Curiosa San Francisco/Sacramento Review

Curiosa San Francisco/Sacramento Review
Originally posted at Chain of Flowers

[Sorry if this is somewhat lengthy...but I'm known for my loquaciousness...]

Well, my dream travels with the Cure ended last nite in Sacramento. In total, I went 6 shows, more than I had ever been to before in my 20-year fandom. You could say I was compensating for missing so many in the past. I'm still not sure why I skipped so many tours save The Prayer and Dream Tours; maybe I was smoking banana peels and just failed to notice they were in town?

Anyway, my dream culminated in meeting Robert! What a perfect closure to my journey. But more about that in a bit...

The SF and Sac shows were great, of course, if flawed; I won't give a blow by blow because I'm really too tired. The SF show featured Figurehead, which blew me the fuck away as I had NOT been expecting that. It was deliciously dark, almost terroristic in intensity. And the pop encore was silly and fun, with Robert prancing around giddily and throwing out his sexy boyishness all over the place.

The only problems with that show were a) the audience, who were zombified morons for most of the show save Lovesong and the pop encore and b) Robert's vocals were pushed up way too high and he was shouting too much. The guitars were also pushed up high but actually sounded really good. Later, at the afterparty, Jazzy asked Perry about the guitars being mixed high and Perry drunkenly slurred something to the effect of, "Yeah, I'm really pissed off."

The Sacramento audience was worlds better, if a slightly smaller crowd. They were much more into all the songs, even the new ones. EOTW got as big a response as IBD, and a lot of people sang along to Lost and Before 3.

Highlights of that show were, of course, 100 Years, The Promise, Faith, and Going Nowhere. High sounded really weird, though - I could barely recognize it. It wasn't so much bad as awkward - too slowed down. The rest of the songs really sounded amazing, however.

Roger, however, seemed like he was in a slightly foul mood, less "happy" seeming than at other shows. I know he's stoic a lot, but he seemed unhappy. Punam had made a "Roger, we love you" sign and he did smile at that, but...I dunno. Also, Robert seemed less happy in Sac than in SF, but it could just be the set...

Oh, and Simon had this written on his arm: "Your B for 50 cents!" I had to stare at it a couple of times to make sure I read it right. I was really laughing at that. I could SWEAR the origin of that saying was the MFC forum - didn't someone make a joke like that there? I could be wrong. He also had another bass that he was using that had the word "fuck" on it and skulls and such. Simon rules!

And now, the icing on the cake:

In SF, Jazzy and I went to the official Curiosa afterparty (along with some other people we'd met) at a club where Carlos from Interpol was spinning records. Punam, Sullen and others (sorry, I forgot names!) also showed up. They danced a lot while I drank a couple of beers and practically passed out from fatigue (dancing and shouting so much at Cure concerts wears these old bones down). Around 3 am, I was pretty much ready to go to bed, when I noticed a clump of people huddled around the entrance of the VIP party. I went over to see what was up, and I saw Robert chatting up a bunch of fans. We watched in frustration for what seemed like an eternity. Then Jazzy had the idea that we would simply go out back and wait by his tourbus, which we all did when they kicked us out at 4 am.

About 10 minutes passed, and shore 'nuff, Robert came out with his entourage. Sullen was really funny with his exaggerated passion (which I don't doubt is real - Sullen is really cute and passionate!), and everyone was so gleeful to be meeting Robert. There were about 6-8 of us. He posed for pix and signed autographs and was really very droll and sweet. I asked him to sign the book I had with me in my purse because I couldn't think of what else to give him, and I said, "Can you please sign my book - you know, the one you didn't write?" And he said something to the effect of, "No, really? I didn't write it?" in a very acidic tone - it was quite funny. Then he signed it and said, " The book I never wrote." He also made droll comments about our digital cameras, saying we should only get disposables as they are less complicated. I got to ask him the ONE question I have been wanting to ask him, which was why they weren't playing more Bloodflowers material. He told me it was beacuse they played so much on the last tour (I have reasons to doubt this response). I then said that they *should* be playing more BF on this tour. I am sure that sounded presumptuous, but then, when do I NOT sound that way? He said nothing in response, which I thought was rather funny. I really wish I would've told him how much I do love BF and The Cure, but hindsight is always 20/20 in such matters. As it is, I just stared and smiled a lot, and laughed with the others, who were all asking for hugs. He was very obliging with everyone; very down to earth and witty. It was at once a surreal and mundane experience.

Oh, and he looked fucking great...

Why can't life be one endless Cure concert?

P.S. I forgot to give Robert the essay I wrote linking the Cure to my favorite visual and literary artists. >:(