The Cure

Yep. Went to see The Cure last night at Bobcats Arena (fuck Time Warner) for the first time ever. I managed to get tickets in row 3 just slightly stage right, and I was really really excited about getting to see them live. The reschedule really fucked up my plans since I bought the tickets like a year ago for Allison's birthday and she's now in China... But it definitely raised my anticipation level. I didn't buy a Cure album until 1995; (or... actually I think it was 1996) I've liked them ever since, but I wasn't ever really totally ga-ga or anything. I like some Cure albums, I like more singles than albums, and "Pictures of You" is one of those songs with, you know, meaning. Now they, like any good band, have raised my opinion of them exponentially following their live show. I'm not usually a fan of slow moody concerts, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. The one thing I definitely did not expect was to be surrounded by so much frantic energy at a Cure concert. The opening band, 65 Days of Static hit hard and loud... they only played for about a half hour (no vocals)... they were a really good choice for the opening act. I totally forgot what I was going to say. So I'll say, again, how much it sucked that Pearl Jam scheduled their closest date to me since 2003 on the same day as the Cure show. Honestly, if I didn't already have the tickets, I might have gone to see them again instead. But I'm really really glad I didn't. Wow. I really can't think or type at all right now. I think I'm going to stop trying and just say that I was truly truly amazed by what happened on stage last night. I really did not think I was going to just absolutely love this show as much as I did.
They were filming the show for potential inclusion on a DVD, so the security was being slightly more strict about cameras than most security usually are. I still managed to get mine in and record all of the last encore. I'm not sure why I started doing all this black and white stuff, but I think it's kind of cool. Hopefully these vids won't get ripped down by youtube... but here's what I got: Boys Don't Cry 10:15 Saturday Night Killing an Arab (wow... crazy!)
Oh! I will say that, although I wasn't really holding any particular I-Want-To-Hear-X songs in my head, I was secretly hoping to hear Hot Hot Hot. There was a quote from that song on a Jyhad card from back in the day... I think it was "I left that basement burning and I never went back." Plus it was on the cassette version of Mixed Up, which I listened to until it broke. That game also had a quote from Ministry's Stigmata on one of the cards... "My favorite weapon is the look in your eyes." (I think) What the hell am I talking about? Pictures...
I also actually wanted to hear Lullaby since we had the audacity to try and play that live once. Or... good lord... maybe more than once. I'm sorry, Robert. But I got to hear that too. And, if I was really honest, Pictures of You was on the list too. See? I like the songs that everyone knows...
During one of the (I think the first) encore break I saw this guy waving around this little puppet. I thought it was cute... Speaking of people around me tho... wow. I met and talked to several people; everyone was totally awesome and really nice. The guy who was sitting next to me actually did his residency with Allison's old boss...
*whew*... and that's only like half of the photos that I took and didn't actually delete at the show. Even though I ended up spending a lot of money for a single ticket, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Very well worth it. I can't believe Robert still has his voice... he and Porl were looking old, but they were amazing performers. Fantastic fantastic concert. :)