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Photos

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 Reviews

 
We thoroughly enjoyed the show -- It seemed to have quite a party atmosphere, with the full range of Cure fans and the curious. Robert seemed to be very relaxed and to be having a good time. Simon his usual animated self, Jason looked like he was ready to melt (or pass out!) from the heat, and Porl was wearing his midlife crisis well. ;o)
 
It was really great to hear such unexpected treasures as Big Hand and Figurehead, the wonderful A Strange Day, Push and M, as well as to get to hear some of the new stuff. They were all on their marks last night -- a very solid show with something for just about everyone. Rather than go into any more detail about our experience of the show, as others already have, I thought I'd share our experience afterwards.
 
We decided that rather than head back for our hotel to get some dinner, we'd join the small crowd waiting at the back of the theater for a chance to see the band and hopefully get some autographs. There were maybe 40 people talking excitedly about the show, behind a barrier fence at the corner of the building where three charter buses sat running, and numerous trucks were being loaded with equipment. Everyone was friendly and talking happily about the show. Occasionally someone would come close to the waiting fans and ask if we were waiting to see the band; a few people would respond that we were and wondered if they could tell is whether they were coming out or not. Nobody admitted to knowing anything, but several of them said that they had been told the band was to be leaving immediately after the show, and that the equipment would be loaded up and taken afterwards. One woman who came out seemed surprised that they hadn't left yet and said they were all in a room together and she didn't understand why because they probably spent plenty of time together as it was. She said she would try to find out when they were going to be coming out, but we never saw her again.
 
After about an hour's wait, during which time many venue staff left for home and truck after truck loaded up and pulled out towards the freeway,
Simon emerged from the building with a small group of people that may have included Porl and/or Jason -- it was hard to tell in the commotion -- and walked quickly past the buses, where they got into a white van that was waiting in the street near the buses. The fans, who had thinned out a bit, cheered when they saw Simon and greeted him with waves and shouts of "Happy Birthday" (obviously late). He looked a bit flustered but he waved as he got into the back of the van, then leaned forward to look out the front. We all waved at him as they van drove past, but it was hard to see anything through the tinted windows.
 
We continued to wait patiently, the crowd gradually getting smaller -- I think it ended up being about 20 or so people? -- for Robert to appear.
A couple of roadies came over to the group and one commented that we were waiting to see "the boss," and said he was still inside. This guy began a conversation with one of the fans he obviously knew, before being called back to the buses by another roadie holding a couple of beers. They both went inside for a few more minutes, then the same guy came back over to the group with someone else; they made a couple of brief comments to a couple of other people and gave them guitar picks from their pockets, then as they walked to the buses to leave, the first guy turned to the fans and said, "your patience shall be rewarded." Of course we all took this to mean that Robert would be coming out shortly and would perhaps come over to greet the group.
 
So we waited some more -- everyone obviously exhausted, some sitting down against the building with their eyes closed, to stay out of the wind. Trucks were still being loaded and pulling out in front of us. Finally, at about 1:30, Robert emerged from the building with another small group of people. The group of fans came to life, shouting Robert's name and waving excitedly. Many of the lights had been turned off outside the venue, but we could see Robert was wearing shorts as he walked towards the last bus, (which had been backed up to be closer to the exit door after the others left), talking with various people around him and obviously hugging and kissing several of them good-bye.
 
We continued to wave and call his name, but he never even looked in our direction! It was really sort of odd -- he had to have known we were there, but he just stepped up into the bus, the doors closed, and it drove away, right past the group of fans. To say everyone was disappointed after having waited for well over two hours was an understatement. I could totally understand how tired Robert had to have been, but that he never even acknowledged our presence was just plain sad. It wouldn't have hurt him to have just given us a nod and a wave as he was leaving. Everyone looked a bit stunned as they headed off into the night, having just experienced the only real low point of the evening.
 
- Jewel and Diana
 

Last night's show was a real treat for me. The last time I saw them was in Atlanta and was pregnant, so my husband and I got up close, but I unfortunately started feeling a bit 'green' and ended up laying way back in the grass for half the show. This time, we scored front row and no
bun in the oven. Aside from some great songs last night (WOW!) it will stand out for me because I felt completely sucked into watching them
play and interact, and I pretty much stood there for 3 hours being starry eyed and dopey.

It never even occurred to me until after the house lights came up that I had not even looked behind me for the whole show. That probably made
this experience such a good one, for once I was not distracted and affected by the people around me. We were right inbetween Porl and Robert, and I was surprised at how much time I spent watching Porl. Usually, Robert seems like such a focal point, but Porl is so truly amazing at what he does and he has become an interesting creature to behold. The people immediately around us were cool, and also seemed to appreciate the fact that they were there to see one of their favorite bands. Figurehead and 100 Years were certainly highlights for me (100 Years visuals definately made an impact) UTS was my 'hopeful' opener so when they finished that, I was truly thrilled about Want. As a side note, when they pulled off the set list for last night from the stage, I was bummed to see the 3rd encore would have included The Kiss, but alas, the late start and curfew robbed us of that.
This was a top Cure show for me, and I hope that the rest of you enjoy all the shows to come as much as I did!
Oh!!!! I tried hard to get some Simon pics for the Kittens, but I think Simon had some PHT block on because he was a moving target all night.
I'll forward what I can. Thanks Craig, and thanks to the Cure ;)
 
- Dana (Terminalbliss66)


I'm an old guy.  One good thing about that is that I've seen a lot of Cure shows, 16 to be exact since 1984.  Coming in to this show I was a little apprehensive because of the lack of keyboards, I wondered how they would affect the overall sound.  Well let me tell you that was quickly squashed!!!  They sounded fantastic, very powerful and tight.  Robert's voice sounded great. I think he might have reserved it a little at times, after all he does have a bunch more shows to do! Phoenix was really blessed with some serious surprises in the setlist!  I would have to rate this show in my top 3 of all time, it was that good.  Only bummer of the show for me was my dying iPhone battery! I was the guy giving Craig the setlist and my iPhone decides to act up!  Towards the end I had to shut the phone off in between songs but somehow made it all the way through. Phew!

I am so glad that The Cure added Phoenix in the tour and I thank them for a fantastic evening!

If you are interested in my play by play on each song here you go:

Underneath The Stars - My favorite of the new songs so far. Might be the best Cure song in the last decade? Very dreamy and beautiful

Want - A total surprise! 2 openers in a row!  Hadn't heard it live since 2003 and damn it sounded great!

Fascination Street - Powerful as always

A Night Like This - Weird to hear it without the piano intro but this "rockier" version was excellent!

The Walk - SO MUCH FUN! It was disco, rock and just put a smile on my face!

The End of the World - Was never a fave of mine but still very good.

Lovesong - Another song that I thought would be tough without the keys but nope it was perfect

The Big Hand - Ok let me just say that I have been obsessed with this song since I first heard it years ago. I recall how bummed I was when it was left off Wish and had to wait for it to be released as a b-side.  Anyway Robert said "this next song was a #1 smash hit around the world just a few years ago" or something close to that.  The last thing I would have thought to hear was The Big Hand! Man it was just sublime, seriously I can die now, it's all good! ;-)

Pictures of You - Excellent as always.

Lullaby - Another song I was worried about but quickly realized
 
The Perfect Boy - A good new song,

 From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea - Great as always but Porl did the craziest thing! Right before the solo he started heading over to the guitar tech, kept playing and somehow played his last note with his current guitar and passed it to the tech, grabbed the new one and right to the solo, freaking insane! He didn't miss a beat!

The Figurehead - So amazing.  Sadly a lot of the crowd were baffled and some in front took the time to sit down, grab another beer/nachos and
chit chat.  Stupid.  It was a thing a beauty!

A Strange Day - Ah the perfect followup!

Sleep When I'm Dead - This was my favorite new one until Underneath the Stars. This song is SO EXCELLENT live! Tons of energy, great guitars, an instant Cure classic in my opinion!

Push - Wow this version was SIZZLING! Jason pounded the shit out of the drums!  They were having fun playing this one!

Inbetween Days - So fun just like the Walk!

Just Like Heaven - I've heard it a million times, wouldn't be a Cure show without it!

Primary - Excellent!

The Only One - My least favorite of the new ones but damn I must say live it was good!

Hot Hot Hot - Fun! Just dopey stupid fun!

Wrong Number - This song is way better live than recorded. I really never cared for it much but way fun live!

Signal To Noise - Nice, plain and simple.

One Hundred Years - Very energetic and awesome images projected.  It played nicely along with the track.

Baby Rag Dog Book - I had heard this from youtube video's and I just couldn't make my mind up if I liked it. The quality was crap so I just couldn't tell. Well let me just say that this song kicks major ass! It's a bit of a departure for the Cure but still the Cure, know what I mean? Only complaint was I couldn't hear the vocals very well.  Guitars and drums drowned them out.  Great way to end the main set!

1st encore:
At Night - Great to hear this one live again, it's been a while.

M -  Always fabulous live.

Play For Today - No one sung the keyboard line! :-( Still, fantastic as always!

A Forest  - Long intro and outro. Robert noodled a bunch in the beginning before getting into the intro. Everyone in the crowd loved this one! I thought Simon's bass rig was going to explode at the end!

2nd encore:
Boys Don't Cry, Jumping Someone Else's Train, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab - I'll review these all together.  Simply put they were all great. Loads of energy!  I think they sped them all up a little because they were running out time. Regardless they were all very intense, especially Killing an Arab, or actually I think Robert sang Killing an OLIVE?

- Jerry D.


So finally the day came and went and it was The Cure in Phoenix, the first of 3 shows on this tour I'm hitting. I have seen them probably close to 10 times over the last 21 years. Last night was one of the best shows I have ever seen, and possibly the best set list I've ever seen them play. I got to the venue early and snuck a peak at the set list, I called a friend who was going because I was excited to see that they were going to play a b-side called 'Signal to Noise' which is just a great tune that should have been on an album... However I mis-read 2 others songs, I thought I saw 'Open' but it was actually 'Want' that they played (must have been the 4 letter thing), and I thought I saw 'The Baby Screams' but it was actually the biggest surprise of the night for me, it was the b-side to 'Letter to Elise' called 'The Big Hand' (again must have seen 'The' 'B'....).

Last night was unprecedented in Cure history, I have skimmed over the past setlists this morning and I'm pretty sure it was the first time that The Cure have played 2 bonified b-sides in one night.

They played an assortment of new tunes, the best of which were 'Underneath the Stars', 'Sleep When I'm Dead' and 'Baby Rag Dog Book'...
the latter being one of the most kick arse Cure songs I have heard since 'Shiver & Shake'... I love it...

I also had incredible seats... literally 10 feet directly in front of Robert and Simon, the Dodge Theater really doesn't have a bad seat in it, but the good seats are great. I could see every strum Robert hit on the guitar, and watching Porl again was just amazing - his guitar playing has re-made this band into a true powerhouse of sonic ecstasy.

Back to set list... what a night, 'Want', 'Figurehead', 'Strange Day', 'Primary', '100 years', 'Push'... they just kept hitting hard... they also delivered the pop, but it was more 'guitared' up versions of 'Hot Hot Hot', 'Wrong Number', etc...

The encores.. I knew the 11:00 Dodge Theater curfew was looming and I was fearing the pop encore to satisfy this casual crowd (more on that in
a bit)... But then I saw the Bass Tech bring out the Rickenbacker and I knew 17 seconds was coming!! It was perfect. The symbols..1-2-3 and then
the opening riff to 'At Night'... One of the top 5 moments ever at a Cure show. Then of course they followed with a perfect 'M', 'Play For Today', and 'A Forest'.. Stunning.

So for the 2nd encore I was sure it would be the 'Freakshow' pop one. Wrong again. It was the 'old school', Man seeing 'Jumping Someone Else's
Train', 'Grinding Halt', for the first time ever was just great. A blistering ending with '10:15' and 'Killing an Arab'...  I now wondered if they would do a 3rd encore, but no go.. They were already 15 minutes over the curfew...

Honestly I didn't care, I got more rare Cure that night than I ever imagined... The only songs missing for me were the ones from Head, 'Kyoto', 'Blood' and 'Baby'... But I'm going to the 2 NY shows so I hope I'll get those there.

The crowd; I will say, at least in my section, this was the worst crowd I have ever seen at a Cure show. They literally only came alive to 'Inbetween Days', 'Just Like Heaven', and 'Boys Don't Cry'. Most of the people around me were totally baffled until 'Fascination Street', and even that didn't bring them alive. Forget about the b-sides and the deeper cuts... There was one dude near me who seemed to know them and was into it. That was it, everyone simply sat down!! And the damn camera's and phone cameras, Jesus people. There are plenty of videos out there and pictures, just enjoy the show!!! This was definitely a very 'casual fan' Cure crowd, that seemed very lost during deeper cuts, and the new ones. Robert kept giving looks to Simon after the crowd reaction to those songs like 'oh well'. What was great though - The Cure didn't give a crap. They still played their hearts out.

All in all another stunning experience, chock full of surprises. I had told a few guys at work who were going (one of which is just as avid a fan as I am) that I thought they would open with 'Open' and do a different encore... I was waaaaaaaay off on that one, and I am very happy to have been wrong!!!.

Before this show I had seen 91 different Cure songs played over the years. This show broke me right over the 100 mark, 11 songs I have never
seen done before!!!

What's funny? I left wanting even MORE !! Onto the New York shows. :)

- Jason M.


My review of The Cure concert in Phoenix, Arizona will be far different than the previous ones I've done.  The barrier between the stage and the
seats were about 5 feet.  The stage was about eye level so I didn't have to look up and have my neck hurt the next day.
 
This guy showed me where my front row seat was...on Porl's side.  I couldn't stand for very long because I was anxious as usual.  I got
there about 6:30 and I knew I had 30 minutes to kill.  I was talking to these two girls about the upcoming show.  It turns out that I met them
during The Curiosa Phoenix show at the Cricket Pavillion back in 2004. We got to hang out for awhile until they were sent back to their third
row seats.  These two guys were sitting next to me.  I could tell at least one of them were seeing The Cure for the first time.  It was
Anthony's very first time and his friend Mitch's second.  Anthony was screaming and dancing his brains out.  He even took off his shirt for
about half the show.  One of the girls who I forgot to ask what her name was, came back to the front and we danced and sang for the rest of the
show.  Too bad her sister didn't come over as well.  This was the best Cure shows I've seen this far for a few reasons.  Anthony and Mitch were
totally cool.  I took a picture of them with Robert singing in the background.  They took one of me as well.  We also sang, danced, and high fived each other every now and then.  I was feeling abit depressed because this was the last time I'll be seeing The Cure this time around.  But, having the three people around and the other people around us made the show a whole bunch better.
 
I started writing down the songs about halfway through the concert.  But decided to stop and enjoy the rest of the show and forget about writing
every little detail.  I'm glad I did.  I do have some stories for everyone about the show.
 
I didn't see Porl trying to get Simon to kiss.  In fact, Porl and Simon just playing their instruments trying to out do each other.  At least, that was the impression I got.  It was more of a give and take than Porl trying to do anything.
 
This guy and his girlfriend were sitting to the right of me.  He looked at Porl and said, "Simon!!!"  I leaned over and told him that was Porl.  He told me he was sorry but the last time he saw The Cure was in 1989.  I did that every now and then with Perry and Roger...in all due respect to each of them.  It was cool seeing them hug each other during Lovesong.  The guy, who's birthday was today, was fortunate to get the setlist.  I would have given it to Anthony.
 
The highlight for me was when The Cure played The Big Hand.  I never in a million zillion years thought I'd ever hear that song live.  Sure, 100
years was good and hearing Push was cool to jump around to.  But, The Big Hand blew me away.  I was shocked, stunned, and tried to savor each
second of the song.
 
I liked how The Cure mixed up the setlist tonight.  I liked how they ended up with The Three Imaginary Boys tracks instead of A Forest.  It
seemed like everyone in the group was on tonight.  I was extremely surprised considering they played in San Diego the night before.  I knew I was tired and hurting.  Can you imagine how they were feeling???
 
After the show, I'm came to the conclusion that I'm going to see The Cure only a couple times...and maybe even just once.  Sure, going to a different state or states was cool.  Going to Salt Lake City and Colorado were two places I wouldn't even think of going if it weren't for The Cure.  However, I think next time around will be limited to maybe San Diego and possible one more show at a state other than Utah, Colorado, Nevada, or Ohio.  Phoenix would be a definite possibility since it's only an hour flight from home.
 
Another reason for limiting the number of Cure shows is I've done practically everything a Cure fan could do.  Sure, I tried to get every setlist from each of the four shows I went to.  Two out of the four isn't bad.  But after tonight's show, I realized that getting the setlist wasn't that big of a deal.  I think getting the San Diego setlist pretty much made me content with just going to the concert.
 
I've already met the band a couple of times.  Having gone to the Virgin Megastore instore for Galore was memorable.  But after winning one of
the Amnesty International Cure meet and greets, I did everything I wanted to accomplish as a Cure fan.  Getting an autograph, setlist, or even just a look from the band doesn't excite me as much as it used to only for the reason that I already have a bunch of memorabilia at home and a room dedicated to my favorite band.  There's my Cure friend Mario that is thinking of trying to win a meet and greet next time they tour.  I would go half half with him.  But, even he has his reservations.  I can somewhat understand how he feels.
 
I have pictures with Robert, Jason, and Perry.  I also have autographs from them and Simon and Roger as well.  I've come to the conclusion that
I'm much more happy to see the concert from the front row than anything else.  Sure, I was alittle irked that I didn't get the Phoenix setlist.  Who wouldn't want that for themselves???
 
You never know that this concert was the best show I've seen this time around.  It truly was start to finish dead good.  Everyone was energetic, smiling, and there were no signs they were tired.  Anthony and Mitch made the concert much more memorable for me.  I just wish I asked those two girls what their names were.  If you're reading this, ask Mitch to tell you my email address.  It would be great to keep in touch.  Sorry for the being so maudlin.  I'm bummed this is the last time I'll be seeing The Cure.  But, my days of seeing multiple shows are just about over.  i say that now.  Could you imagine if I booked the flights earlier?  I would be going to see The Cure in Cleveland in a couple weeks with Mario!!!  There's hope Cure fans!!!  Thanks one last time to Craig for his tireless work giving us Cure fans the opportunity to share our thoughts and insights from the concerts this summer.  It was a pleasure meeting everyone at the concerts in Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and even San Diego.  Thanks to everyone for making The Cure shows some of the best ones I've ever seen!!!  I need to get a couple hours of sleep before my flight early tomorrow morning.  Good night everyone!!!
 
- Marc Subra