The Curiosa Festival 2004

Aug. 11th, 2004 - Clarkston, Mi. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)

Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Labyrinth, A Night Like This, The End of the World, Lovesong, Push, Siamese Twins, Before Three, Inbetween Days, Sinking, Us or Them, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, alt.end, A Strange Day, One Hundred Years, Disintegration

Encore: Close To Me, Friday I'm In Love, Just Like Heaven, Boys Don't Cry.

(Thanks to Dave for the setlist)

Photos



Reviews


From the Flint Journal:

Alternative fans find satisfaction at Curiosa

FLINT JOURNAL REVIEW
OAKLAND COUNTY
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, August 12, 2004
By Shawn Humphrey
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Curiosa Festival began with dark clouds menacing the DTE Energy Music Theatre on Wednesday, but after a short shower around 5 p.m., the weather decided to be more congenial.

Crowds weren't cowed either way, regularly flocking to the alternating second and main stages to check out this year's crop of upcoming alternative bands.

With the cancellation of the Lollapalooza festival earlier this month, alternative rock fans have had to choose between the punk-showcasing Warped Tour and Wednesday's mellower Curiosa Festival.

As festivals fare, Curiosa proved a worthwhile exhibition of younger international acts, though the heavy-handed musical influence of older bands

detracted from the overall song writing quality.

The most creative acts took to the stage early and consequently had smaller audiences. Cooper Temple Clause, following Head Automatica on the second stage, focused on short, sharp songs with big dynamics changes. Their listeners migrated to the main stage for Scottish noise artists Mogwai, whose experimentally unhinged instrumental tunes were calculated to induce a trance, progressively boil over into a fury of overdrive, and then simmer back down.

This treatment was hit and miss, but the good creations were extremely listenable.

Melissa Auf der Maur, known for her bass work for Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, presented an energetic half hour of fairly predictable and poorly sung rock. The Rapture didn't live up to its name with its thuddingly repetitive disco bass riffs and a singer who imitated The Cure's Robert Smith a little too closely.

Muse, the band currently generating the most buzz of the supporting acts, drew a big crowd to close out the second stage. It can't be denied that the trio put on a great live show, and their material is radio-friendly. Unfortunately, Muse read too much like revved-up Radiohead impostors to be taken seriously.

Standing on the shoulders of former giants carried over to Interpol, whose members had clearly listened to a lot of Duran Duran and The Clash, and were hampered by a set that blended together into one staccato guitar riff after another. Like Muse, Interpol received a positive reception from concertgoers based on delivery and stage presence.

Festival organizer and headliner The Cure easily overshadowed its predecessors with 25 years of experience and solid material. Smith characteristically spoke very little between songs, though he deprecatingly admitted that the collaboratively developed set list "felt like jumping from world to world."

That may have been a fair critique; a lot of the material from The Cure's recently released self-titled album felt a little awkwardly aggressive lodged between much older classics like

"Love Song," "In Between Days" and "Push."

Yet The Cure's newer songs, if not immediately recognizable to the fans, are on a different level than many of the younger acts achieved. Smith's first political tirade, "Us or Them," and

The Cure's current single, "The End of the World," both hold their own structurally when contrasted with past successes.

After amply demonstrating how it wrote the book on both brooding and delicate atmospherics, The Cure served up an encore of several crowd-pleasing pop songs, including "Friday I'm in Love" and "Just Like Heaven." Smith has perennially threatened to retire, but by the show's close, he and his vision seemed as fresh and relevant as in decades past.

(Thanks cryptic16)


WOW!  The show in Detroit was a perfect compliment to Cuyahoga!  I once again felt this show was custom made for me, which of course wasn't, but I have no other way to describe my delight in their choices for the playlist:  Their usuals as well as Sinking (my choice for the COF poll), A Night Like This, Push (one of my favorites), and once again, A Strange Day (my most favorite I think).  I couldn't have been more pleased.  As for the encore, I wasn't suprised at the pop selections because by the end of the set, it was becoming clear that the majority of the audience were "Top 40 Cure Hits" admirers.  Most were sitting down half way through the show out lack of excitement for songs they weren't familiar with.  I can't say the chilly weather was an excuse.  Any experienced "moper" would know to stay dancing as means to keep warm and I had no problem keeping the chill off!   I didn't mind the set though, because when Robert came back out and began playing familiar tunes, the audience went crazy and I felt a wave of love rush
from the audience to the stage and was reciprocated right back at us from the band.  The energy from the band as a whole was completely opposite of the mood in Cuyahoga.  It seemed the band thoroughly enjoyed themselves up there!  My husband thinks Robert said "I think we have to go now" after Boys Don't Cry, in a manner that made it sound as though he could have stayed up there for another hour, if it wasn't for the curfew.  The giant color monitors were also a bonus because we could see every detail of each member playing, and got a wonderful shot of Roger's adorable smile!  The mixing seemed a little more balanced so Roger and Robert could be heard more clearly.  Robert's voice was in top form and sounded beautiful!  (Speaking of beautiful voices, did anyone catch Steven Page from BNL on the screen during the encore?? I thought that was cool because I like them too!)  Overall, the only disappointment I have is my lack of coordinating a sitter so we could catch them in Chicago since I have family three hours from there.  So unless I win the trip to L.A., my wonderful journey stops here.
 
As a side note, I noticed that the schedule for Detroit was different from most other shows.  I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.  Muse was switched to play before Interpol and not the Cure, so I finally got a chance to see them.  They were amazing!  I'm glad to hear a new band, at least for me, that actually has its own sound and I really liked their stuff! 


- Stephanie


So I just got back from my trip to Clarkston, Michigan to see my second Curiosa show (my first being Toronto where I am from) and all I can say is that I am still in awe!  Toronto was such a tight, controlled and brilliant show that I didn't think it could be matched unless the band completely changed the setlist and went for a more sprawling effort... and that's exactly what we got.  The Clarkston show was jaw-dropping unbelievable!! After hearing Lost, Pictures of You and The Promise in Toronto, I was basically ready to hear anything the band decided to play;  none of us had any
idea of the setlist to follow...

I won't do a song by song since it's been done but all I can say was that the audience was left speechless as we had no idea what would be played next.  To hear A Night Like This, Sinking, Siamese Twins and A Strange Day in the same hour was almost too much, left me just ridiculously happy...

I brought my sister to the show, who isn't a hardcore fan but enjoys the band, and she was blown away as well.  She was really hoping for Friday and Boys and I had a weird feeling after the heavy main set that a lighter encore was coming with maybe those included. The Cure are the only band in the world that can play a set of dark, lyrically rich songs and then follow them up with pop like Friday and Close to Me and have it all make sense!!

Those two concerts back to back were absolutely perfect... one was a controlled performance and the other a sprawling assault on the bands catalogue...

Thank you sooo much to the band! Love you all! Sad my tour is over but happy forever!

PS.  DTE Energy Centre was great! set up in the woods with lots of parking and concessions and some hilarious people in the stands! My row alone had 3 ejections and 1 fight which had to be broken up by me... good times!

- John Manley



Ha!  My setlist magic strikes again!  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see my Cuyahoga Falls review.)
 
So...how the hell did a city like Detroit end up with such a beautiful amphitheater?  It's a mystery...
 
Yes, the pop encore was a little disappointing (not to mention completely incongruous with the rest of the show), but I guess they had to do something to get that totally lethargic crowd into the show.  And, as everyone has already mentioned, the main set was just flat out awesome.  Any night where they play a full HALF of The Head on the Door is a good night.  "A Night Like This" and "Push" were particularly strong again.  And "Sinking" was definitely the highlight of the night; it's one of my favorite Cure songs, and, of course, they haven't been playing it on this tour.  It was particularly powerful tonight, as Robert was in good voice, and they got a REALLY good mix from the sound crew (i.e., the bass didn't drown everything out).  After "Sinking," I DARED to hope for "The Kiss," but it was not forthcoming; "Us or Them" was more than adequate as a follow-up, though.  And then, there was "Siamese Twins" again (earlier in the show, that is)...They actually had the Dream Tour visuals for it this time, which they didn't have in Cuyahoga Falls.  I can't say enough good things about their performances of that song.
 
What else to say...This might have been the most lyrically accurate performance of "Disintegration" I've ever seen, which is certainly not to suggest that it was perfect; the song started out a bit rocky, but it settled into being a solid performance.  The songs from the new album came across really well last night; "Labyrinth," "Before 3," and "alt.end" in particular sounded as good as or better than any other time I've heard them (with "Before 3," again, the fact that the bass didn't drown out the song is what made the performance).
 
Well, since this was my last Curiosa show (I mean it this time!  I feel like Robert Smith: "No, honestly, this is our last album!"), I'll close with a couple notes/observations that span more than just last night's show.  First, it seemed to me that their performances of "Shake Dog Shake" were especially aggressive this time around (even more so than usual), which was very enjoyable.  Second, "A Strange Day" and "100 Years" back-to-back on a consistent basis fucking rocks my world.  And, finally, Perry's dancing really adds a different kind of energy to their stage show; it's difficult not to get drawn into that energy.
 
Enjoy the rest of the tour, everyone.


- Jon Feinberg


As hard as I wanted to stay up and type up my review of the show Wednesday night, I honestly needed to confirm the set list because I could NOT
believe what I actually just saw and heard....

The evening started with Robert hearing my prayers for Plainsong.  This was the first time my fiancée' had been able to attend a Cure show, and
Plainsong is one of those permanent mix cd songs for us.  To share that moment with her was truly a "shared moment".  To copy off of so many other
reviewers, my gut started telling me that this was going to be one of those nights that I would end up saying, "if you weren't at the Detroit show, you missed out..."

As Plainsong faded, here entered the staccato drums for Shake Dog Shake - with the obligatory dog images in various colors projected on the screen
behind...  A tight musical performance, and most enjoyable.

Labyrinth came next, and turned into a wall of distortion, lyrics, and a blur of light...  interesting "labyrinth" displayed spinning on the back screen.

A pause before the next song, and I started hearing the keyboards to "A Night Like This".  My mind raced through the catalog of Cure songs to
match the into, and then it stopped at the Black/White imagery of "Show" as Simon's Bass kicked in and the song took off.  This one hasn't been
played in Detroit for several tours I believe, but my mind could be slipping.  Excellent!

TEOTW - Now, having been the first radio single of the new album, and hooky lyrics, AND a very simple "ooooohhh" part for crowd participation,
one would think that the crowd would actually have voiced praise, clapped, moved, SOMETHING!  Nope.  I was quite disappointed in the crowd the whole night - more on that later - but TEOTW sounded great!

Lovesong broke in next, and I thought that this is where I should start counting the Disintegration vs. The Cure songs in the set.  Lovesong still
continues to just chill me, and I felt guilty for wondering if 311 would ever tour with the Cure and what that would look like.

Before starting the next song, the band crowded around the drum riser.  As Jason ticked off time on the sticks, the opening chords of Push came out.
OMG!  I was so elated, and this brought a better reaction from the Detroit crowd than any other song thus far - opener aside.  Push live sounds
amazing - and if you've been a lucky one so far, you know what I mean!

Siamese Twins - hadn't heard it live before, but it was great!

Before Three - one of my favorites from the new album.  I still was thanking Robert for not opening with Lost...

 Inbetween Days - Excellent!  At the end, Robert started talking about jumping between time, and then...

Sinking - Very Powerful.  Simon's Bass line was great!

Us Or Them - another powerful song.  Lyrically, more people around me seemed to know this song than any other from the new album.

FTEOTDGS - the rolling green sea on the screen was a great montage, however I found myself wondering whatever happened to the green laser-light shark from the wish tour...

Alt.end - sounded much better than the album...

Strange day - I thought that by now, our set had had all of the classic oldies that we were going to get.  Wow...  Again, A strange day has been one of my favorites for years, and it was great to see it live again!

100 Years - there's just something about this song that gets one moving.  The pounding guitars, or the swirling red lights that remind me of a police officer's car... I'm not sure which...

Disintegration - I got a little worried about this one.  Though Robert, Jason, and Simon all kept time, it seemed like Jason got a little behind or Simon got a little ahead - either way, when Robert brought the vocals in, it seemed to pull together better.

Before the encore came on, I checked my watch and saw 10:50p or so.  When Robert came out last, he actually stopped at the mic and joked about the cold (temps were in the 50s at this point).  He said something about the cold, and trying to warm things up a bit.  Robert's smile was actually what made me smile.  Close to me started playing - always a fun song, and the crowd actually started swaying along!

Friday I'm In Love - with such a diverse set, I was quite surprised that this song got plugged in - but after seeing the rest of the show, my "upper" part of the concert was the encore!

JLH - Now, it was at this song that I realized that the band really are human and are enjoying themselves.  I don't recall who messed which guitar
part up first - if Robert played an extra round and made everyone follow, or if the other guitar part got mis-played, but Roger got panned to by the
camera, and he was smiling and shaking his head as he looked at Jason. Song came together, and was great.

Boys Don't Cry - a great closer!  Robert stepped to the mic and said, "we've got to stop." and walked off the stage.

The crowd was so disappointing.  Not much moving, nor swaying - with the lower temperatures, perhaps that could be blamed.  However, there was a
girl 4 rows in front of me sitting with her back TO THE STAGE!!!   Why pay the incredible pavilion price for a seat and not face the stage?  Whatever.

I know that I just witnessed a show that on the grand scale, would rival any first time Cure concert.  I know that my friend Holly is going to be so disappointed that she missed this concert - though for good reason - but that my fiancée' is now a more understanding Cure fan!

I didn't see many of the other acts as I arrived late, but Muse were fun to watch, and Interpol was EXCELLENT.  Again, I was very surprised at the lack of reaction by fans for Interpol - or the very lack of attendance for their set.  The band did comment on a few people dancing in the seats, which was nice for a pop.

Thank you, Robert, for the great set list in Detroit!  If you weren't at the Detroit show, you truly missed out on a great musical set...

- Kevin



Dark Energy!!
 
I have to start this review by just saying WOW! This was my 9th Cure show and it may rank as the best I've seen yet. The day was cold and
dreary but it was almost fitting that the set would be cold. You knew from the beginning this was gonna be special. After reading all the reviews here at Chain of flowers I was worried we were gonna get the Lost opener and pop middle set with the Promise closing the set, boy I'm glad that was not the case.
 
Plainsong just BEAUTIFUL! A perfect opener, just great. Now, Shake dog Shake and it just ROCKED, the band were definitely full of energy from
my vantage point (13th row, not as good as the front row for the Dream tour, but I am not complaining!) Labyrinth, was solid, although I thought I heard a couple of miscues? A night like this, wow I'm dreaming now (but it got better!) TEOTW I actually thought this sounded good live. Lovesong got the crowd into it. Push!, now this is the one I wanted to hear! They played it at the Swing tour show I went to but I was a little um, wasted? So sober, I soaked it up. Siamese Twins, I was so happy I screamed myself hoarse (and I sing in a band and have a show Saturday.. whoops?) Before Three, not bad, Roberts vocals were a little low. Inbetween Days, everybody squeal now! (lol) I figured it would go into Just like Heaven, boy was I way off!! Sinking????? Now I am complete (well Faith would make me complete but....lol) Sinking was just fantastic, I mean spot on. Us or them, loved this song live, my friends who are not as huge Cure fans as I am and don't even know the new CD liked this song as well. FTEOTDGS very powerful great version everyone put their hands in the sky. alt.end, this was OK I would have preferred Taking off. A Strange Day, again I am speechless, wonderfully done. 100 years, awesome. Disintegration, this was the only song I did not care for, in my mind it was too slow, I prefer the Entreat fast version, it also seemed like there were some problems during this as well. Robert did talk a bit during the opening set but it was hard to decipher.
 
I'd say it was about 12 minutes to 11:00 when they came back on and Robert said, "We were debating whether or not to play cold or warm songs" (he also mentioned something to do with the weather I think cuz it was cold!) "We decided on the warm ones" and with that they launched into Close to Me which was  well done, Robert was dancing a lot and really had the crowd going. Friday I'm in Love was nice, during the beginning while strumming the acoustic, Robert said "But its Wednesday?" while laughing. Just Like Heaven was a lot of fun even with the "You You You.." ending. And finally Boys don't Cry, people were dancing in the aisles and singing along loudly. It seemed we'd get another encore but Robert came to the mic and said "I guess we gotta go" There was a giant digital clock behind Roger and it was 11:00 so they had to stop. What a joke, when DTE was Pine Knob (which it always will be to me) they never enforced that stupid curfew, I was hoping for the "Cold encore" i.e. M, Play for today, Forest. But I am not complaining it was a great, great show! The band seemed to really be into it, Roger was shaking his head at the extended beginning of Just Like Heaven.
 
All the other bands were impressive I thought, the Rapture were kinda funny, Cooper Temple Cause were good, they watched Auf de Maur and I
went and said "Nice set" to the lead singer. Robert was behind the stage during Cooper Temple Causes set. I saw him talking and jump off into his
golf cart.
 
Also my friend bought an autographed the cure CD for 15 bucks from a FYE stand (I think that was it?) anyone know if its legit? I didn't wanna be
mean and say its probably a fake, so I coughed up the 15 bones (lol)
 
Just a great great event, cant wait til they are back.
 
- Jon



I arrived at the Clarkston show a little late, with Auf der Maur performing already.  Something must have happened with one of the two second stage bands, because the playing order was all messed up.  After Auf der Maur, the Rapture played, then Muse, then Interpol, then the Cure, with no one in between Muse and The Cure.  Again, Muse was easily the best of the support acts, in my opinion.  Interpol are good but the Joy Division similarities stand out too much, in my mind!

Anyway, on to The Cure.  This was my third and final show of the tour (Cuyahoga Falls and Toronto being the others).  Some people around me
were speculating that they would play Cold, which I knew wasn't really a possibility, as no keyboard was set up for Perry.  I figured they would
open with Plainsong, as the past couple shows had been opened with Lost. Indeed, it was a Plainsong night and I finally had a seat close enough
to see Robert as he did his walk.  I was directly in front of Roger, so what Perry did most of the night is a mystery to me...couldn't see him too well!  A girl had the shoddiest sign ever requesting Charlotte Sometimes to which Robert gave a shrug and said, "maybe."  Someone front and centre handed something to Robert during Plainsong and he seemed quite touched by whatever it was.  Roger seemed alternately annoyed, happy, and cold.  It was a chilly evening in the Detroit area and Roger could be seen warming his hands up throughout the show.

Shake Dog Shake was next...always nice to hear.  Great performance and the crowd seemed to enjoy it, which was good, considering neither The
Top or Concert are available domestically!  Labyrinth was also good, nothing about it stands out in my mind.  A Night Like This was next up and it was a fantastic performance.  The crowd was obviously very big on The Head on the Door, and so were the band on this night.  After a standard run through The End of the World and Love Song, Push was the next song to be pulled from THOTD.  It was played brilliantly by all the band, and it got a huge reaction from the crowd, at least where I was sitting.  Robert declared that there was a change in mood next and Siamese Twins was played.  Good, solid performance...my least favourite Pornography song, but hey, I don't write the setlists, so I enjoyed it anyway.  The always lacklustre Before Three was next...I can't get behind this song and I don't really understand why it's played every night.  A decent performance of a bad song.  In Between Days was its usual boisterous self, and brought the Head on the Door count to 3. Next Robert made a comment about the set being decided by the whole band tonight, so it was all over the place, and Sinking was the result.  I wonder whose choice that was, because Robert put in a masterful performance on vocals and guitar.  Maybe the best song of the night.  Us or Them was a first for me this summer and it came across very heavy and powerful; I really like this song.  From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, alt.end, A Strange Day and One Hundred Years were all very good and led up to the Disintegration finale.  I would prefer they played the version from the Bloodflowers tour, with the sequencer line running through the song, but it was still a powerful performance.  I love that Robert has finally switched up the guitar solo on this song, and the slide guitar
work he did last night was incredible.

The band came back out for the encore and Robert said they had discussed whether to play cold songs or warm songs.  The band apparently wanted
warm songs, and who was he to argue, he said.  So a pop encore it would be then!  Close to Me featured a very playful Robert and some silly vocals towards the end.  Friday I'm in love was prefaced by a comment that it wasn't really Friday today...the crowd was loving this one. Just Like Heaven was botched by Roger starting his keyboards too early and he, Jason and Robert shared a laugh about it before Robert launched into the vocals.  The crowd enjoyed it all the same and I'm sure 99% didn't even notice to the gaffe.  Boys Don't Cry finished it off with Robert on acoustic....every time I've seen it played in the past, it's been Perry on acoustic, so it was an interesting switch.  Crowd loved this too, although I would have much preferred Why Can't I Be You? Roger sent out two copies of the setlist as paper airplanes during the song and right after it...just missed one by a couple inches.  Anyway, it was a great night overall and being so close to the stage really enhanced the experience.

- Dave



I just woke up this morning and all I can say is WOW!!I'm still on an incredible high! I've wanted to see The Cure for over 20 years and last
night 'all my dreams came true'. The music was unreal!! And it looks like our show was the show that most of you wanted :)  They did songs that I
haven't heard in years and years!
My friend and I got there early enough to see Interpol, they were good, but for me, the night was all about 'my Robert'.  When they did finally come out I was at such a dizzyed height of excitment and anticipation, I started screaming and I don't thing I stopped till they walked off stage for a final
time.  (no, I have no voice this morning!:) All of the band came out except for Robert and I was frantically looking for him and then.... there he was!
'sneaking' in from the side lines. When the spot light finally flashed on him I literally burst into tears.  Some of you may laugh but for me it was a
spiritual expierence to see him live... Over 20 years is a long time to love and admire someone and then to finally see them in person??!!.. .well lets
just say it was an event I shall never forget!!! The band sounded great, I have no negative comments to make about any of it... ok maybe one, we got ripped off for a second encore :(  But it was very sweet though when Robert walked off stage, you could tell he was seriously bummed that he couldn't give us one more encore. I'm so thrilled and honored that I was able to finally see 'my Robert' and I hope in the future I will get my dream come true again.  I will hold onto this memory till my dieing day!

- Sistermoon


Snow In Summertime Aug 11, 2004

What a CURE CONCERT.... The concert was awsome....

It was a weird day.... Cloudy Rainy sunny all day.. At one point it looked like it was snowing because the rain was coming down so hard...

I got there Auf Der Maur.. It was about 6:30pm.. Went up to the hill put down the blanket and sat and watched The Rapture.... They were really good... Then after them We went down to the second stage and saw Muse... They rocked the crowd out... They impressed me.. Then When back up to the hill and Watched Interpool... I said Interpool was gonna be on at 8 but they didnt play until almost 8:15 and i thought Ian Curtis Was living... Boy they are awsome in concert...Well it was COLD!!!!!! I mean 54 degrees cloudy and a wicked wind....... It was so cold we saw our breaths... So the Cure Came on At 9:17 with plainsong.. The first verse he changed from Rain to Snow and the crowd cheered... What a great start....after the song, he commented on how cold it was... Well I guess Mondays show was Disintegration show, This was a MINI Head On The Door tour.. 5 Songs And wowing the Crowd With the first time SINKING!!!! By Far the best song they did the whole night..3 songs from pornography, 4 from Disintegration, and ONLY 5 From Their New CD.. The Setlist is by far the best so far on this tour. No Faith But the The songs they played were fun serious and emotional.... They went off stage at 10:45 and returned 3 minutes later and Robert commented again about the cold weather... He said since its really cold We thought we should play some WARM songs and the hits everyone has been bitching about started... I really enjoyed it so so much Close
to me was a present from God friday im in love was a very nice suprise, Just like Heavan so damn good live anytime and of  course Boys Don't Cry.... After that Robert thanked the crowd, stood there and said they are forcing us off the stage, and Robert just stood there and smiled the lights came up and they broke curfew again, 11:03... The boys knocked out 21 songs in just under 2 hours.... Did we want more oh yes but i got my moneys worth... Hereing the hits, the strange, and the firsts... What a night.... What a day Thank you Robert Simon Roger Jason and Perry for a wonderful night.. 12th time seeing them and I thought Bloodflowers was the best, well this one i think was better energy... NO MORE WISHING FOR IMPOSSIBLE
THINGS, my wish has COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!

- Pauly676767





Back