4Tour World Tour 2007 - 08
August 12th, 2007 -
Melbourne, Australia (Rod
Laver Arenae)
Tape (intro), Open, Fascination Street, alt.end, The Blood, A Night
Like This, The Walk, The End of
the World, Lovesong, Pictures
of You, Lullaby, Hot Hot Hot, Push, Inbetween Days, How Beautiful You Are, Just Like Heaven,
Primary, Shake Dog Shake, Us Or Them, Never Enough, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Shiver and Shake, End
1st Encore: If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, The Kiss
2nd Encore: Friday I'm in Love, Let's Go To
Bed, Close To Me, Why Can't I Be You?
3rd Encore: Three Imaginary Boys, Fire In Cairo, Boys
Don't Cry, Jumping Someone Else's Train, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday
Night, Killing An Arab
Soundcheck: Lullaby, How Beautiful You Are, Jumping Someone Else's
Train, Open
(Thanks to Bomber2007 for the ticket scan and to Bomber2007
& Craig for the setlist)
I spent a couple of hours strolling around the
city before the show, Cure mania was very much alive in the city of Melbourne.
I walked into jb hifi and they were playing "wms", it was up to "numb". I
then headed down towards Flinders st station. The next shop i was playing
"10:15 saturday night" downstairs and "primary" upstairs.
I also saw plenty of people in Cure shirts all around the city in the build
up to their last Australian show of the tour.
The show itself was similar, yet unique to the rest of the Australian shows.
Porl gave a shy little wave during "pictures of you".
I really loved the way the lips slowly changed from orange to purple during
"the kiss". I felt the lighting wasnt quite as good as it was in other gigs
over the past week.
Well, thats pretty much a wrap for the Australian tour.
- Aaron
The build up to this show was fraught with a weeks
worth of not sleeping, frantic phone calls, butterflies in the stomach,
last minute applications for a Visa to enter into Australia (cursed UK passport!)
writing questions and the constant fear that the whole trip to Aussie would
collapse.
Thank the stars it didnt! The last time I saw the Cure back in 2000 it
was also in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena for the Dream Tour! Thanks
to TV3 in NZ I was back again due to a petition myself and best pal Gordon
had started earlier in the year to try and bring the Cure back to NZ.
I have to say a million thank you's to people, such as all the fan's who
signed the petition, without you it would have been a four signature document
(Gordons, mine and our wifes Jo and Susannah) which wouldnt have been that
convincing really!
Thank you also to TV3 of course, Clayton, George, Carol and everyone else
who said yes! The media who supported us Daily News, NZ Herald, Stuff etc
etc, Bridget Delaunay and Summer...the list is quite long!
The show was incredible, yes the crowd seemed quite static and many people
(Robert included) said it was flat and this affected the bands eneregy,
but I can appreciate why it was like this, its almost like being under a
spell when the band plays, especially for audiences in these parts of the
world I think. Because we get to see them so very rarely, we are all kind
of in a dazed trance! ha ha, well thats how I perceive it anyway. I don't
think there is even a hint of anyone not loving it a million per cent or
anything like that.
The second 'Tape' started my heart raced! Hearing 'Open' again, I thought
I was going to burst! It really is incredible hearing all these songs again.
'A Night Like This' was brilliant, to my ears it almost seemed like Porl
managaed to make his guitar sound like a saxaphone.
Porl was simply magical, sure it is odd hearing some songs without keyboards,
but he really does things with his instrument that defy me! having him back
in the band is such a blessing. He did a very cute wave to the crowd on
our side of the stadium at one stage and looked to be enjoying himself,
in fact the whole band appeared to be having a great time, they managed
to hide the fact they were not having the best show of the tour.
The Third encore was thrilling, they wove each song into the other seemlessly
and were obviously loving playing these older tracks! I was hoping they
would end the show with 'A Forest', but alas it wasnt to be! Nevermind.....The
Background images are great! Esp the train journey for 'Jumping Someone Elses
Train', the colloseum for 'The Blood' and the descending spiral for 'End'
which was a bloody amazing way to end the main set.
The Merchandise is excellent, not disappointing in the slightest! I had
to grab the black shirt with Roberts face in the front, it reminds me of a
cool Peter Murphy T shirt I saw once back in the Bauhaus days.
Once the show was over I felt my excitement reach a crescendo...time to
meet Robert backstage. The Producer of the segment had only just let me
know I was conducting the only Australasian TV interview, equal parts AAAAAiiiiieeeee
and Arrrgh.
A niece and nephew of Robert filmed the interview which made me feel twice
as nervous, but by the time he walked in, that feeling vanished, I was too
stunned to believe it was happening. Let me say this, he didnt disappoint
me in anyway, you kind of expect that there is a chance that when you meet
the person(s) you have been in awe of for years that you may find them to
be difficult or disinterested? Not the case at all.
Robert was very generous with his time, he must have been exhausted, he
said the band was very cold on stage and it was a struggle to play at times
as they had claw hands, I remember seeing Porl blowing on his hands at one
stage and looking unhappy.
Robert said that the band had not had the best show, as they felt the crowd
wasnt that into it and it felt like a battle of the wills. I asked
him some questions about the new album and he confirmed he had the mixes
with him (I wanted to say please play them, dream on) and that the album
would not be out this year, he said in the scheme of things once its out
people wont remember the waiting, they will only remember if they liked the
album or if they hated it.....a fair point! He said they will be playing
new material on the US dates (lucky beggars) and that there just isnt enough
time to get the album done and do it justice between the end of the Australasian
dates and the US ones.
Porl told me that he had done three different versions of the album cover
so far and he had no idea which one would be used, he did say that the inside
booklet was all but finished.
Porl also said there are instrumentals on the album. But this could of
course change, he suggested the number of tracks on the album could increase!
Greedy Eyes rolling around in my head! Which is a good time to mention if
you watch the interview and wonder what Gordon and I's dancing is about
at the start of the clip....its our now (in)famous greedy dance! the dance
we do when something we have been wanting for ages comes to fruition.
Gah! Sorry this is so long. Anyway I asked about the re-issues and he said
a few things were done, Disintegration is all ready to go, he is still working
on Wish and confirmed my suspicions about something that will be on it....but
he swore me to secrecy! He talked about the anniversary DVD that is coming
out and that he prefers this format to writing a book, he said that all
the books written about the band are all 'wide of the mark' and made a funny
face!
He said there is no plans to ever bring keyboards back in, but who knows
perhaps they will have one onstage in the US and if any of the band feel
like embarrassing themselves then maybe it will get a bashing! and he said
the ever delayed solo album will one day see the light, but then kind of
laughed and made a very funny smile and poked his tongue out! He said if
the band are touring again in the next couple of years they would definitely
be heading back to the region! fingers crossed!
I will end this one here....once I have the full interview I will send
it to Craig to post online! US fans prepare to enjoy yourselves! and show
the band some love!
- Alastair
To start a review of a brilliant show on a slightly
uneven note, it’s a little hard to know what people expect before a Cure
concert. There inevitably seems to be a lingering nervousness in the air,
as though people are all quietly hoping they’ll be exalted and yet at the
same time either deeply sceptical or just nervous that they’ll be let down.
Then there’s the start of the show. It’s hard to know whether the inert
figures that fill the space around the front of the stage are a product
that same lingering doubt and apprehension, of awe, disinterest or something
else entirely. Having attended last weekend’s brilliant show in my home
town of Perth, I was hopeful that my adoptive Melbourne would pitch the
Cure fever just one notch higher. Initially, then, I couldn’t help but be
slightly disappointed when for the first few songs the six or seven rows
in front of me hardly moved and managed only to raise their hands in the
air for a few seconds of clapping at the end of each track (why people make
the effort to stand at the front before standing motionless throughout the
show remains a puzzle, as well as a frustration). Cure fans, or perhaps the
Cure-curious would seem to be tough breed. Despite their legend, the Cure
seem duty bound to re-prove their stature with every show. That said, the
Cure equalled themselves to this task more than convincingly.
Personal highlights included How Beautiful You Are, one of my first
Cure favourites, as well as a very effective and affecting If Only Tonight
and what seemed like a particularly strong version of The Kiss, not to
mention the cathartic brilliance of Shiver and Shake. No Strange Day (Perth
had it sat brilliantly next to what is arguably disintegration’s follow
up, Fascination Street), At Night, Forest, M or Play for Today as we had
in Perth, but How Beautiful and Night Like This made good swaps.
As has duly been noted, the final encore of Three Imaginary era material
suits this line-up brilliantly; Killing An Arab is blistering and the perfect
full stop to then night. It was great hearing Fire in Cairo, going back
to the source after Digitalism’s recent sampling effort with the track. TEOTDGS,
One Hundred Years, Pictures were as always great anchors for the main set,
with Porl’s unique brand of guitar shred offering a whole new texture to
many of the straight forward pop moments. A particularly pleasant surprise
at both concerts was Wrong Number, which has particularly taken on new life
with this line-up, sounding bigger and fuller than it ever did on record,
not least due to Porl’s aforementioned guitar fireworks. A nice touch there
were Robert’s ‘Hello?’s, which, by about the third, got a pretty decent response
from the crowd. It’s also been great to hear ‘Us or Them’ on this tour,
which has been as powerful as it is timely.
Despite the generally tempered initial mood, there were of course those
in the crowd that kept their arms in the air, their feet tapping and worked
hard to make us much noise as possible. Bit by bit, the mood seem to spread
and improve. It was great also to see a good number of people doing the
appropriate ‘Hot Hot Hot’ pointing, and a greater number putting their ‘hands
in the air’ during FTEODGS. No chance to test the vocal chant for Play For
Today (which wasn’t too bad in Perth). Naturally, whenever a member of the
band approached the edge of the stage to peer into the crowd, a sea of hands
waved back in response. On the far side of the stage, Simon seemed to be having
fun, smiling openly at a couple of points, while on the left we were treated
to subtle smiles from both Porl and Robert.
And so the band were able to rise again to the task of recapturing hearts
and minds. With a trajectory not unlike that of the Cure career, healthy
approbation transformed slowly to a satisfied roar by the end of the show.
What at times seemed like a few glitches with the mixing (it may well have
been my position, but the Fascination Street lead, among others, seemed very
low in the mix, not to mention what seemed like some sort of trouble at
the start of Pictures of You) and lyrics (from memory, the start of Close
to Me) were nonetheless immaterial (the kick drum however, sounded great!);
the track selection and demeanour of the band counted most (though, for the
record, the light show and projections have been awesome, and perhaps a little
more dynamic than on the dream tour – heaps of big and small strobes, with
very distinct lighting designs from track to track). Glances between Robert,
Porl (an inspiring vision of flesh made art, and again, as others have mentioned,
Porl’s playing is a show in itself) and Simon are occasional but always seem
warm and positive, much as the glances of each out into the crowd, which,
occasional as they are, are always focussed and attentive and of course
very well received. It was great to see the band playing in a semi-circle
around Jason at one point toward the end of the gig, Porl grinning as they
broke away to resume their positions across the stage.
Kitted out in his black kilt, Robert seemed in generally good spirits,
though said very little at all for the duration of the show (that is, almost
nothing – he was vocal in Perth by comparison). I sincerely hope this wasn’t
a case of discouragement at the crowd reaction. Nonetheless, a good few
beers appeared to be polished off between songs, suggesting that the band
may have been preparing for a post-Australian leg celebration after the show
(?).
Finally, sometimes too-cool-for-school Melbourne did hold its own, though
for my money (and perhaps my hometown bias), Perth still seemed
to punch above its weight, in terms of mix clarity, energy (no doubt
helps when the band is at the start of the leg of a tour, though after what
seemed perhaps like a slightly tired start, the band’s momentum quickly
built at the Melbourne show) and crowd response. Both shows were more than
satisfying.
This tour and these concerts have for me been inspirational. Seeing
the band in such good spirits, playing with such power is a joy to behold.
Whilst some of the keyboard parts don’t transpose onto guitar quite perfectly,
the lack of keys if anything opens up new spaces in the tracks that allow
the guitar attack to move in, opening up plenty of raw guitar space that
seemed to work really well in the live context. It also makes for four very
focussed, engaged performers on stage. This tour might not hold the same
weight of album material witnessed on the Dream Tour (All Cats Are Grey!),
but has offered vitality, atmosphere and an appropriately broad appeal. Here’s
to the new album, and as is always wished, ‘another go around’!
- Andrew
final night of the australian leg of the australian
tour. what can i say. biggest audience so far. people
started lining up to get down the front around 9 in the morning. the
temperature was at least 6 degrees less than every other city in australia.
i sat down for this show, enjoying the good sound and the lights. hot
hot hot and push have become my favourite moments of every show. every
other show they have debuted a new song for the tour, and this didn't happen
tonight. i would have loved to see letter to elise again tonight.
i don't know what else to say, except the 8 days are over and now its
back to catching up with course work, food and sleep. let the liver
recover. but i got a pile of thanks: to my travelling friends janette,
bill and nathalie - i never expected monday night in adelaide to be the
best fun you can have on any night in any city in australia; fuji, cameron,
daniel, morgan, tiana, shane, pamela, wendy and the kids - it was wonderful
to meet, re-meet, and get to know you again, and we do indeed grow up; jeremy,
darren, sean and michael - you have a job to do, it is done so well, and
yet there is extra time to be kind...; and finally robert, porl, jason and
simon - thanks for a ripper time, coming to our backwater country, and i'm
sure we'll see you again soon.
- Shannon
THE best live show I have seen
since The Cure 1992.
- Bomber2007
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