The Curiosa Festival 2004

Aug. 28th, 2004 - San Francisco, Ca. (SBC Park)

Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Us or Them, Fascination Street (with extra long intro), Before Three, A Night Like This, The End of the World, Lovesong, Inbetween Days, Push, Pictures of You, The Figurehead, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, alt.end, A Strange Day, 100 Years, Disintegration

Encore: Close To Me, Lovecats, Let's Go to Bed, Why Can't I Be You?

(Thanks to Drew for the setlist)

Photos

COF - Spiggy



Reviews

From The Mercury News:

Joyous music to goth ears

THE CURE CAPS CURIOSA FESTIVAL WITH DASH OF GLOOM

By Brad Kava

Mercury News

On a scalding night everywhere else, a cold fog crept over San Francisco's SBC Park on Saturday, just as Robert Smith and his band, the Cure, took the stage.

The mopey singer couldn't have ordered up a better stage prop. Goths buttoned up their -- surprise -- black coats and stared into the chilly wind at an ironically pastel light show, of psychedelic pinks, purples and aquas, as Smith began with a dirge.

``I think it's dark and it looks like rain,'' he sang in, ``Plainsong,'' from 1989's epically gloomy ``Disintegration'' disc.

``And the wind is blowing like it's the end of the world . . . and it's so cold, it's like the cold if you were dead.''

It's almost hard to believe that Smith's definitely outside-the-mainstream goth band is celebrating its 25th year, headlining the Curiosa Festival featuring seven other bands that owed more than a little musical debt to this mascara-wearing godfather.

But the seven-hour festival was a joy for anyone who truly understands the meaning of alternative music. It was a chance to hear a lot of great new and edgy bands, while paying homage to a one that is far too underrated and overlooked.

Rock royalty

In his two-hour set, Smith took his place among rock's royalty, a writer, performer and curator whose name should be almost as well known as David Bowie's.

Who else could start a stadium show with such a dark, slow song, and receive such a loud outpouring of applause? How many others can play to 17,000 people while standing on a mostly darkened stage, and no onstage cameras or giant monitors to share facial expressions?

The Cure's lush and layered soundscapes were bolstered only by some lights and an arty video show. It wasn't something that would work with fans who need celebrity acts that get written up in People magazine or land on the cover of Rolling Stone (the two are almost the same these days).

Like Smith's career, the set mixed biting, almost suicidal dirges such as ``Pictures of You'' and ``The End of the World'' with relentlessly joyful ditties such as ``Close to Me'' and ``Lovecats.''

There were five new songs, and the older material favored the atmospheric, soundtrack-like songs from ``Disintegration'' and ``Head on the Door.''

Spoonful of sugar

Technical glitches and feedback marred some of the set, and it was a little disappointing that Smith, who once played an almost four-hour show in San Jose, had to leave out ``Just Like Heaven'' and ``Friday I'm in Love.'' Those two would have been upbeat desserts after the heavy main course, but they are so powerfully joyful, that they could be used by dentists instead of Novocain.

In the gloom, Smith's emotional lyrics stood out, and mixed the subtleties of Sylvia Plath or Dylan Thomas with the grandiose pronouncements of an adolescent's diary: ``Why can't I be you?''; ``Oh, oh, oh, I want to change the world''; ``I couldn't love you more''; and ``Let's go to bed.''

As long as people get a thrill from looking back at high school yearbooks, the Cure will be there to remind them of how they felt at the time.

The seven openers were like an excellent spread of dim sum or tapas.

Omaha's Cursive, with sad cello lines, was like a blistering low-fi Cure, with singer Tim Kasher howling not unlike Smith. Fellow Brits, the Cooper Temple Clause, were the surprise dark horse, with a wonderfully dynamic set that ranged from prayerful to anthem-like.

Mogwai did dense instrumentals; the Rapture lived up to its name with joyful hypnotic melodies; if a teenager programmed a computer to interpret the blues, it might sound like Interpol.

SBC, which was cut in half for the concert, worked fine as a venue and the sound farther back was better than on the lawn at Shoreline.

The first and second stages were next to each other and alternated acts with little time between, a refreshing take on the usual festival setup.

But it would have been better to have everyone on one rotating stage. The sound was much worse on the second stage, unless you were right in front of it.

(Thanks Jeff)


From the San Francisco Chronicle:

There's no cure for a festival that doesn't deliver
Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Pop Music Critic

It's a good time to be the Cure.
   After 2000's tooth-achingly weak "Bloodflowers," the once enormous British band quietly waved goodbye, destined to be remembered best for its
singer's big hair and inability to get his lipstick on straight. But then came an eruption of praise from the likes of Linkin Park and Evanescence,
followed by this year's slick, self-titled comeback album, helmed by superstar producer Ross Robinson. Suddenly, the Cure is causing the kind of pandemonium it last tasted two decades ago.
   On Saturday, the band victoriously brought its own festival to SBC Park, even though Curiosa felt less like a distant cousin of Lollapalooza than a
front for a Cure concert with too many opening acts. Nearly every one of the bands on the bill that wasn't the Cure -- split awkwardly between two
side- by-side stages -- featured a singer with panda eye makeup and itchy black clothes, just like the headliner's own elder statesman Robert Smith.
   That didn't mean it was all dreary songs about spiders and rain clouds. Mogwai added eardrum-shredding volume to the formula. The Rapture loosened it up with barefoot, cowbell-clanging funk. And Cursive gave it a spastic emo makeover.
   But it was Interpol -- the only support band on the bill that could have sensibly headlined its own tour this summer -- that really seized the moment. With the jagged bass lines and hopped-up choruses that make up its excellent new album, "Antics," the band showed that taking inspiration is fine, but it's finding your own identity that really matters. And if that doesn't work, at least rip off a band that's no longer around: Joy Division.
   The Cure initially disappointed for two reasons: 1) The band members just stood there. After some 25 years of doing this it seems as though they
should have picked up a few of Mick Jagger's elbow-jutting moves by now. Or alternately come to the conclusion that billowing dry ice and home
movies of dogs and insects are a sad substitute for actual audience interaction. 2) They made everyone wait through an ice age for the songs that a festival audience would actually want to hear, instead of spending a large part of their two- hour set tunneling through bleak, tuneless album tracks.
   On the rare occasion the band wheeled into familiar territory, the fireworks went off. Teenage anthems of desire and alienation like "Love Song" and "Disintegration" made the sky go all diamond bright. The nostalgic rush of "Push" inspired the most rabid cheers this stadium has heard since Barry Bonds cracked his 71st home run. And even Smith found it hard to resist the tender, shivery pull of "Pictures of You," played under a pink moon. From the bleachers, it looked like he actually stopped staring at his shoes for a minute to take it all in. Then again, the bleachers were really far, far away from the stage.
   But it wasn't until the very end of the night, during the tossed-off encore, that the band finally indulged the people who sat through the avalanche of misery. In quick succession it splashed out its finest, most ridiculous "Miami Vice"-era hits: "Close to Me," "Lovecats," "Let's Go to Bed, " and "Why Can't I Be You." Just like that, the Cure's redemption took another giant leap forward.
   Now if the band really wants to make the most out of this whole shebang, it's going to have to learn to embrace its own history harder and faster
than any of its young disciples.

(Thanks Lenore)

First off, I apologize for not sending this after the show.  I was driving from San Francisco to the Sacramento show and didn't come back til early Monday morning.  The Cure Curiosa tour in San Francisco wasn't as good as it should have been thanks to a lackluster crowd who practically just stood there and barely clapped.  Sitting there one hour before the show in the hot sun is no excuse either.  Try standing there in Phoenix like I did and others for that matter!!!  Now, that's hot!!!
    Originally back in San Diego for the first of 5 straight Cure shows, I was there just for The Cure.  As time went on, I started enjoying Mogwai's sound, The Raptures abundant energy and Interpol's stage presence which completely rocked my world.  This crowd at SBC Park yesterday confused me royally.  And after the show was over, I wondered why most of them were there in the first place!!!  Even The Rapture's lead singer didn't high five everyone after the show.  Too bad really because they were really good.  Now on to The Cure review.
    During Plainsong, Robert walked over towards us on the right side.  I motioned to my Russian hockey jersey who he signed yesterday.  I said
thank you.  The crowd wasn't really too enthusiastic which usually is a bad bad thing.
    Shake Dog Shake.  Love that song!!!  I somehow sensed I was going to hear a fantastic Cure set.     
    Alt. End, Lovesong, Fascination Street, Push, Inbetween Days, and The Figurehead.  Yeah, I was on cloud 9.  Some of the songs, I've already heard.  But like the band, I too got into the music as well as their performance.  I really liked the live version of Alt. End.  I know I've said it once before.  But, it's worth saying again...definitely.
    Did I mention that the crowd at the show SUCKED!!!  They did big time.  It was like they came to see a Giants ballgame and decided just to see what was going on anyways.  I heard only a couple people singing around me up front.  I even heard this girl say to someone, "Do you even like The Cure?"  That pretty much summed it up.  It wasn't like The Cure wasn't trying either.  Robert desperately tried to rejuvenate the crowd by actually dancing during Close To Me and Why Can't I Be You.  Unfortunately, it was too late as Robert said, "Thanks for making this a fucking great day (for most of us?)"  The crowd blew.  Robert then said, "That's ! all the time we have left." as he walked offstage.
    I've read some of your reviews.  I realize the crowd shouldn't factor in anyone's review or enjoyment of the concert.  However, I felt unsatisfied by the crowd's lack of enthusiasm during 100 Years and From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea.  These two songs sends me to the fricking roof seeing it live.  I'm soooo glad they made these a permanent part of their set.  This was a singles crowd.  But even when The End of the World and Inbetween Days was played, the people around me barely even clapped yet alone cheer.  I didn't get it.  We waited from 4pm to 9.  I wondered why the crowd waited that long only just to stand there like a statue when all the bands (and The Cure) performed.  I can understand if you don't sing or dance.  But for FXXX sake, at least clap and cheer them on to play longer!!!
     Roger didn't have his usual pep like he normally does.  He didn't even smile once.  After Disintegration was over, he immediately walked
offstage super fast.  It was probably bacause the crowd sucked.  I liked his keyboard parts in A Night Like This and also Disintegration.  Hearing Robert say Crocodiles cry and three cheers for everyone has to be two of my favorite lines from the song.  Hearing A Night Like This after 4 long years was incredible.  I could listen to this song no matter what mood I was in that day.  I'm sure many of you reading this will agree.  This wasn't a singles type of set.  Maybe that had to do with the fan's reaction?  Who knows.  I loved Plainsong, Push, 100 Years, Deep Green Sea and A Strange Day.  It's unfortunate the crowd didn 't get into it.  Cur! e singles or not, weren't most people there to see The Cure?  I apologize for driving my point about the crowd's reaction.  I personally LOVED the show.  I loved EVERY group that performed tonight.  Mogwai's last song, My Father was probably one of the best performances I've ever seen.  The two guitarist played with the sound controls making a sexual reference sound.  The other band members and roadies all watched laughed.  This was, by far, the highlight from their set.  I'm definitely going to buy The Rapture, Mogwai and
Interpol's CD's really soon.  Melissa Auf Der Maur was good as well.  I'm definitely going to buy The Rapture, Mogwai and Interpol's CD's really soon.  Melissa Auf Der Maur was good as well.  That was the first time I've ever heard songs from these bands. By the way, I got the setlist and thanks to your enthusiasm, The Cure were planning to play A Drowning Man and Faith PLUS one more encore with THREE more songs!!!
 
- Marc


Wow, what a night to be in San Francisco! With the full moon shining bright over the bay, the stage was set for what was an incredibly magic night. I knew this would be memorable, but when the opening strings of Plainsong shot out into the air, I seriously felt shivers. This tune really set the tone for a fucking incredible show as a few clouds came beezing by the bright San Fran sky.  I was still reeling as a perect performance of Shake Dog Shake nearly floored me. Through Fascination Street, and Before 3 I was really impressed with how great the soundsystem was after being skeptical (but hopeful) that the SBC Park acoustics would be straight. They were, and A Night Like This was for me, the highlight of the night. Perfect placement in the set, and an absoultely belting vocal performance. Through a couple of hits, which I found myself really enjoying (why not, right?), the quality remained, but Push was another awesome suprise. People were feeling it too. Pictures of You was incredibly moving, but A Strange Day a few songs later solidified an epic night. I almost didn't even care what else was played, but 100 Years came searing through with some serious flavor and had my head spinning. Disintegration sounded awesome and i could hardly wait to hear more as the band walked off stage. Returning with 4 straight hits was cool, but for me they couldn't top the main set which was absolutely top notch, and after speaking to several folks last nite and today, I know the feeling was shared.

-Ben


It was a perfect moon-lit night in the City by the Bay-- and this was the best rendition of A Strange Day I had ever heard.  The band sounded incredibly tight and "note perfect" except for a few minor problems during one of the earlier songs (Fasc. St.?), and Robert's guitar was apparently plugged into an amp from Spinal Tap as it was cranked to "11" on Disintegration...  Loved the video playing during Shake Dog Shake, reminded me of my Max-dog playing with a plastic baggy.  Thank you to the Best Band in the World for an awesome show.  Now my wife is just hoping they lean towards the pop side for tonight's gig at Arco.  After last night's show, I don't care if they just come out with accordions and pan-flutes, I'm still floating...
 
- curedtigger


The Rapture kicked ass. Great touch incorporating Sax and cowbell into rock.Very different and very cool.
Plainsong of course was the highlight. I could have left after that and I would have been satisfied.  It was good SF got a little Pop this time around, considering Dream tour was deep and dark. And any concert with Push and Strange Days in it, is a treat. Figurehead was very Mystical as light
clouds rushed over the stadium between the full moon. Strange how this only happened on this song.  And I don't give a FUCK what anyone else says, Perry is damn awesome. The sounds he creates are amazing.  The band is definitely at it's best. They are very tight and we should all appreciate their live shows, because days go by, years pass on, and some day -  they will be gone.

- Luke


cursive ended about 9:00.  although i enjoyed their set, i was glad they were done.  was hoping the cure would come out a bit early.  nope.  their van arrived behind stage left at 9:15.  a few minutes later, the majestic openning of plainsong.  i was all smiles as i had the feeling it would be a great evening.  shake dog shake followed.  excellent to hear it.  us or them was next.  i really didn't expect this song here and was thinking what kind of a setlist are we going to get.  crowd wasn't into the song, but the band rocked on it.  visuals were pretty sweet, too.  next up, fascination street.  crowd cheered.  there were technical problems, but everything worked out. before three was the next song.  it was okay... as soon roger struck the first chord on a night like this several screams could be heard.  this song, along with anything off of hotd, are always favorites.  the end of the world was next.  back into a normal setlist, i thought.  lovesong.  i didn't think the crowd was "that" into it.  inbetween days is always a crowd pleaser.  now, i was thinking just like heaven was next.  however, robert put his acoustic down and i prayed for push.  someone was listening and i went nuts.  was hoping for sinking to follow, but they played pictures of you.  crowd was into it.  still hoping for sinking.  got the fucking figurehead!!!!!  oh yeah.  always nice to hear live.  noticed several people starting to sit or leave for beers.  their loss, because it sounded great.  fteotdgs was next up.  okay people, put your hands in the sky!  i only saw twenty or so do it. song sounded great.  perry's solo was okay.  heard him do it better,though.  alt.end.  what can i say.  i don't really care for this song.  however, as everyone has said, it really does sound better live. still doesn't make it a goodsong,though.  strange day was perfect.  simon was enjoying it.  the whole band kicked ass on 100 years.  very intence.  everyone was into it.  you can tell they love playing this song.  was it just me or was disintegration slowed waaaaaayyyy down?  seriously, it was really down tempo.  i liked it.  brought a different feel.  robert shredded his guitar briefly.  lots o' feedback : )  didn't get to hear the promise,which sucked.  really thought with the lack of new songs that they'd play it.  oh well.  you kind of new the idiot pop songs were going to be played for the encore.  i accually thought just like heaven and friday i'm
in love were in store as the guitar tech did a sound check on robert's acoustic.  about the encore.  someone from another show said he'd rather have them play songs the crowd was into over obscure songs that most people wouldn't appreciate.  in a way i agree.  the crowd went nuts for all 4 songs.  i didn't think close to me or the lovecats sounded good.  after a main set full of big, powerful songs, they just seemed flat.  almost empty.  robert was making the most of the moment.  lgtb and wciby? sounded better.  looking at the clock i was praying for them to come back out and play going nowhere.  didn't happen.  i left satisfied and antisipating "an evening with the cure" on tuesday.

on a sidenote, went to the afterparty.  there were some celebs there.  shook some hands and talked a bit.  good times : )

- Brian


clearly approaching the denouement of this gorgeously dramatic weekend, i am forced to hold tight before the unwanted intermission lifts. some twenty hours must be endured until my favourite band is brought back before my ever-wishing, always-wistful soul, and yet, at this point, i gladly accept the wait. tomorrow night at this time, drifting through the roads of california’s capital, after the last show on the curiosa tour, i will know a
different kind of anticipation—one which wanders toward infinity. but in the meanwhile, i thought i’d drop by cof and share some of my thoughts thus far. unfortunately unable to attend the san diego show, i made it a point to hit every other californian city the cure were playing. friday night’s “l.a.”
(technically a few miles away in carson) show began in the way of their other southern californian (coachella) performance earlier this year, with
the instantaneously spellbinding “lost,” but as much as i completely love this new album opener, i have to say that few songs on this planet inspire
me as much as the transcendent, last-two-people-in-the-world beauty of “plainsong.” as the smoke from the stage rose to meet the murky skies, all
that was left to see (not that i should ever be looking elsewhere at a cure show, but sometimes one can’t help but gaze up at the stars and sigh those
oh-my-god-this-is-just-perfect-i-can-seriously-die-right-now-and-be-completely-content sighs) was the amazing aurora borealis effect the cure create so incredibly well. and into this sparkling-crystal glory i just melted……..hearing the song tonight in san francisco was pure magic repeated with the added bonus of getting to witness robert greet scores of fans with his beautiful nervous smile (that might have happened last night, but unlike in carson, tonight i got to be one of those ridiculously lucky “in the pit” fans, who was grinning and waving her hands with the rest of them). i certainly do not deserve this excellent treatment, but that the cure continue to lavish their unique brilliance on the masses isn’t a surprise.
i must admit though that while i’ve never walked away from a cure show disappointed in the least, carson’s set list left me hoping……i feel guilty
even sounding like i’m lodging a complaint here, but, to me, it’s obvious that the cure’s fan base in l.a. is huge, so why not stay away from singles
a bit more (though, of course, i understand about “a forest” and the special task it holds)? it seems like they feel compelled to pander to the morally
repugnant kroq, who i guess has “supported” them over the years, but i’d like to know: do the cure know that kroq rarely plays them anymore? sure
they get some airtime during the “flashback lunch” and occasionally their new single (whatever it happens to be at the moment) is given a spin, but
this in no way constitutes true allegiance. sorry for the rant, but to elucidate my point were the roaring responses to “closedown” (!!), “siamese
twins” (am i supposed to be able to fucking breathe after this?!) and “m” (i really love the simple graphic for the song, too…that ominous M just hanging there)—was it just my own feeling that these were received extraordinarily well? and i guess to convolute the point i initially sought to make, i feel trapped to be honest and confess that singles, particularly “friday i’m in love” won plenty of applause and dancing, too. so it goes, i suppose. and
i’d be lying if i said that i don’t enjoy those songs; it’s just that with so many amazing songs in their catalogue, it’s always wonderful to hear the
never- or lesser-played ones. but even typing that, i fear i’m being too greedy. forget the fear. i know i am. to anyone reading, i apologize. and
yet i’m letting it go on record. my drowsy mind is having its way tonight. tomorrow the heart will be winning the war all over again….
(was anyone able to transcribe the different lyrics to “play for today”? i am exceedingly curious.)
this is becoming more and more disjointed, so i think i will toddle off to bed and have sleep take me closer to the sacramento show, but not without me
saying how utterly blissful it was to hear more of “the head on the door” and “pornography” in san francisco. “a night like this” had me in tears,
which admittedly is not a difficult feat at this point in my life, but still it was just so passionate and evocative…...and my god, “push” (!!!). i just
wanted to hurl myself from my own skin, i almost couldn’t take it. it makes me crazy. truly. and i love it. and to be later followed by “the figurehead”
(so fierce and incisive; absolutely murderous), “a strange day” (i will never EVER tire of hearing this song) and “one hundred years” (warranting
every shiver it received), i am nothing short of blessed. even the encore, though comprised solely of singles, was full of playful, infectious energy
and did, after all, contain the song that put the cure foremost in my head in the first place…so many years ago. i was about to retreat from my
computer and then “shake dog shake” (the second song performed this past evening) jumped into my mind, and i am aflutter with wonder about what
tomorrow night’s set will hold…….more soon….

- Rayna Khaitan


Well, the setlist was much more interesting than San Diego.  I got to hear Push, A Strange Day and The Figurehead; and for some reason, I was also into the pop more than the previous show I attended.  Maybe it was all the 2nd-hand smoke. :)
 
Like I stated in my Chula Vista review, I love Lost and the Promise, so once they opened with Plainsong, I knew those songs would have to wait
until today (Sacramento).
 
Robert seemed in good spirits, and it showed on stage.  Very animated.  Unfortunately, the sound last night was awful for some songs, particularly Fascination Street (Simon's bass went out in the beginning) and alt.end (Robert's guitar out of tune).  Robert's voice was giving out on him in the beginning, but after Before Three, it began to sound very good.  I blame this on the cold, as it was probably close to 15 degrees colder than SoCal.
 
Another thing that hurt this show in my opinion was a stoic crowd.  I was in the pit again, and the crowd in Chula Vista had much more energy.  Anything that wasn't a single last night, at least where I was standing, was greeted as an opportunity to take some digital photos of friends.  I noticed when I moved closer to the stage though these types of activities are not so prevalent.  I'm making sure to keep that in mind tonight.
 
Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now.  Still keeping my fingers crossed for The Drowning Man...
 
- Dom


Show started about 9:18pm and ended at 11:05pm
This show was amazing and pure joy.  When Plainsong started I knew it was going to be intense.  I fight back balling my eyes out every time I hear
this song live.  Tonight was no different.  The lights are incredible. After hearing Us or Them live, I like it better than I did before. Fascination Street had a longer intro because there was a technical problem or something with Robert's guitar, but it still sounded great.  Before 3 is such an intense song...I never realized it before.  Who cannot just love the intro to A Night like This.  So amazing.  Lovesong got the crowd really going and singing along, although the crowd was really responsive and great up to that point.  When The Figurehead started people around me were sitting down.  I was sitting right behind home plate with a dead-on center, unobstructed view of the stage.  FTEOTDGS was one of the most intense versions I've heard either live or from bootlegs.  Just amazing.  I wish I could come up with a different word, but I can't at this hour.  Alt.end sounded much different than on Jimmy Kimmel show and on the cd.  It was just Robert and Jason playing at several times in the song.  I guess you could say, "They broke it down" to just guitar and drums.  100 years will make you feel every emotion there is.  With the graphics that they have on this tour, it could be the soundtrack to war.  It's raw energy is mind-blowing and the intensity just builds and builds to the end.  Incredible.  Disintegration was also very very intense with some great heartfelt vocals.  The encores were singles heaven and very very fun.  They really got the crowd back up and dancing and cheering.  Lovecats is great with this lineup.  It's fun with lots of sound effects and Robert adding some unintelligible lyrics. After Why Can't I be You, Robert said that it was all they had time for...and thanks for a fucking excellent day etc.

A final note, the energy was so great from the band.  Perry dancing around adds a different and welcome energy to the stage.  The show was awesome and a very moving experience.  Seeing The Cure live is an unforgettable experience.

- Drew

 


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