Out Of This World, Watching Me Fall, Want, Fascination St., Open, The Loudest Sound, Maybe Someday, Shake Dog Shake, The Snakepit, Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Inbetween Days, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, Siamese Twins, Prayers for Rain, 100 Years, 39, Bloodflowers

1st Encore: Cold, The Figurehead, Pornography
2nd Encore: There Is No If, Trust, Plainsong, Disintegration
3rd Encore: Boys Don't Cry, A Forest.

Soundcheck: Just Like Heaven, Cold, The Figurehead, Pornography, If only tonight we could sleep, Out of this World.

I've been to all their gigs in Paris since 89, including both Prayer tour shows, Bataclan 96 and 2nd night this year,
and have also been to a lot of other shows in Europe all over these years, including the already legendary
Strasbourg 2000.
In the end, this venuewas the most intense and passionate evening in my 11-year long Cure concerts career.
There's mainly one reason for that, its what I will always refer to as the " Porn Monolith ", which emotionnally
surpasses anything you could possibly think of : Siamese Twins, 100 Years, Cold, Figurehead & Pornography,
the 5 best songs from their most staggering album, all the same night (such a number of songs from Pornography
in one concert only has already been reached in Marseille 2000, BUT Strange Day IS NOT Figurehead, we all
know that !).
If you want to know more about my thoughts go to the Strasbourg page : I wrote a review for all 4 shows in
Northern France (Lille, Paris 1 & 2 and Strasbourg)...

The first night in Paris was very powerfull and great, especially the encore of the Pornography album.

I’ve never heard " Pornography " in concert (" Siamese Twins " too) so it was a great moment for me.

The show with lights and videos was beautiful. Well The Cure love France and Paris and they seemed to be well
not like Lille. Simon was great and talked to Robert a lot. It was good to hear " Boy’s Don’t Cry ", the crowd
was very mad and there was a very excellent ambiance, the audience was happy and good. Tomorrow, the
encore will be " Faith ",sure.

I've just come back from Paris where I witnessed a great show. The Zenith Arena has a triangular kind of shape
and it feels quite small inside.

The crowd at this gig were absolutely brilliant and I think the band were really pleased with the reception they
received.  I was at Wembley last Saturday and the audience there were slightly older and much quieter.

The first part of the set was pretty standard apart from The Snakepit which was great but the surprise for me
was to hear Siamese Twins.  Each time I go to a Cure gig I am secretely hoping to hear this song and this time it
happened.  Pure beauty.

Then what can I say?  The first encore was simply out of this world.  Robert said in French something like "this
is curious" and then announced "three songs from Pornography".  At first I couldn't believe it but it really
happened.  What a treat.  It was awesome.

The next encore was more "normal" but the highlight was when Robert took time out to write a short note to one
of the fans down at the front.  I think it was during Plainsong.

At one point Robert played the first few seconds of a song which sounded like In Your House and said "it's
impossible" before launching into another song.  I wonder if someone else can confirm this.

At the beginning of the second encore Robert said "we're going to finish with two singles".  Roger was having fun
throwing the setlist to the crowd during Boy's Don't Cry.  I think the singles brought a happy ending to a
wonderful evening.

It can't get any better than this, can it?

here are a few comments I'd like to add to the previous reviews:

I thought the concert was a bit slow to pick up. All the first songs were good but a bit too professionnally played.
I think the turning point was 'shake dog shake' when all the crowd sung along. In a way, I guess RS was surprised
that all the audience knew the lyrics by heart.

Then 'Edge of the...' : which (hate me now) has never been one of my faves... Is it me or did RS say 'yeah' twice
during the song? first after 'put your hands to the sky' and then after the 'rap' bit (you know, the 'how much more
can we use it up...' bit) ; it was a bit strange

-Inbetween days : I read people saying that it was good to have a 'pop break' and I have to agree. Most of the
 songs during the show were not exactly upbeat but both the audience and the band were really in a good mood
 and it was good to have a few pop songs where that feeling could come through

- if only... : perfect

-siamese twins: my fave cure song, so... Although, I'm not sure the song has enough room for a five-piece band

-prayers for rain: it was the first time I heard a convincing live rendition (even during the promo tour it didn't
 sound that good). This time the massive 'woom' at the beginning was as big as on the album : great. And RS
 pulled off the 'raiiiiiiiiiiiiin'

-100 years : I thought the version I heard during the promo tour couldn't be topped, well I was wrong... Great
  lighting too

-39 : the only song I felt they messed up : the bass was kinda strange and exceeively fuzzy. That was the case
 during most of the show, but on 39 it just didn't sound good and the guitars were kinda messy. All in all the song
 was flat and messy

-BF : very good, but I got the impression that RS forgot some of the lyrics: ie. he didn't say 'you give me flowers
 of love' at the end but just 'I let go flowers of blood'

-Cold, Figurehead: what can I say? cold was awesome (much better than during the swing tour). At the end of
  figurehead the crowd clapped along the closing drums (in forest style) which was kind of strange

-pornography: that one got the biggest crowd reaction. I think RS must have been surprised to see a huge crowd
 screaming at the sound of the opening keyboard and dancing all throughout the song. I mean after refraining
 from playing too obscure tracks for so many years, to have a huge crowd getting so excited by 'pornography'
 must have been a strong personal triumph for him

-there is no if : I'm not a big fan of that one, but the addition of proper drums to it made it sound better

-trust: I don't like that one, so I don't have anything to say about it

-plainsong, disintegration : perfect

at the start of the last encore, RS said '2 singles for a change'

-boys don't cry: best version I've heard ever (and I've heard many!). RS doesn't play accoustic guitar anymore
 and it just sounds better with him on electric guitar. Roger was ecstatic : he was playing (well not really since he
 didn't have a mic) the tambourine and kinda strutting his stuff all over the stage. RS was pretty amused by that.
 He took some playlists and made paper planes with them that he sent to the crowd. He also danced with some
 blonde girl who was getting pretty excited on the side of the stage. All in all, it was one of the best moments of
 the concert, something that it a surprise even for me after such a playlist.

-forest: not a long version, but not a short one either; The closing solo was pretty long and simon enjoyed his
 moment in the spotlight longer than usual, with the crowd going 'clap-clap-hey' on the closing bass line. At the
 end he stopped and instead of playing the last three normal notes he switched his amp to a 'trash' sound and just
 made a huge 'trash' white noise for a while. I've heard him do that before, but that was a long time ago (I can't
 remember when), thus signaling that this was the end.

When leaving the stage RS just looked at the crowd for a while and said goodnight, visibly impressed by the
crowd and probably knowing that most of use would be there the next evening.

I can't wait to see the 2nd show. As most people have said this is really the cure at their best. When reading
reviews, I thought it was just people getting overly excited, tending to forget how good it was in the past. But,
hey, they were right! This REALLY is the best cure tour and Robert knows it. When the band can switch from
old faves to new songs, without anyone in the crowd thinking 'shit,a new one', I think he can be pretty pleased
with himself.

Et voilà ! Je vous l'avait dit en sortant du concert de Londres : le concert de Paris ne pouvait qu'exceptionnel !
Et il l'a été ! De toute la tournée, c'est à mon avis le concert le plus incroyable et le plus bouleversant.

Plusieurs raisons à cela : la qualité du son du Zénith qui pour une fois était excellente. Les Cure ont joué fort,
très fort parfois meme et de manière juste et précise.

Ensuite, vous vous en doutez, la choix des chansons jouées ce soir : en plus du set standart, quelques morceaux
d'exception comme Cold (inédit cette année), Figurehead (inédit pendant le Dreamtour, joué seulement lors des
show promotionnels) et enfin le splendide et étonnant Pornography. D'ailleur Robert l'a annoncé lui meme de vive
voix (en français bancale dans le texte) : "et maintenant un choix un peu curieux...Curieuse je ne sais pas
comment vous dites : trois morceaux de Pornography". Je ne sais pas si Robert a voulu dire "Curieux" ou
signifier que c'etait des morceaux pour les "Curistes" mais le résultat est la : un rappel inédit dans la tournée et
joué de manière splendide.

Enfin, dernière raison de la qualité du showx d'hier soir : le public parisien, qui est avec celui de Lille l'un des
meilleurs que je connaisse. Sans faire de chauvinisme avancé, ni de rascisme anti beefsteack, les français sont
quand meme bien plus chaleureux que les Anglais. C'est certainement ce qui explique les morceaux joués ce soir
au Zénith.

En plus des chansons choisies spécialement pour nous, les Cure ont vu leur performances décuplées ce soir la.
Les morceaux comme Fascination Street, Shake Dog Shake, Siamese Twins, If Only Tonight we could sleep,
Plainsong, Boys don't cry ou A Forest (un peu plus longue que les sets précédent) sont un modèle du genre. Simon
joue plus fort que jamais et de manière juste. Le début de 39 en est le meilleur exemple.

Voila qui laisse envisager un show de mercredi surprenant avec on l'espere maintenant, un rappel tiré de l'album
Faith : All cats are grey, the Drowning man et autres morceaux d'exception... A voir ce soir donc !

Voici la durée exacte des chansons jouées ce soir :

Out of this world (7'06), Watching me fall (11'13), Want (5'39), Fascination Street (5'10), Open (7'05), The loudest
sound (5'41), Maybe someday (5'27), Shake dog Shake (4'51), The snakepit (5'53), From the Edge of the Deep
green sea (7'58), Inbetween days (2'52), If only tonight we could sleep (5'18), Siamese Twins (5'34), Prayers for
rain (5'45), 100 years (6'43), 39 (7'20), Bloodflowers (7'49)

Encore 1 Cold (4'00), Figurehead (6'45), Pornography (6'18)
Encore 2 There is no if (4'18), Trust (5'27), Plainsong (4'45), Disintegration (8'18)
Encore 3 Boys don't cry (3'16), A forest (7'54)

Durée totale effective du show de ce soir : 2 heures 38 minutes

I've just came back from Le Zenith, and my very first impression : UNBELIEVABLE, the show was so amazing!!
The concert was 2h50 min long with 3 encores, and what encores!!!. That was my first concert from the Dream
Tour, the second one is in a few hours...(In the past I went only to the Wish & Swing Tours in Paris).

First af all, I'd like to congratulate Ekova band (I didn't know them at all), whom music (indie/asian influences
with modern rythms) was quite good. At the end of their show, they were warmly applauded.

Well now The Cure Show :

- Out of this world & Watching me fall were played very well.
- Want : much more emotions than the album version, very good live song.
- Fascination street : the first time the crowd became crazy, perfect as ever!
- Open : well rehearsed.
- The loudest sound : good but I've prefered the album version.
- Maybe someday : the only song I don't like very much in the last album, but live the song is much better.
- Shake dog shake : the first time I heard it live, well one of the highlights for me!
- The snakepit : I've never really liked this song & that's the same live. The only funy thing, that was to see
  Robert playing the flute.
- From the edge of the deep green sea & If only tonight we could sleep: Songs I really adore, great moments!!!!!!
- Siamese twins : first good surprise, everyone was stupefied!
- Prayers for rain : very good "raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin"
- 100 years : amazing, especially the end of the song with an excellent light show.
- 39 : (No "End" at all!!! Maybe it's better because the previous witnessses for this song were not good). One
  of my favorite on BF album. The song is great live, and I was very surprised to see nobody moving around me (I
  was in the lawn)!! There was only a guy & me who were dancing ??!! Nevermind, I did have pleasure during 39,
  I don't care about others...
- Bloodflowers : probably my favorite on the album. At the beginning I couldn't hear Robert's voice, so I was a
  bite disappointed, but it became much better, in fact WONDERFULL!

1st encore : WOW!!!
Robert said : "3 nouveaux chansons de Pornography" and the crowd started shouting very loud.
- Cold : good to hear this one.
- The figurehead : very good to hear this other one.
- Pornography : very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
  very, good to hear THIS one too. It is extremely powerfull live, nothing to compare to the album version. This
  moment is ingrave on my mind for ever.

2nd encore :
- There is no if : strange back rythm, but after a few second, I thought it was quite good with this song.
- Trust : very emotional
- Plainsong : Robert walked on the stage, and wrote something on a paper to a fan. Then someone threw him a
  white plush. He seemed to be very pleased, and that was the same during all the show. The crowd enjoyed this
  moment and the song.
- Disintegration : powerfull as ever.

3rd encore :
- Boys don't cry & A forest : although it was the end of the concert, the crowd was at the top of her madness in
  spite of the weariness!!!!!!! I don't know where this strengh came out... or rather I should know, it's because of
  THE CURE, that's all!

The band was so brilliant this night, and was enjoying the show. I really like Roger, he's got a pleasant face. But
this night that was Robert who was smiling the most... times are changing!

Now I am looking forward the secong night in Paris. And I hope to hear The kiss & Faith.

who would believe that ? better than swing tour, much better than wish tour, even better than… the prayer tour !!!
remind yourself a simple date : 25th of april 2000

First of all, it was another band than the Lille concert, Robert seemed very pleased about the audience
“madness”. Robert, Simon and even Roger smiled a lot, they really had some fun… It made me expecting a lot
from The Cure.  Unbelievable “Snakepit”, at last we heard it ! Then, another magical moment : “Siamese Twins”.
I can’t hardly describe my most deeply feelings at this point… “Is it always like this ?” No dead time : closer to
“Siamese”, “Prayers for rain” and then “100 years” with its definitely ultimate short video movie. After this first
leg, it was incredible for us : such like a  dream.
But then… “3 chansons de Pornography” and the first notes of Cold just rung in the Zénith !! Historic moment.
My best version of this song, very, very powerful. After, my favorite Cure’s song “The Figurehead”. What can I
say ??  Just after “Cold” , what could be best ? I heard you said “Pornography”, then YOU GOT IT !!!!!! Intense
red light , like stains really and with close shots of girls on the screen. Absolutly crazy !!! Everybody really got
mad in the “pit”. The strongest song on scene, I never had it before, so you could easily understand me : you’ve
got to live IT. Wow !!! After this unique moment we started to dream of 3 Faith songs then 3 Seventeen songs…
but “There is no if” came, what a pity !!! But Plainsong and Disintegration were really great. And for the third
encores : “Two pop songs” said Robert, a surprisng -but good- version of “Boys don’t cry” and a GREAT
version of “A Forest”. All green and so much powerfull and fast like it has to be !!!
Well that’s it ! So, what will they play tomorrow night ? Could they do better ? Or will they want to ?
See Ya Tomorrow

i'll post a review for both shows tomorrow. i just wanted to say that this concert was the most emotionnally intense
moment of my cure-fan-carreer (and i've been to the prayer tour shows in Paris and to the bataclan in 96) 5/8
pornography songs!!!!I'm still completely shocked. See you tommorrow.

I just come back the first Paris Show. The show was great, realy intense and powerful. The audience was at the
opposite of the wembley's one, and the band look very happy, Robert was often smiling, Simon and Perry was
dancing a lot. During boys don't cry, Roger plays to make paper airplanes and was joking with Robert.
I don't know how they could be better tomorow !

It seems we weren’t at the same show

First of all, the sound was really bad. At times you couldn’t even hear Smith’s voice.
The lights blind people, there is a real lack of objectivity. Immediately the reviews are : “ok, as usual, it was
amazing…”
The Snakepit which is one of The Cure’s best song, and one of my great expectation since the 87’ shows , was
catastrophic. How can you say that Open was well rehearsed, they missed the intro, and the whole song was so
hasty. Hasty as most of the up beat songs, except for In Between Days, which was really great, and not even
mentioned in your review. It was sad to hear Plainsong so dashed off. It’s a majestic song, and yesterday it was
transformed in Smith’s playground. He doesn’t play guitar, all the parts are played by Gallup’s bass, everything
is hurried. In the past, Close To Me was although a better “playground”.

Also, there is a real problem with the drum, wanting much more power and accuracy. Realize that all the great
songs where endorsed by a drum machine (100 years).

On the other hand, everybody said how incredible was Cold, but nobody mentioned that they played only two
couplets, and stopped the song in it’s middle.

Anyhow, I go back to the Zénith just now….