thanks for the tip, dabblerblue!
here's my comments on Saturday's concert i posted on one of my mailing list forums. warning... it's a bit long:
Curiosa @ Randalls Island, NYC, July 31, 2004
Some impressions on Saturday's events, I'm typing this
as a type of "stream of consciousness" post instead of
a review. Anyway...
We got to Randall's Island just in time to catch The
Rapture. I thought "Echoes" was a bit too trying, but
their sound and style seems more enjoyable when played
live. Their performace was lively and energetic, but
Luke Jenner's wail is still an acquired taste.
Interpol was great! They were really tight and sounded
great live (with the exeption of some technical
difficulties with the bass guitar). However, their set
was too short and ended too soon. They skipped much of
the slower dirges from "Turn on the Bright Lights" in
favour of more crowd pleasers like "NYC" and "PDA."
The few new songs they played were also in similar
energetic post-punkish vein.
By the time The Cure came on, it was about 8:45 PM,
the sun was setting and a beautiful moon was rising at
the east. However, it was also hot, humid (luckily it
didn't rain), and draining. Maybe that's why the crowd
looked bored... maybe not. Most of the crowd looked
like they didn't want to be there. Everywhere i
turned, I saw frat boys* trying to outdo each other by
chugging beers, or smoking pot. There was even one set
of people where they were trying to get one of their
girlfriends to crowdsurf during The Cure's set.
Luckily she didn't come my way or else I would've
dropped her like a sack of potatoes.
The audience was incredibly bored, or at least where
we were standing, right of center stage about 20 rows
back. The crowd did not move, dance, sing, or even
cheer. All they did was stand motionless during the
songs and casually and politely clapped inbetween. I
actually felt a bit sorry for the band because they
weren't showing any emotion. How else would the
audience expect a good show?
So anyway, ****** the audience. we were having a ball
with the show. I did it all... I moved with the music
(i don't dance), raised my hands in the sky during
"From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea," screamed at the
top of my lungs at the drum machine intro to "One
Hundred Years," chanted the keyboard riff to "Play for
Today" while my brother cheered in disbelief (his fave
Cure song), clapped with Simon's "A Forest" outro, and
drip drip dripped along with "10:15 Saturday Night."
Thoughts on the show:
Setlist:
Lost, Labyrinth, Fascination Street, Before Three,
High, The End Of the World, Lovesong, Inbetween Days,
Just Like Heaven, Pictures Of You, Us or Them, From
The Edge OF The Deep Green Sea, alt.end, One Hundred
Years, The Promise
Encore 1:
M, Play For Today, A Forest
Encore 2:
10:15 Saturay Night, Boys Don't Cry
Lost: Robert sounds a bit off at the set opener, his
voice was a bit hoarse, like he did not have enought
time to warm up. He also didn't hit the high notes
where the song hits third gear with spite and anger.
However, the band played tight, with prominent
keyboards from Roger.
Labyrinth: Simon starts to play and move like a
maniac, really getting into the song. He's always
great to see live. The first half of the song is
missing the cool, treated vocals effects like on the
album, but the latter half explodes with manic
delivery, if a bit sloppy. The backdrop was great,
with images of a spinning maze.
Fascination Street: Yeah... always a crowd pleaser,
but I've heard this song too many times live. However,
the band played really tight on this one, as they
should after playing it on each and every tour since
it's Prayer Tour inception. The backdrop had images of
what i believe were scenes of New Orleans.
Before Three: Robert flubs a few of the lines on this
one, which is a shame since it's one of the strongest
tracks on the new album. Perry's guitar wasn't loud
enough.
High: The start of the hit singles of the set. very
nice sound, while Robert's singing is much more
confident. however, his six string bass was hardly
audible.
The End of the World/Lovesong/Inbetween Days/Just Like
Heaven: Yawn... the pop single block. The End of the
World sounds much better live than on the album, it
helps that the handclaps were not present in the live
version. Lovesong and Inbetween Days are way too
pedestrian. Just Like Heaven is always welcome
though...
Pictures of You: Perfect, all the way through. The
opening intro was flawless, and the outro coda of the
song gets me everytime.
Us or Them: Pretty much like the album version. Robert
sang really aggresively. The backdrop features ANTS!
There were alternating red and grey ants in a circle
formation attacking each other. Really cool...
>From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea: Another amazing
live performance. nice to hear everything perfectly
mixed, with Roger's piano keyboards, Robert's acoustic
guitar, Simon's hypnotic bass, and Jason's drumming.
Perry pulls another flawless guitar solo, although he
should vary it a little bit every now and then. The
backdrop featured crashing crashing green sea waves.
alt. End: Better live, and like "The End of the
World," no handclaps.
One Hundred Years: Absolutely the best performance of
the night. I screamed in recognition once I heard the
opening drum machine and all the frat boys in the
crowd around got scared! The band played aggresively,
and Robert attacked his guitar like a crazed maniac.
Also, the lighting was really impressive, with
rotating flashing lights everywhere, and when the song
hits "...feels like a hundred years," all the
spotlights turned towards the stage and flickered like
everything's about to explode. At this time the pale
yellow full moon was high on the horizon, and the mood
was perfect.
The Promise: Really nice live... unlike the album
version, which seemed to drag on just a tad bit. This
performace justs builds and builds, until a wall of
sound hits you like a ton of bricks. Simon ends the
song with lots of flourish, banging on his bass
guitar... reminds me of "A Forest" at the end of the
"Show" video.
Encore 1:
M: Really nice surprise. one of my favourite songs
from "Seventeen Seconds," M is always welcome. The
guitar interplay at the end was perfect, with a huge
red "M" emblazoned as the backdrop. gorgeous!
Play For Today: Play for Today is always fun live,
especially if you're with the right crowd.
Unfortunately i wasn't... but I did do the keyboard
line with Roger, and again left the frat boys* in
bewilderment. my brother cheered loudly as it's his
fave Cure song.
A Forest: My brother was expecting a long, drawn out
20 minute version, but alas... The Cure doesn't do
that anymore. The opening keyboard motif was missing,
but the rest of the performance was perfect. Robert
sung some of the best vocals of the night, and again
attacked his guitar like a crazed maniac. a few hands
went up and pumped along with "again and again and
again..." part, as did mine, but no one joined in when
i had my hands in the air, clapping along with Simon's
bass outro. Frat boys* stared along...
Encore 2: Robert came onstage strumming a few bars off
Three Imaginary Boys (which I love), but the band
didn't play it. It was on the written setlist
though... what a shame!
10:15 Saturday Night: played at 10:25 Saturday
Night... I can imagine every Cure fan in the audience
looking at their watches in unison! I had to ask my
brother what the time was (i didn't wear my watch). I
still don't like the "three blind mice" keyboards in
10:15 Saturday Night's live version. I'd rather have
Roger play the three simple notes on a guitar. After
all, he did play textural feedback on guitar for Open
on the Dream Tour... Anyway, the crowd finally got a
little energetic, but at the second encore... c'mon!
At least everyone was drip drip dripping along with
Robert.
Boys Don't Cry: The crowd gave a roar of approval...
and everyone sang along. Nce way to end the night, I
uppose. Robert said something like "Thanks for making
this a ****in' great day" before walking slowly off
stage, smiling at the audience.
Iknow there's an argument about how The Cure tailored
the setlist for the festival crowd, but looking at the
Camden, NJ setlist, NYC definately got the less
desirable set of songs. Iwould've loved the Charlotte
Sometimes/Faith encore instead of the 10:15/BDC... it
woud've set all the Cure fans alight and left the frat
boys* in disbelief. All in all, it was still a great
show (unlike many other bands, The Cure is always
great live) despite a few boring moments. But when The
Cure hits a high, it's stratospheric. The setlist
definately had varied moods, mixing up the new album
with pop and gloom... i just wished they would've used
a bit more imagination with the setlist though. But
it's a Cure show, and you'd always feel previleged to
be part of that.
*I'm using the term "frat boys" a lot in this post,
and it's not to undermine anyone who belongs in a
Fraternity. Instead, I'm using this term to describe a
certain group of undesirable people as I couldn't
think of another term to get my point across. Anyway,
an self-respecting Fraternity member would not call
himself a "frat boy" in the first place, as one of my
friends whe belongs in a Fraternity once explained to
me.
