Cure tour in Australia and then North America

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I saw them last night. The killer setlist was as follows:

Plainsong, Fascination Street, A Night Like This, The Walk, The End of the World, Lovesong, Pictures of You, Lullaby, Catch, The Perfect Boy, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Other Voices, Sleep When I'm Dead, Push, Friday I'm In Love, Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, A Letter To Elise, Shake Dog Shake, Never Enough, Hot Hot Hot, The Only One, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Disintegration

1st encore: At Night, M, Play For Today, A Forest
2nd encore: Boys Don't Cry, Jumping Someone Else's Train, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab
3rd encore: Why Can't I Be You?

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3 hrs of The Cure, 35 songs played. You think I would be in heaven, but unfortunately we had some sound issues (not sure if it was where we were sitting or the entire arena). It was extremely difficult to hear the guitars on a lot of songs, and nearly the only times I could ever hear Porl's guitar was when they upped the volume for solos and such. We were sitting over on Simon's side (bass), and that's the majority of what we could hear all night. These sound issues were extremely frustrating for me, as it made the songs feel hollow as Cure have absolutely fantastic guitar. I was just glad I'd seen them before, as I knew they really do sound much better than that live.

Annoyances aside, the show was still a great deal of fun. AMAZING setlist. I was so happy to hear Plainsong open the show, and it was pretty dang cool to hear all the old keyboard parts being played on guitars now that they're a "4 piece". They ended up playing 6 of 12 songs from Disintegration, which was awesome. The highlight for me was the Seventeen Seconds encore, I flipped out when they blasted into At Night.

We got down closer at the end of the show (I don't think the fans were expecting 3 encores), and it was really cool to see them so close. I found this picture from the show online, and this was at the exact same angle we were watching them from at the end (not quite this close though of course):
You Americans are so lucky. The setlists haven't been anywhere near as amazing in Canada. I'm so damn jealous. You got "A Letter To Elise" and "Catch". Other US cities have gotten "To Wish Impossible Things" and "Doing the Unstuck", too. That's awesome.

I saw The Cure in Montreal and Toronto. I was probably the first person to buy a ticket for Toronto because the official site messed up the password and I was the first person to get a ticketmaster operator to be willing to give me the correct password. After I got my ticket, I posted the correct password on the official site message board and people got their tickets. The frustrating thing was, on my way to the show, a scalper offered to sell me a 4th row ticket at half price. Mine was 16th row and the view wasn't always the best, especially with incredibly selfish amateur filmers jutting their arms above people's heads so it's impossible to see; that's reason number one for fining people if they videotape stuff, even on their cell phone. Pit is overrated if you're not tall!
 
You can stream the new single, The Only One, here!

linky

Similar to the last album, looks like they went with a poppy track as the first single. Fun song. "I love what you do to my hair, it's a mess up there" Ha.

I have a feeling I'm gonna be a sucker and buy all of the singles on iTunes and then be disappointed that I know so many of the songs when the album comes out.


THANK YOU for the link.

:drool:
 
There's a torrent of Fuse TV's recent Cure performance as an avi file!

http://craigjparker.blogspot.com/2008/06/f...tv-special.html

click on "The Pirate Bay" link.

It was a 3 hour performance and Fuse may air more songs at another time, but last night (which is what's on the torrent) they aired this setlist:

Underneath The Stars (amazing new song), Pictures of You, The Perfect Boy (new song), Hot Hot Hot, The Only One (new song), The End of the World, Lovesong, Sleep When I'm Dead (new song), Push, Friday I'm In Love, Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, Baby Rag Dog Book (new song).
 
So what do you all think of the new single, 'Freakshow'? I much prefer 'The Only One' myself. I think I even like Freakshow's b-side, 'All Kinds of Stuff' more than the single itself.

:huh:
 
So what do you all think of the new single, 'Freakshow'? I much prefer 'The Only One' myself. I think I even like Freakshow's b-side, 'All Kinds of Stuff' more than the single itself.

:huh:
Here's Underneath the Stars from the Fuse broadcast on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ymh8wKxpYU
Baby Rag Dog Book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVcEhWYfpA

Actually they're all at http://craigparker.blogsplot.com


I haven't actually heard it yet. I've got to write this paper, and I've made myself not listen or watch anything I really want to until it's done. I actually have the single in amazon packaging a few feet away from me. From what I heard in concert, it seemed pretty good -- not amazing, but I often find concert versions of Cure pop, uptempo stuff not nearly as good as on the album. "Friday, I'm In Love" sounds amazing on the album, but pretty bad live, you know?

How would you compare these new songs to what's been released since the mid-90s, though? (Don't be upset if I don't answer soon; I'll be busy at work.) :)
 
The new material sounds awful. Underneath the Stars is an OK song, but the rest is plain mediocre at best. The Cure really should have called it quits after Bloodflowers.
The concerts and the setlists do seem cool, though.
 
The new material sounds awful. Underneath the Stars is an OK song, but the rest is plain mediocre at best. The Cure really should have called it quits after Bloodflowers.
The concerts and the setlists do seem cool, though.

Sounds awful to you, maybe. Your review of Underneath the Stars being "OK" is awful as well, so I'll stick to my own opinions.

Please don't tell me you're basing your opinions off of the terrible quality live videos barely posted here. And if you are, you just said one of 2 was good, so how is it "awful". The two unreleased songs they played here were fairly entertaining live (The Perfect Boy and Sleep When I'm Dead). I'll agree that Freakshow is crap, but 'The Only One' is a great pop single which The Cure is as known for as their darker work. Also, Underneath the Stars is far better than "ok". I'd say it's fantastic.

To me, the best songs on The Cure are as good, if not better, than the best songs on Bloodflowers. :shrug:

I wonder if Underneath the Stars will be on the album coming out in Sept. or the "dark" album that's supposedly following it in Dec.
 
Sounds awful to you, maybe. Your review of Underneath the Stars being "OK" is awful as well, so I'll stick to my own opinions.

Please don't tell me you're basing your opinions off of the terrible quality live videos barely posted here. And if you are, you just said one of 2 was good, so how is it "awful". The two unreleased songs they played here were fairly entertaining live (The Perfect Boy and Sleep When I'm Dead). I'll agree that Freakshow is crap, but 'The Only One' is a great pop single which The Cure is as known for as their darker work. Also, Underneath the Stars is far better than "ok". I'd say it's fantastic.

To me, the best songs on The Cure are as good, if not better, than the best songs on Bloodflowers. :shrug:

I wonder if Underneath the Stars will be on the album coming out in Sept. or the "dark" album that's supposedly following it in Dec.

My my, bitchy, aren't we? The Cure 2004 had three good songs in my opinion, the rest was mostly crap.

My opinions are based on the two singles (both crap) and the broadcast of these new songs (Sleep When I'm Dead, The Perfect Boy). I only find Underneath the Stars tolerable.
 
There is no greater "music forum pet peeve" than the random person who's never said a word about the artist or taken any part in a lengthy and old thread suddenly showing up out of nowhere saying their work is crap as if it's a fact. If you're going to share an opinion, especially one that may be very upsetting or unpopular, it only makes sense to qualify it as an opinion.

If you're also going to share such an opinion when no one else can even validate if you know anything what so ever about the artists or music you're discussing, please try to give some sort of perspective or explanation.

~u2popmofo's Music Forum Etiquette Guidebook, 5th Edition

:happy:
 
There is no greater "music forum pet peeve" than the random person who's never said a word about the artist or taken any part in a lengthy and old thread suddenly showing up out of nowhere saying their work is crap as if it's a fact. If you're going to share an opinion, especially one that may be very upsetting or unpopular, it only makes sense to qualify it as an opinion.

If you're also going to share such an opinion when no one else can even validate if you know anything what so ever about the artists or music you're discussing, please try to give some sort of perspective or explanation.

~u2popmofo's Music Forum Etiquette Guidebook, 5th Edition

:happy:

Patronizing much? Sorry to hurt your feelings, but the reason I am so vocal about my disappointment is that The Cure is and was for a long time one of my absolute favorite bands. I did participate in various discussions about the band on this board and somehow missed this one. Disintegration is in my top 5records of all time. In my attempt of downplaying my harsh critique (for which I still stand), I commended the setlists and the tour in general. Some great songs returned to the set this year (Doing the Unstuck, How Beautiful You Are, Torture, To Wish Impossible Things...).

So, yeah, The Cure is awesome. The new songs? Not so much. In my humble opinion, of course.
 
No worries, man. Half the time I'm joking on here I look at it later and realize it could easily be misconstrued as me being a douchebag. To be perfectly honest, the two songs I personally actually saw and heard live (Perfect Boy and Sleep When I'm Dead) sounded pretty lame on those videos as well, so I don't blame you for not being impressed. Hopefully they were just bad performances in particular (and hopefully I was not just so happy to be seeing them live again that I over-estimated them at the show).

I'm still waiting for the record before I make too much of a judgment. Plus, even if the first "poppier" record isn't 100% stellar, the promised "dark" record will hopefully make up for it.
 
The new material sounds awful. Underneath the Stars is an OK song, but the rest is plain mediocre at best. The Cure really should have called it quits after Bloodflowers.
The concerts and the setlists do seem cool, though.
I actually disagree.

I think this could easily be the best album since "Wish", and I'm desperately hoping these songs will rival at least some of that album's amazing songs. I think Porl Thompson was the missing link! It's a very exciting time to be a Cure fan! Then again, ask me a year after the album's released to get a more balanced view! Whatever you say, they kick the crap out of "alt.end" (why must it always be played live), "(I Don't Know What's Going) On", and "Just Like Heaven"-ripoff "Taking Off"!
 
No worries, man. Half the time I'm joking on here I look at it later and realize it could easily be misconstrued as me being a douchebag. To be perfectly honest, the two songs I personally actually saw and heard live (Perfect Boy and Sleep When I'm Dead) sounded pretty lame on those videos as well, so I don't blame you for not being impressed. Hopefully they were just bad performances in particular (and hopefully I was not just so happy to be seeing them live again that I over-estimated them at the show).

I'm still waiting for the record before I make too much of a judgment. Plus, even if the first "poppier" record isn't 100% stellar, the promised "dark" record will hopefully make up for it.
Yeah, I've often found pop songs to never sound nearly as good live as on the album. The subtlety of "Friday I'm In Love" with all the intricately balanced guitar lines and lucious vocals are reduced to a clumsy rock number. I feel the same way about nearly any pop song by any band, including "One" by U2, but mostly because Bono's vocal delivery is lacking.

Anyway, I actually thought "Freakshow" was the most fun of all the new songs I saw, save "Underneath the Stars" and "Baby Rag Dog Book", neither of which I saw live.

You lucky Americans got some real gems: Doing the Unstuck, To Wish Impossible Things, The Big Hand, Catch, A Letter to Elise -- all massive favorites of mine! I'll take those over anything from the first 3 albums, save "Charlotte Sometimes" or "The Drowning Man".

Here's the Freakshow video (I just got the single in the mail, but I'm not ready to listen to it yet):
YouTube - The Cure - Freakshow

Here's an audio clip of the b-side that many Cure fans are raving about: "All Kinds of Stuff":
YouTube - The Cure - All kinds of stuff

Here's "The Only One" single b-side: "NY Trip". I really like it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGsD6aDFRtM

Sleep When I'm Dead is coming out this week!
 
Definitely like Sleep When I'm Dead more than Freakshow. The b-side is pretty decent as well.

Of the "singles" that have been released, I'd probably rate them like this:

1. The Only One
2. Sleep When I'm Dead
3. Freak Show

Underneath the Stars is still better than any of them though. Much better.
 
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