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bONES

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bONES Newbie

bONES

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it`s been a while since I was at the ACC for a show...

will it end by 11pm I wonder...

I may go down around 10ìsh and see if I can score a cheap ticket for the remainder of the show

...The Cure 4Tour Fairfax, VA 05/09/2008

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Jaimoe Newbie

Jaimoe

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i've never listened to them ever but wow do they ever look ridiculous, i couldnt take them seriosuly even if they were talented

Well, Robert Smith is extremely talented and I take their music seriously... but I respectfully hate them with a passion.

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AD Newbie

AD

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Hot damn, there's life in the old shag bag yet.

Perennially rumpled and be-frizzed front man Robert Smith was on the verge of retiring The Cure for good – for real this time, he claimed – just a few years ago, but there have been encouraging signs of late that the renewed stirrings of enthusiasm audible on 2004's not-bad disc, The Cure, could be building to something truly special on the band's forthcoming 13th album, due in September.

A couple of release dates and an entire tour planned for last fall were already brushed aside so that the group could expand the recording to a double album, which either means no one dares tell The Cure to stop any more, or Smith and his bandmates are currently in the throes of a late-career creative renaissance.

Given the unexpected – and, dare I say, unexpectedly youthful – vigour of the venerable Goth-pop outfit's performance at the Air Canada Centre last night, let's extend a tentative spirit of optimism towards the latter scenario.

Currently scaled back to the lean, keyboard-less four-piece lineup of Smith, new-ish drummer Jason Cooper, and long-standing conscriptees Porl Thompson and Simon Gallup (on guitar and bass, respectively), The Cure of 2008 appears to be clearing away some of the murk of its later catalogue and rediscovering the love of wiry rhythm that has allowed it to moonlight as an ace dance band off and on during its 30-year career.

Last night's set emphasized the more hip-shaking side of the Cure canon as much as a sprawling, three-hour odyssey could, wryly adding the late-'80s funk chestnut "Hot! Hot! Hot!" to a roll call of retro-night floor fillers such as "The Walk," "Close to Me," "Let's Go to Bed" and a skeletal "Why Can't I Be You?" wherein Smith abandoned his old, helium-voiced theatrics for a clipped delivery more becoming a man who just notched his 50th birthday.

Revealingly, though, the jerky post-punk gait of The Cure's very earliest days crept into a stunning version of Disintegration's majestic "Pictures of You," rendered at a nearly hip-hop gait and rendered Krautrock-hypnotic by the metronomically latticed guitar lines exchanged between Smith and Thompson. I'd never thought of the brooding "Shake Dog Shake" or Pornography's enduringly demonic "One Hundred Years" as particularly dance-y before, but they're punishingly groovy on this tour. Likewise, the handful of new songs debuted – the pleasant "Perfect Boy," one that sounded like "Primary" – were infectiously rubbery, if vague with their melodies.

A brief lapse into dated bagginess followed the ho-hum "Never Enough," but it was worth sticking through all the encores to hear the band rip into a brace of early singles and album tracks from the Three Imaginary Boys era. Fingers crossed for September!

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Northern Wish Newbie

Northern Wish

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The last time I saw them (I've seen them about 4 times) Robert wore a Leafs jersey as they played the old Varsity arena. One of my favorite shows I've seen. A lot of the Wish era material which rules (At the Edge of the Deep Green Sea etc.) I wonder how it sounded without the keys, I've never seen that setup.

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PalacePrincess Newbie

PalacePrincess

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Did they play "Killing an Arab"?

hahahaha, they totally did!!!

also, some old favourites not mentioned in the paper review (and i know i am definitely leaving some out here)

Boys Don't Cry

Lovecats

Lullaby

Love Song

Just Like Heaven

A Forest

and the sans keyboard setup was fine! they were able to duplicate a lot of the keyboard stuff with guitars, and there was some sort of special effects unit throwing the odd bit of pleasure into the mix here and there (no idea who was manning it, they were hidden). some songs had a really interesting take on them without the keyboard too.

this was the 2nd time i've seen them (the first being the curiosa festival a few years ago -- one of the most incredible experiences of my life), and last night's show was no disappointment. robert smith is as enigmatic and adorable and humble and somehow able to emanate as much pureness and innocence, as ever. they played for 3 hours, no opening band, 3 encores. and wow.

his voice is so.fricken.amazing.live. he sounds just like the albums, only better. and he has such a distinctive voice anyway, that to hear it LIVE is positively surreal (especially after listening to the recorded version so often, for years and years and years) . ahhhhh, i had full body goosebumps and shivers for pretty much the entire show. his voice just sort of envelops you in a blanket of sparkles and honey. it was seriously like being on drugs. good ones. :) only a million timeis better because there were no drugs involved.

the crowd was respectful of both the band and each other, and totally into it. MamaPink & i were having fun picking out all the people NOT from toronto on the floor (the ones givin'er, obviously). and it was great to look around and see everyone so happy! i love watching people love music. especially when they look like they are going to drive straight home after the show to suburbia and their 2.5 children and little white dog. great to see them getting to re-live their major teenage love/crush/aural ecstasy when you KNOW they were SO into them in the 80's. there was a real cross-section of people there, yes, lots of black clothing :) , but i wouldn't even say that was the majority. there were people of all ages, all styles, and ahhhhhhhh. it was just fricken great.

i will go see them EVERY time they come back. i think it's pretty safe to say they are not going to call it quits any time soon. the pure passion and excitement exploding out of them when playing their new songs (in both robert's vocals and the band's accompaniment), made it more than obvious we can expect much more out of them in years to come.

sorry this "review" is rambly, lacking substance, and scattered -- i am sleep-deprived and still half with my head in the clouds, floating in glowy post-cure aftermath. when MamaPink has a chance to get on here she can fill in any holes. :)

ahhhhhhhhhh...... what a great night!

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hamilton Newbie

hamilton

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Glad you guys time, Becky & Mir! I wish I could have been there!

All of this Cure jabber made me dream last night that I was at a Cure concert, which was awesome. The weird part was that in the dream they were playing at the Embassy Hotel in London.

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MamaPink Newbie

MamaPink

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HAHA! "it was seriously like being on drugs. good ones. only a million times better because there were no drugs involved." ...you crack me up, lady!

I'm terrible at reviews, but what a great show! I was pretty blown away with Smith's voice! And they played SO many old songs, I was in love the whole time.

Princess, I could have fun no matter where I go with you, but that night was even more sparkly than usual! Thanks for the AWESOME xmas/bday gift!

"..and the tap drips, drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip..."

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hamilton Newbie

hamilton

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Setlist according to a torrent upped on dime:

intro>

open

fascination street

alt.end

the walk

the end of the world

love song

pictures of you

lullaby

the perfect boy

from the edge of a deep green sea

hot hot hot

sleep when im dead

push

friday im in love

inbetween days

just like heaven

primary

shake dog shake

never enough

the only one

wrong number

one hundred years

end

the lovecats

lets go to bed

freakshow

close to me

why cant i be you

boys dont cry

jumping someone elses train

grinding halt

10:15 saturday night

killing an arab

play for today

a forest

Sheeeeeit.... that looks fabulous.

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