Strangechord

Where have I been? I finally saw The Cure!!!! I’ve been a fan since 1993 and this was my first Cure show. And whoa, what a show! We were supposed to see The Cure play as part of the Curiosa festival (with Mogwai, Interpol, et al) at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington, but that show was cancelled. It was rescheduled to be a Cure-only show in Everett, WA, a Seattle suburb, August 31st. So where the festival-goers in other parts of the country got about 90 minutes of Cure at the end of the night, we in Everett got a three-hour Cure-only show! 29 songs, only five of which were off the new album - so many classics! Oh, and I came thisclose to meeting Robert Smith. Read on…

Jeremy took Tuesday off work and we got to Everett about 2:45 pm. The doors were set to open at 7 pm, but I know Cure fans and figured we better get there early if we wanted a place close to the stage (it was general admission seating). As soon as we got to the Everett Events Center, there were already about 20 people starting to line up outside and we spied fellow Portlanders Cedric and M, who’d been there a few minutes. I’ve known Cedric acquaintance-wise for years and so we hung out with them. The sun was glaring and many of us in line held umbrellas to shield ourselves from it - typical goth stereotype - ack! the sun! the sun!

By 6 pm there were a ton of people. Three lines had formed and employees at the venue promised us that the first 2000 people in the door would get wristbands for the floor - meaning we could get close to the stage. Of course, the four of us were in the first 100, so for us it was just a matter of how fast we could get in the door and down to the floor. I grew increasingly nervous and fluttery in the stomach as 7:00 approached. As we waited, M and I walked up and down the line taking photos as Jeremy and Cedric held our place in line. What a variety of people - huge age range, some really gothed up, some in t-shirt and jeans, from all over.

Finally, at 6:40 they opened the doors and our tickets were scanned and we were frisked one by one by security. We tore downstairs once inside and ran across the floor and wound up about four rows of people from the stage! Everyone down near the stage sat down to save their places and over the next 90 minutes, we hard-core fans all laughed and chatted. I swear, the most fun group of people, Cure fans… There was a middle-aged fellow behind us who has been a fan since 1980 and this was his first show. He had brought his two teenage daughters with him, who had been Cure listeners since the womb. By 8 pm, my heart was pounding almost scarily in my chest (literally, just ask Jer).

The band took the stage around 8:20. Wow, we went insane. I had an unobstructed view of the stage and Robert Smith nearly the whole show and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. At the long instrumental beginning of the second song, “Plainsong”, he walked to each corner of the stage and just stood at the edge looking out over the screaming crowd. It’s probably difficult to understand how intense that moment was if you’re not a fan. The lighting was incredible, the sound pretty loud (we were so close too) and the band members everything I’d expected. I’m surprised I didn’t lose my voice, I sang and screamed so much.

They played about two hours and then came back on for FIVE encores! As the encores kept coming, in response to the stampeding sound of the seated people stamping their feet and the screams and claps from the floor, Robert looked increasingly amused and flattered. Each encore was a clump of songs from a different album and at one point, he chuckled, “This is like fucking time traveling!” At the final encore, he told us this was it and ended with “Why Can’t I Be You?”, complete with his trademark little smiles and wiggling. As they came to a close, he shouted something like, “Thank you! It’s been a fucking enjoyable evening!” and stuck out his tongue half-embarassed.

Here’s the setlist, taken from The Cure Concerts Guide:

lost, plainsong, labyrinth, fascination street, from the edge of the deep green sea, the end of the world, lovesong, inbetween days, just like heaven, jupiter crash, pictures of you, lullaby, before three, alt.end, disintegration, one hundred years, the promise
E1: the drowning man, charlotte sometimes, faith
E2: three imaginary boys, grinding halt, boys don’t cry
E3: m, play for today, a forest
E4: 39, bloodflowers
E5: why can’t i be you

Standout moments included Robert’s mugging on “Lullaby”, the intense ending of “The Promise”, the audience’s huge singalong to the keyboard riff of “Play For Today”, the giddiness of “Grinding Halt” - but every song was memorable. How does one describe seeing a three hour concert by one’s favorite band for the first time?

At 11:15 or so we had drinks and appetizers across the street with three friends of Cedric’s and M’s we met up with outside afterwards. Jeremy and I had planned on driving back to Portland so he could go to work the next day, but Cedric and M invited us to crash with them at his ex-stepdad’s house on Bainbridge Island. Jer figured he could take the next day as another vacation day. We left the restaurant at 12:45 and found out the last ferry leaves downtown Seattle at 1:35 am, so we had to hightail it if we wanted a place to sleep for the night.

Their three friends stayed behind at the back gates of the Events Center where the tour buses were parked; there were about five other fans waiting there too to possibly catch a glimpse of the band. The four of said goodbye to them and drove with little regard to speed limit, and once in downtown Seattle, ran about four red lights behind Cedric’s car to make the final ferry. We caught it about two minutes before it left. Once on the ferry, M told us one of the friends that we had left behind at the gates had called her on her cell and had just met Robert Smith! He came outside and met with the seven fans that had been waiting, taking pictures with them, chatting, shaking hands, and autographing stuff. Oh, man - the four of us were devestated on that ferry ride. We missed meeting Robert by about 30 minutes because we had to catch that boat! Again - devastated!

We stayed up talking until about 4 am, slept in and went to breakfast in downtown Bainbridge Island around noon. Jeremy and I had to be back in Portland in time for a family birthday party last night, so we took off mid-afternoon. I just got the photos uploaded this morning. Now I have a crazy amount to do before we leave for Glacier Park tomorrow morning, so I’m going to wrap it up. We’ll be gone until next Thursday night. Enjoy the photos! They’re in chronological order; there are over 150 I took on my digital camera (some using a flash, some not) and although not all are great, if you click through, there are some gems.