1997 AMERICAN CONCERTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 13- SHORELINE AMPITHEATER - MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA

WANT, CLUB AMERICA,FASCINATION STREET, LULLABY, HIGH JUST LIKE HEAVAN, TREASURE, INBETWEEN DAYS, NEVER ENOUGH, PRAYERS FOR RAIN, GREEN SEA ,SHIVER AND SHAKE, DISINTEGRATION , LOVESONG, FRIDAY IM IN LOVE, BOYS DONT CRY, WHY CANT I, FOREST ,10:15, KILLING AN ARAB


This was an excellent set, very tight for a band that had not played in 6 months. SHIVER AND SHAKE was a real surprise, as well as the general length of the set. Robert sang extremely well at this show and the band members were together,


JUNE 14TH - THE MEADOWS - IRVINE, CA


  "Its been a long day, I wish everyday could be this long...this is High"
WANT, CLUB AMERICA, FASCINATION STREET, LULLABY, HIGH, JUST LIKE HEAVAN, TREASURE, INBETWEEN DAYS, NEVER ENOUGH, PRAYERS FOR RAIN, GREEN SEA, SHIVER AND SHAKE, DISINTEGRATION,  LOVESONG, FRIDAY IM IN LOVE, BOYS DONT CRY,  FOREST, 10:15, KILLING AN ARAB


The LA gig was very interesting...Robert aquired a bad cold overnight from San Francisco and his voice was not into it for the LA gig...also the show was marred by technical problems probably due to The Offspring dousing the stage in water and garbage as the Cure set up. 80% of the songs were messed up by some sort of technical problem such as guitars not working. The most prevalent problem was the fact the red Chet Atkins that Robert primarily uses had no effects working. But the band was able to laugh it off later in the set and seemed to enjoy the gig anyway and gave it there best effort, ending at 2 am in the morning There were many "alternate" versions of songs due to having to wing it technically.



1997 Fall Promotional Gigs


OCTOBER 28, 1997  -  AMERICAN LEGION HALL - LOS ANGELES, CAL


  WHY CANT I BE YOU? ,JUST LIKE HEAVAN, FASCINATION STREET, LULLABY, HIGH ,HOT HOT HOT CATCH ,MINT CAR, NEVER ENOUGH, WALK, LETTER TO ELISE ,PICTURES OF YOU, CLOSE TO ME (NEW VERSION W REEVES GABRIEL), WRONG NUMBER (ALSO WITH REEVES GABRIEL), LOVESONG, INBETWEEN DAYS (W/ WAYNE HUSSEY), FOREST (W/WAYNE HUSSEY) , LETS GO TO BED, FRIDAY IM IN LOVE, BOYS DONT CRY, CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, PRIMARY ,10:15, KILLING AN ARAB


  Small venue, lively crowd, the band primarily played the singles set that was anticipated but due to it being in a small venue it didnt get lost in the vastness of some of the big arenas. Nice to have special guests Reeves Gabriel from David Bowie and Wayne Hussey from the Mission joining along. Thanks to the my LA friends for the report


OCTOBER 31ST - IRVING PLAZA - NEW YORK, NY


WHY CANT I BE YOU, JUST LIKE HEAVAN, FASCIANTION ST, LULLABY, HIGH, HOT HOT HOT, MINT CAR, NEVER ENOUGH, LETTTER TO ELISE, WALK, PICTURES OF YOU, CLOSE TO ME (CLOSER MIX) , LETS GO TO BED, LOVESONG, JUMPING SOMEONE ELSES TRAIN (ROBERT SOLO ELECTRIC) , WRONG NUMBER, INBETWEEN DAYS, FOREST, FOREVER, FRIDAY, CHARLOTTE, BOYS DONT CRY, CATCH, 10:15, KILLING AN ARAB


This is my own report, we all had a good time at this gig...Joe Dupre, Jayme Jacob, Myself all thought this show was fantastic, Joe who had been to both thought New York was much better because of the atmosphere, it truly was a small club as opposed to the Legion Hall, and the band deviated a bit with Robert doing "Jumping Someone Elses Train" for the first time in the US since 1981. Plus it was nice to see the band torture the radio audience with a nice miserable version of "Forever" after "Forest"...it was great because its such a radio unfriendly song. The new mix of the singles was refreshing, "Fascination Street" and "Never Enough" have different intros. "Fascination Street" intro is much like the album version, with much slower bass line, but very dark. "Never Enough" is now the Big Mix. "Close To Me" Close Mix sure was a much needed change, giving this song a lot more life with the guitar in the middle. If they can change a couple more of the old singles it will really continue to make the show great. "Wrong Number" sounds 10x better live than it does on the record, as Robert really belts out the vocals and all the guitar work is apparent...It sounds live like a really good Curve song (the band Curve, not the Cure...they were the originators of the "Garbage" sound long before it was cool and mainstream, back in 1991 when kids still listened to Pearl Jam and Nirvana all day long) . And after the show like publicized they turned on some of the lights, brought out the DJ and started spinning tunes till the wee hours of the morning for the fans. Quite a few drinks later, we all stumbled out and back into the New York streets for the last few hours of halloween. I am really happy I didnt miss the gig, I dont think there will be anything quite like it in the United States for quite awhile.



NOVEMBER 29TH - TOWER THEATER - PHILADELPHIA, PA


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, Night Like This, Push, Inbetween, One Hundred Years, Pictures, High, Heavan, Green Sea, Never Enough (Big mix)(R), Wrong Number (R), Cut (R), Disintegration (R) ** Killing an Arab


This was the first of the new more diversified setlist shows. Being in NY for business this weekend, I had a chance to go Philly and catch the show myself. Robert created some new loops for Shake Dog Shake that started the show off great. Torture was also very good except Perrys guitar effects worked horribly the first 3 minutes of the song. Fascination Street was the newer version with the thick bass intro, technical problems also hurt this one, it sound like Robert almost blew out his amp at one point . The next few songs were standard fare, then an unbelievable version of One Hundred Years, where Robert re-inserted the original drum machine loop from Pornography that Jason played over the top of. Pictures was the short version that there doing now, and High and Heavan were probably the flattest part of the show...These songs are just not eliciting the response they once did, probably because they have been played about 400 times in the last 5 years (Heavan). But then Green Sea was good and Robert brought Reeves Gabriel (R) back out for the last four of the main set. His guitars were great on Never Enough, a song that can never be to loud, and Wrong Number again was fantastic. Cut was good on Rogers End, And Robert rememberd most of the words, but they were still finding their niche on the guitars on this one. Disintegration also was very loud, but the guitar parts seem muddled, and Robert did no solo in it, it was the straight off the record version played at the LP speed. The show was cut short due to curfews and the band only had 3 minutes so Killing An Arab closed the set. One other note was there were signifigant technical problems, Roberts guitar never really sounded right all night long, and Roger looked like it was a struggle with the keyboards and the garwoods. Perry also seemed to experiece guitar difficulties in a couple of songs.   All in all, a succesful set that will develop over the next few nights. If your a Cure fan you cant miss these shows, the last five numbers before the encore are extremely intense.



NOVEMBER 30 - PATRIOT CENTER - FARIFAX, VA


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination St, Night Like This, Push, Inbetween, One Hundred Years, Pictures, High, Heavan, Green Sea, Wrong Number (R), Never Enough (R), Cut (R), Disintegration (R) ** Untitled


Pretty much the same set as the night before with a couple songs reversed. But the best part of the evening was an excellent version of Untitled which had not been played since 1989. Band was said to be tighter this evening but it was not as much of a good old Cure crowd as Philadelphia so Hundred Years, Disintegration went over some peoples heads. This show was FM Broadcast in its entirety (WHFS)



DECEMBER 2 - THE ORPHEUM - BOSTON, MA


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, Push, Holy Hour, Strange Day, Hundred Years, Pictures, High, Heavan, Same Deep Water As You, Green Sea, Wrong Number, Never Enough, Cut ** 10:15, Killing an Arab


This was an excellent gig for the fans, virtually no flat singles, solid run of the more intense numbers early on including Holy Hour for the first in the United States since 1981 I think. Same Deep Water hadnt been played awhile and Strange Day always is going to sound good inbetween Holy Hour and One Hundred Years. Again people note One Hundred Years and Holy Hour as the highlight of the show. This was the first show without Reeves Gabrel on the tour. Lets hope for more of this on the final week of concerts



DECEMBER 7 - BRONCO BOWL - DALLAS, TEX


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, Push, Inbetween, One Hundred Years, Pictures of You, Heavan, Green Sea, Never Enough, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Untitled, 10:15, Killing An Arab


A very tight performance of all the songs from reprots. Untitled was supposedly fantastic as well as Hundred Years and Shake Dog Shake. Only complaint was Push was to slow. Disintegration was the slow manic version tonight much like the album



DECEMBER 8 - EVENTS CENTER - SAN JOSE, CA


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, Night Like This, Push, Heavan, The Holy Hour, One Hundred Years, Same Deep Water As You, Inbetween Days, Pictures of You, Never Enough, Green Sea, Wrong Number (R), Cut (R), Disintegration (R) ** Untitled, Boys Dont Cry, 10:15, Killing an Arab


Amazing show tonight, the venue was plagued with major sound problems and Perry looked funny on stage because he was playing really hard....but nothing came out of the PA until Night Like This..It made for a bizarre sounding Torture..Highlight was the intense trio of Holy Hour, Hundred Years and Same Deep Water As You. But Wrong  Number, Cut, Disintegration and Untitled were also very, very good tonight.  Really this was a great Cure show, they squeezed in an extra 20 minutes and were able to do a proper encore tonight. Reeves Gabrel made it back for tonights gig and they were able to split up the parts tonight so it didnt sound muddy unlike Philadelphia



DECEMBER 9 - ROSE GARDEN ARENA - PORTLAND, OR


Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, High, Heavan, The Holy Hour, One Hundred Years, Same Deep Water As You, Inbetween Days, Pictures of You, Green Sea, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Untitled, Boys Dont Cry, 10:15, Killing An Arab


Another fantastic show opening with the classic fog walk of Robert wandering the stage in the dark before he moves up to the mic for Plainsong. The Bells pretty much gave a indication this would be another sensational concert. Excellent versions of the old cure part of the set. The old songs continue to work on the crowd. Ever been a kid, go to a concert, hear a great obcure song from a band, and be so excited about it you buy the bands 5 early albums knowing it will be on one of them. That seems to be whats going on here with this tour, makes a whole lot more sense than jamming the same ten songs down your throat that you have heard on the radio for 10 years. If you havent liked it the first 10 years, what will change your mind now. If you like Inbetween Days you have liked it for a long time, if you didnt you still dont. But if you never heard Holy Hour live till now, well how enlightening.  Keep giving the marginal fans interesting intense old songs, and they will go out and find out the cure themselves. Dont just stick it on a platter and call it Galore. The Cures back album catalog has to be one of the most potent of the last 20 years, there are great songs everywhere.



DECEMBER 10 - MERCER ARENA - SEATTLE, WA


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination St, Push, The Holy Hour,  Strange Day , One Hundred Years, Piggy in the Mirror, Heavan, Same Deep Water As You, Green Sea, Inbetween, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Faith, Boys Dont Cry, 10:15, Killing an Arab


Another fantastic show with a one off version of Faith. I guess it didnt quite work but at least they played it. Problem with Faith is its like Same Deep Water, Untitled in that its tough to just not play it for a long time and nail it. Same Deep Water and Untitled are sounding really solid now with a few performances from all reports, Faith could be great as well with a couple more performances to get the feel of the 6 string bass back. Strange Day and Piggy in the mirror also were back in the set tonight and sounded good from reports. This show was FM Broadcast in its entirety (KNDD)



DECEMBER 11 - UNITED CENTER - CHICAGO, ILL


Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Push, Heavan, The Holy Hour, One Hundred Years, Same Deep Water As You, Pictures of You, Inbetwen, Green Sea, Never Enough, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Untitled, 10:15, Killing An Arab


This was another great show with Plainsong opening off the set. Dont have to much on this one besides it was another good set, at least they got the full 90 minutes with all those bands they played with. This show was broadcast on the internet and possibly the radio station that sponsored the show.



DECEMBER 12 - AUBURN HILLS PALACE - AUBURN HILLS, MI


Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination Street, The Holy Hour, One Hundred Years, High, Same Deep Water As You, Just like Heavan, Green Sea, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Untitled, 10:15, Killing An Arab


Another fine Cure show, set was a little shorter than some of the others but thats because all the fine bands before the Cure..... which I cant remember names of. But on the whole this tour was probably one of the most bold and impressive the Cure have ever done, to toss out the window concerns regarding an album that is not selling at all. It brought back the aspect of dynamics back to the Cure set...Its always been there but this tour really brought it back out. To jump into Inbetween Days after Same Deep Water as You requires your emotions to shift as a fan.   It makes the dark songs darker and the pop songs served a much greater purpose than the jukebox effect of the Los Angeles and New York shows in October. The other great part about this tour is that it gets the yearning to hear the European songs (the ones that they never would play over here before) out of the system of many of us that wanted to see them play . We can go into the next tour with a very open mind as opposed to worrying about if we will hear the old ones or not.



DECEMBER 16 - SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE - LONDON, ENG


Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination St, Heavan, The Holy Hour, One Hundred Years, Same Deep Water As You, Pictures of You, High, Inbetween, Green Sea, Never Enough, Wrong Number, Cut, Disintegration ** Lovesong, Untitled, Boys Dont Cry, 10:15, Killing an Arab


This show was a pretty good show, but Roberts cold was said to be taking its toll on him. Yet the fans who were there and have followed the band a long time were glad to get a chance to hear Holy Hour, Shake Dog Shake again as well the stark Same Deep Water As You and Untitled.



DECEMBER 17- SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE - LONDON, ENG


Plainsong, Shake Dog Shake, Torture, Fascination St, Night Like This, Push, Hevan, Strange Day, One Hundred Years, Prayers for Rain, Inbetween Days, Green Sea, Wrong Number, Cut, End ** Piggy in the Mirror, Close To Me (closer mix), Why Cant I be You ** Forest, Boys Dont Cry, 10:15, Killing an Arab


A Better show with a different song set than most of the previous, while most of the dark songs dissapeared this evening there were a few that havent been played much this year. The time capsule tonight took us back to the end of the Wish Tour main set with Cut and End finishing it off. That was about the most redeeming part along with Open of the the 92 tour, so its nice to hear it once again. Close to Me was the closer mix, Why Cant I be You was the quickie version and Forest started off like the singles shows with Jason and Robert and Roger coming in much later intentionally on the keyboard.



Thanks to all the contributors and the regular attendees who can measure these shows up for me ( steve,arusha, dominique) with a musical and historical perspective.