Out Of This World, Watching Me Fall, Want, Fascination St., Open, Loudest Sound, Shake Dog Shake, Maybe Someday, The Snakepit, Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Inbetween Days, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, Siamese Twins, Prayers for Rain, 100 Years, 39, Bloodflowers

1st encore: Plainsong, Same Deep Water As You, Disintegration
2nd encore: Cold, Figurehead, Pornography
3rd encore: M, Play for Today, Just Like Heaven, A Forest.

Soundcheck: Same Deep Water As You (Roger only), Like Cockatoos (Roger & Jason), Homesick (Roger), Trust
(Roger), Jupiter Crash (Roger & Jason), Jupiter Crash, Same Deep Water As You, bits of Fight and One More
Time, Figurehead, mini-jam session, Like Cockatoos, bits of The Drowning Man, Out of This World.

First let me say that I did not know what this trip was going to be like.  I showed up in New Orleans without a place
to stay and without a ticket.  My original plans fell through and I just winged it. Once I got there everything fell into
place.  Thanks to Craig H. for the ticket.  I also found a cheap room at the LaSalle Hotel right next to the Saenger
Theatre. I met a lot of cool people and hung out with a few. That's how I found out where the band was staying and
got to meet them.

I won't review every song, but just go over the highlights for me.  The opening theme music is wonderful.  I was
very glad they played Shake Dog Shake, The Snakepit, Siamese Twins, Cold, Pornography and my all time fave,
M.  I just about died when that big giant M showed on the screen.  This was a very good set and I knew the next
day would be just as good. I told Simon after the show that I thought it was the best version of 100 years that I
have ever heard.  Itwas so intense.

arriving at the saenger i was a little overwhelmed and not sure at all quite what to expect. this was my first dream
tour show (of six) and i quit reading the setlists and reviews once the european leg was finished so that i would be
more surprised when i got to see them.  i thought that what i had already read about the songs that they had been
playing had already soured my expectations anyway- i was a little worried that if i wasn't surprised by the
wonderful songs they've been playing lately that i wouldn't be as satisfied.  i was proven wrong very quickly.
the first new orleans show seemed very mellow and laid back and the intesity level took a while to really raise up.
 i think that this had a lot to do with the crowd- i've never seen people take so long to drift into a concert before.
people were still drifting in at around the time the primary set was over.  that's a bit of a rip off.  the smell of weed
was also very thick around where i was.
i love the intro music and the way the lights came on and the projection.  it gave me chills in a very wonderful way.
it worked up very nicely to the lights coming down and as the music creshendoed (sp, sorry...) the band came out
and it was so unspeakably wonderful that i could actually see them and they didn't look like little 2 inch people
thousands of miles away.  the primary set went well, only a few places were a tiny bit shaky- very forgivable of
course.  i think that jason got mixed up and started 'shake dog shake' when the rest of the band was ready to play
'maybe someday' and robert ran and grabbed his red gretsch, hit the switch and ran to the mic just in time to start
singing.  perry did a perfect job covering it up.  i forgot that they had been playing 'open' which was a nice surprise-
i've always wanted to hear that song performed live.  roger looks funny with a guitar- like a person holding a baby
that they say is cute but secretly find hideous.  the highlights!
 for the main set for me were 'loudest sound' (it's one of my favorite bloodflowers tracks and i've always been
curious to hear it live) during which someone next to me actually booed- which i thought was a little rude, 'the
snakepit' (like others have said the flute playing robert is a wonderfully fun thing to see and quite a nice surprise
to hear live), 'siamese twins' and 'one hundred years' was very powerful and intense.  it was nice to have already
heard about these surprises but they were still so unspeakably special to hear live.  i liked all of the bloodflowers
songs too, of course (they're the ones i'm looking forward to hearing the most as the tour goes on) but i found that
they sounded much better the next night. now to the encores.
this is when the show just became incredible.  i had no idea what they would do next and they kept me fooled at
almost every turn.  i have always loved 'plainsong' and 'the same deep water as you' which i got to hear in chicago
at united center in 97 but this time was obviously much better as anyone who was at that concert knew that the
sound was hideous and my seats were behind the stage just to make it that much more hideous.  'disintegration'
was great too, but i can't really decide which one i've heard in person was the best- i really liked it in st. louis
on the swing tour when he played that really noisy guitar solo and used the microphone as a slide on his guitar-
something i've always liked watching sonic youth- for some reason it was that much more special when robert did
it. next of course was the surprise that floored me completely.  they played the 'pornography' encore.  it's always
been a dream of mine to hear 'the figurehead' in person and i was shocked that it happened at the first show i saw
on this tour.  'pornography' was fantastic!  very powerful guitars- robert and perry can really make some noise.
incredibly intense.  and then they played 'm' which i love hearing live and have never heard in person and 'play for
today' (me and a few other people in my section sang along with the keyboard part but no one else would- i guess
that's just something they do at the european shows... oh well, we tried...).
'just like heaven' is always wonderful to hear- even if they do play it at almost every show and finally 'a forest' was
wonderful.  i was hoping that they'd start doing the extended versions again, but i guess that they won't be doing
that this time.  it's kind of lost it's magic- but they played the song beautifully and it was the perfect!
 end to the first night.

This was the perfect setting to see The Cure in concert.  And once that intro music started playing, you pretty
much start getting the goose bumps.  From reading the setlists from all the other concerts, I pretty much knew
what to expect.  But they still gave me several fantastic rushes of excitement.  The first being "The Loudest
Sound" my personal favorite from the "Bloodflowers" album.  Such a beautiful and tragic sound.  Then followed
immediately by "Shake Dog Shake".  I was in heaven.

I couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed once they started playing "39".  I knew we were almost to the
end of the first set.  I've never been much of a "39" fan, but I was excited because I knew "Bloodflowers" was
coming right after it, and it did.  "Bloodflowers" was brilliant once we get to the words "These flowers will always
fade".  And then that awesome guitar bit followed by the last round of lyrics leading up to the very best part:
Robert emotionally screaming the words "These flowers will always die!!"

But the best moments in the concert came in the encores.  We had the "Disintegration" "Pornography" and
"Seventeen Seconds" encores.  Hearing "Plainsong" live is a beautiful treat.  Robert was wandering around to
both sides of the stage addressing the fans.  Made me wish I had the strings to pull to be sitting that close.  But
then Robert said the words I've been waiting to hear for seven years:  "This is called 'The Same Deep Water As
You'"".  That was it!  I was definitely in heaven!  I had to close my eyes and pause so I could remember that
moment for the rest of my life.  Followed immediately by "Disintegration".  There is that moment right before the
last batch of lyrics where Robert removed the microphone from the stand.  You knew he was going to be singing
very powerfully into that microphone.  And he certainly did!!

Then...the "Pornography" encore!  Another great wish of mine to hear "Figurehead" came true.  There was an
entire set of changed lyrics halfway into the song.  Unfortuantely I couldn't quite make them out.

And then finally...the "Seventeen Seconds" encore.  Well, they did throw "Just Like Heaven" into that set, but
that even made it more wonderful.  I could never get tired of hearing "A Forest" live.  Especially those final,
lingering strums of Simon and his guitar.

This was about as perfect as a Cure concert could get for me.  The second night was brilliant, also.  But I think
May 22 at the Saenger Theater will be one of the best nights of my life.  Thank you Robert.  Thank you Simon,
Perry, Jason and Roger.  And thank you to the groovy people of New Orleans who took me under their wing!!!

We drove from Knoxville, Tennessee just to see the Cure perform in New Orleans.  The show in Atlanta was a lot closer but I know that Robert has a place in his heart for New Orleans so I knew the setlist would be great for
both shows, and it was.  Since there are other good reviews for the New Orleans 1 show, I won't bore anyone with
all the awesome details, except for the one major highlight for me.  During Plainsong, Robert went to each side
of the stage.  Lucky for me, I was at the right of the stage in front of Perry.  When Robert came to my side of the
stage, people came out from nowhere it seemed and was reaching to touch him.  I tried to reach him, but was less
than a foot away.  A girl jumped up on stage and either whispered something in his ear or kissed him, I couldn't
tell.  Someone else gave him a cd of some band. I couldn't tell what band it was.  (If someone knows the name of
the cd that he/she gave to Robert, let me know.)  It was amazing that as I was looking at him, trying to reach for
him, he looks exactly the same as in pictures and that's good.  It was an amazing moment for me, to be reaching
up to someone who's only human, but at the same time, is a genius, almost a deity in a strange sense.  Since it's
been over 12 years for me listening to the music, this is the closest I've ever been to Robert and the rest of the
band.  It's a moment I'll never forget. I must say this, I've seen them on their last three tours: Wish Tour in
1992, Swing Tour in 1996, and now the Dream Tour in 2000.  Wish Tour, I was in the stands at UNO Lakefront
Arena, Swing Tour, I was on the floor but quite a ways away, Dream Tour, I was right there in front of the stage.
Therefore, I'm hoping for another album and tour which means it'll be another 4 years in 2004 but this time, I'm
going back stage, so watch out guys, here I come!!!

Last night the Cure gave a superlative show. The venue was perfectly elegant with multiple classical motifs alit in
warmly muted shades, a welcome break from the sterile-yet-slightly-rancid ambiance of the amphitheaters. A light
touch of incense completed the effect.

The audience was as good as one could hope for, perhaps a bit too mellow but strongly supportive of the more
esoteric songs. I got the sense that most of these people were there to see the Cure,unlike at the amphitheaters
where it seemed most of the audience just wanted to go to a generic rock show.

The sound was absolutely heavenly. Every note perfectly clear, every mix dense but perfectly decipherable.
Someone please track down the soundboard recording- this one is going to be in demand.

The band were in excellent form. Sure, there were a few missed cues, and Robert did his usual fine job of
re-interpreting his own lyrics, but none of these changes or minor errors spoiled the moods created by the songs.
Furthermore, one got the sense that the band genuinely were enjoying the show, especially Robert, who was quite
animated (he even stuck his tongue out and and made funny faces while I was taking his picture during Plainsong!)
In fact, the mood of this show as a whole was much less somber than that of the one in Atlanta. The fuller, richer
texture of the evening's Loudest Sound made it a much different song from the more desolate version presented in
Atlanta, and the emphasis on tracks from Pornography further contributed to the bolder vibe.

I do have one minor quibble, and that is in regard to 39. As has been noted elsewhere, the song was played much
more powerfully at the promo shows than it has been on the Dream tour. Perhaps this has something to do with it
usually following the ultra-intense, energy- draining 100 Years. Regardless, 39 should be performed with just as
much reckless abandon and furor as 100 Years, and with an even more heightened sense of urgency.

Nitpicking aside, this was a fantastic concert, probably the best I've ever seen. And tonight we can expect Sinking,
The Kiss, There is no If (someone please convince the band that this song has tremendous single potential)/Trust,
and the 'Faith' encore. I wonder will we really remember how it feels to be this alive.

The concert was spectacular...i guess Rob tried to make the NOLA show a special night...the Saenger Theatre
was a VERY good place to hold a Cure show...velvet seats...gothic interior...old Rome pilars...statues, stars on the
ceilings...etc...well, they played 3 hours!!! 3 FUCKING HOURS!!!! an they gave it their ALL!!! the best songs
were off their old albums...100 Years was a highlight for me as well as Disintegration(i started to tear up on that
one)...the stage lights were beautiful...everytime they had a song with windchimes like Plainsong some sparkle
stars went off...it was full of energy that  night(or maybe i was)!!! during Siamese Twins they had some Albrecht
Durer artwork in the back of the angel Lucifer and everything was red!!! during 100 Years they projected images
of what looked like WWII refugees and concetration camp visuals...very emotional...all the Porno songs were
complimented by red/gothic/demonic/gloomy doomy lights and projections...Disintegration songs were backed by
underwater footage and sparkling stars and dreamy lights...newer songs and songs off of KM  KM KM were
backed by psychadelic  imagery...it was neat the way they started playing "M" and stopped and the big letter
"M" appeared on the screen...i thought it was cool!! If only tonight we could sleep and the snakepit were VERY
beautiful to hear live. they jammed those songs perfectly creating a very exotic atmosphere, especially with Rob
the flute...and of course "A Forest" topped it all off!!!! it was great...intense..i loved the forest imagery...and the
end was soooooo cool...Simon was slapping his bass strings for the last bits and beats...i loved the whole night!!! i
felt very alone though, being the only person from my town going there and no one to hang out with...i guess that
was part of the emotional side of the music...being a loner...

Having never been to the Saenger Theatre before, I didn't know quite what to expect in terms of capacity or
acoustics or whatever, other than the overt size difference between it and the UNO Lakefront Arena, where The
Cure have played in the past. Once inside, I really admired the architecture of the place, very grand, a real feast
for the eyes, just as the Cure's music is a feast for the ears.  The lights and background images were a terrific
supplement to the intense music.  During "A Forest," I even caught a glimpse of the video for that song.  The
lights dimmed promptly (and surprisingly) around 8:05 pm and the crowd welcomed The Cure, after which they
proceeded to play a long first set that lasted about two hours (the total concert duration was approximately three
hours).  During this first set, it was a relatively standard "first set Dream Tour" song list. The first time I got
caught off guard was when they played "The Loudest Sound," when I thought they would do "The Last Day of
Summer."  It sounded great, by the way, and was relatively true to the original.  There are several other things I
would like to note about this first set.  There seemed to be a bit of confusion at the beginning of "Fascination
Street," which seemed to have a false start of sorts, and all five musicians looked confused briefly, but the song
managed to work itself out.  It was also strange seeing Mr. O'Donnell play the guitar (only for one song) on
"Open," whom I have always envisioned solely as a keyboardist.  On several occasions, it seemed there were a
few technical difficulties, mainly not being able to hear one guitar or the other too clearly on several songs (I
can't remember which ones, as I am writing this review off the top of my head).  "Siamese Twins" was
unexpected, and it sounded great, nearly as good as the studio version.  Considering how little the Cure has
performed this song over the years, it was surprising that Mr. Smith did not flub his lines.  Another point of
interest was the crowd.  For the most part, a majority of the people seemed to be into the songs.  There were
definitely more standing than sitting, although most of the time they were "stiff" while listening to the music.
As for the encores, during "Plainsong," Mr. Smith went around both sides of the stage, shaking hands with
practically everyone in the first row or two it seemed.  The crowd, naturally, went insane when "Just Like
Heaven" began.  "Play For Today" and "M" sounded great too.  "A Forest" was the usual shortened version.
 They also played "The Same Deep Water as You," and "Cold," which were additional and well-performed
surprises. Overall it was a gret experience.  I would also like to note what a great place a Cure concert is to
people-watch (almost as good as the airport or the French Quarter during Mardi Gras), or maybe New Orleans
is just a great conglomerate of all types of people and the crowd is perhaps a representative sample of that.  I
can't tell you how many different sizes and shapes of people, and bizarre styles of dress I saw.  There is probably
more that I am forgeting to mention, but I will leave it to other reviewers to fill in the gaps and give their insight
as well.  Since it is speculated that this is in fact the last Cure tour, it appears they are giving it their all.  Very
much worth seeing!  Bravo!