' featuring the cure (old re-runs, not sure when this one's from)

Friday 19th July -8h30pm - The Story Of The Cure (quite interesting, features loads of interviews from 85 to 2000)

Friday 19th July - 9h30 pm - Cure Clips (one hour's worth)"

(Thanks Marc)

'CUREDRINK' SATURDAY 27th JULY _ 'A Night Like This' , HYDE PARK

Hi all, its been a long time since the last UK 'CUREDRINK' so I think this is an ideal opportunity to get together with alot of old 'curefriends' that will be coming from all over the world to 'A night like this' at Hyde Park on the 27th July.

>From 2pm onwards (Gates open 4pm Acc to NME)

- The Venue: 'The Marlborough Head' (an eerie pub company) and is on the corner of North Audley Street and North Row (nearest tube Bond st/Marble arch) here's the map link:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=528266&Y=180860&A=Y&Z=1

Spread the word, hope to see you all there if not before!.....ange x

(Thanks Ange)

"The greatest hits go up in the greek top 50 . It's position no.12 from no.17 last week. 3 long days to the concert. We are looking forward to see you on stage Robert!"

(Thanks Kostas)

From NME:

David Bowie - Wowed at Meltdown

BOWIE BRILLIANT!

Celebrities including BONO, KYLIE, ROBERT SMITH, SHARLENE SPITERI, BRIAN ENO, PAUL COOK, TRACEY EMIN, SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR, DAVID BADDIEL, TOYAH, SUPERGRASS, SIOUXSIE SIOUX and BUDGIE flocked to the LONDON ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL last night for DAVID BOWIE's live finale of his MELTDOWN festival.

(Thanks Ange)

"Inserted in this week's copy of Broadcast (a TV industry trade publication) was a promotional leaflet from a company called Skaramoosh promoting their post-production services. One of the projects they have recently worked on is Re:covered, and on the front of the flyer there is a picture of Robert Smith, sandwiched between pictures of Matt Bellamy from Muse, and someone who looks like Jay Kay from Jamiroquai, or maybe Gavin Rossdale from Bush (can't quite see).

I'll scan it and send it to you at some point soon."

(Thanks James)

"VH1 are having some sort of "Top 10's" weekend (for a change...) and tonight they had a Top 10 "Men Who Wear Makeup". The list included such "luminaries" as Robbie Williams ("wow", just cos he dresses up like Kiss in a video....), Twisted Sister, Adam and The Ants, Culture Club and a couple of decent(ish) acts in the form of Soft Cell and Visage. The Cure of course made an appearance (at number 5) and they showed the Lullaby promo, which actually makes a very nice change as I was starting to get the impression that VH1 have only got The Lovecats and Boys Don't Cry in their video archive.

I honestly have no idea how this chart was made up. I don't think it was from sales as I'm fairly certain The Cure would have been higher than Adam And The Ants, yet Robbie Williams who is MASSIVE in the UK (and crap) was below The Cure. It most certainly wasn't made up on the basis of credibility either. Hmm.. I'm not particularly bothered about the following, but it was very strange that Duran Duran didn't appear at all. Maybe they just pulled straws or something. "

(Thanks Dave Ace)

"my friend sent me to this website that has games and animations in flash.theres this one game called Kitty Bash which plays a bit of lovecats at the begining!

heres the link to kitty bash: http://www.weebl.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/kitty.swf

and heres a link to the whole site: http://www.weebl.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/"

(Thanks Asa)

"From the July 5th, 2002 Entertainment Weekly

IT BRIT INVADERS:

Doves (The Last Broadcast)

Home Base: Manchester.

Typically hyperbolic British press blurb: "The new Radiohead." - NME.

U.S. equivalent: The Stone Roses, the Cure - if they were American.

Reliably cheeky lead singer-guitarist: Jim Goodwin.

Must-have in-studio accessory: "A tambourine. At some point, we look at each other and go, 'It's about that time again - let's get a tambourine out.' "

Why everything across the pond suddenly sounds so good: "Maybe from an American's perspective you're looking at the potential of Brit bands breaking that rap-rock cycle. But that's already here, with your f---in' Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park."

(Thanks Rust)

"Though I truly hate the MTV "reality" based showes due to how they showcase people's lives that diverge greatly from real life, I had to check out the MTV website for the new series "Sorority Life" out of interest because it is being filmed at my alma matter, the University of California, Davis. One of the sisters featured on the series lists the Cure as one of her favorite bands on her profile. Bonus points fo her, she chose the same major as I did!

http://www.mtv.com/onair/sorority_life/sisters/rachel.jhtml"

(Thanks Mike)

"hey there- here is an article from another one of my favorite bands...the bass player mentions the cure twice in a recent interview:

Robby Takac and the Goo Goo Dolls Take It From The Top

By Gregory Isola

Bass player ~ June 2002

"I’m not a big scales guy. I grew up playing Cheap Trick and Black Sabbath songs in my bedroom, and from there I moved to the Ramones. You just steal parts here and there from your influences, so I guess now I just play what I know. We speak to each other more along the lines of, "Play something more like the Cure", or "Make that part a little more new romantic," or "Put some Delta blues in there." Then each of us just reaches for whatever that means to him."

"When we first got together in 1986 we had a keyboardist. And I think if he had a louder amp, he’d probably still be in the band! [Laughs]. But we could hardly hear him, so it just didn’t make any sense to leave him there. All of a sudden our Cure concept was out the window, and it was like "Well, I guess we’re the Stooges now!"

(Thanks Fatal Distraction)