cureconcerts.com
Here are some personal comments about the shows I
saw. At least the parts I remember. To be honest,
sometimes I just loose myself at these shows. I think it's better that way. So this is
more of a personal journal rather than a review of shows...
1984
24 October 1984
Kabuki Nightclub, San Francisco California
Ah,
my first time. The Kabuki was a great place to see a show. This
was back in the days when a minor could buy drinks at a club. Vodka
tonics seemed to be the drink of choice that night. A weird opening act
though. The first act I believe was a band called The
Muskrats. They sucked. One of the guys played a washboard.
My Sin was a one man solo act that followed. This was a lot more dark
and better suited to be a Cure opening act. But I found him to be a
bit sterile, just a droning voice with a drum machine. And then The
Cure. I really don't remember a lot of details of this show, as I
wasn't at all familiar with their live shows having only heard the studio
albums at this point. My friend Caroline noticed that it wasn't Andy
on the drums. [She might be heard on some recordings yelling
"Where's Andy? Where's Andy?"] So this was the first
or second show that had Boris on drums after Andy lost it in Japan. I
remember being truly amazed at two things: Robert's guitar playing on
A Forest, and the final song of the night that no one had ever heard
before. (It wasn't until a month later when I managed to acquire the
import-only cassette version of Concert that I discovered the song was
called Forever.) There was a second show the following
night. But at the time the thought of seeing the same band two nights
in a row just never occurred to me. That attitude would change
in time. [ In retrospect, it is unfortunate that I picked the
Wednesday night show over the Thursday night show, since the next night's
set was considerably longer. C'est la vie. ]
1985 The Head Tour
11 October 1985
SDSU Open-Air Theatre, San Diego California
12 November 1985
Irvine Amphitheater, Irvine California
[ticket missing]
1986 Beach Party Tour
26 July 1986
Greek Theatre, Berkeley California
We
knew the band had stayed at the Miyako Hotel in the past, so we booked a
room there. But no Cure was to be found there tonight, as they went
straight to the airport to catch a plane to LA. We did see that
red-headed guy from Simply Red in the lobby, and we drank a bit more and tossed paper
airplanes from the balcony.
27th July 1986
The Forum, Los Angeles California
After
the then long drive down from SF to LA, we were ready for another
show. We managed to get 22nd row center without any difficulty
whatsoever. Shortly prior to the show our festivities were interrupted
by a commotion about 10 rows behind us. People were screaming and the
folding chairs were getting pushed aside. Some idiot was standing on a
chair with a large knife poking his chest with it. I never heard a
word he said, but he was just pricking himself with the knife and
yelling. Security staff arrived shortly and took him away.
Later, I had heard that he was yelling that he was going to kill
himself. So that put a strange buzz in the air prior to this
show. The other thing I remember from this show, although it could be
a totally false memory, it that they ended with Lovecats. Highly
unusual. Unfortunately there are no known recordings of this show that
would corroborate my memory. In the days that followed it was rumored
that the idiot with the knife did in fact stab him seriously and died.
That was just a rumor. He was hospitalized, but he lived. The
newspapers said he was despondent after his girlfriend broke up with him.
1987 Kiss Me Tour
This was a memorable tour for me. No more one or two
shows this time. Have car, will travel. The Kiss Me album was my
favorite since The Top and I wanted to see as many shows as I could.
12 July 1987
Oakland Arena, Oakland California
Waiting
for the show to start, the lights dim, and we all know it is about to
begin. But no, a screen begins to descend from above the curtain
hiding the stage. First: a film.
[ write something about the film here]
After the film there was a slight pause, and then BAM!, the
lights go dark, the curtain drops (yes, drops from the top down to the
floor) and the opening chords of the The Kiss hit us right in the
head. This was an incredibly powerful opening that I feel has never
been equaled.
13 July 1987
Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara California
Unfortunately
for those who only saw this show, it was still light out when the show began
in this open-air amphitheatre nestled in the hills above Santa
Barbara. The film lost its vibrancy. A memorable moment was
during Hot Hot Hot when people in the front section took the cushions off
their seats and started tossing them up in the air.
After the show we hung out for quite a while, making
cocktails from the "bar" in the trunk of the car. I had a
very good time watching the crew disassemble everything from the stage
rigging and put it in very specific containers that would later get rolled
into a truck. My traveling partners Caroline and Charlene managed to
meet some of the crew as they were finishing up and we were invited into the
crew bus to hear a recording of the concert. (It was recorded for
later radio broadcast.) We met Bruno, LLarry (two Ls, like LLama he
said) Tom and Mac. Charlene traveled on the bus with them towards LA
as Caroline and I followed at 80mph. But then again, it was 3 in the
morning and no one was on the road.
14 & 15 July 1987
The Forum, Los Angeles California
The
crew bus led us to the parking lot of the Forum. And there it
sat. Charlene didn't emerge. So there we slept. An
uncomfortable night in the car. At some point Charlene came out and
there was some discussion that as a cost saving measure, the crew would not
be checking into their hotel until later that afternoon once the stage had
been set up. And so we did the same. This was the famous
(infamous?) Hyatt on Sunset. After the concert we all met in the bar
and drank. And then met in rooms and drank more. Long Island ice
teas. One crew member, who shall remain nameless, drank a wee bit much
and passed out on the floor of his bathroom. We tried to get him to
bed but failed. We covered him with a blanket, and left a "get
well" note.
For
some reason (hangover?) Charlene thought she would sit this concert
out. She didn't have any more money to buy a ticket. I thought
that was crazy and I would loan her some money to buy a ticket. As it
happened, someone called me over to the gate as I was wandering around and
offered me a pair of free tickets. They had already gone inside the
ticket checkpoint and realized they had an extra pair. I pulled
Charlene out of the car and made her go see the show!
At this point I was feeling a bit "rock
star". I had the hotel key hanging from a chain around my
neck. One of those big obvious hotel keys. One girl saw the key,
pulled it away from my neck and asked, "so where are WE staying
tonight?" And in the middle of the show, the girl that was
standing next to me just grabbed me and started kissing me and telling me
how much she loved me. Was it me? Was it The Cure? I don't know,
but it made me feel GOOD.
The next day I left Caroline and Charlene to fend for
themselves. They weren't going to any more of the shows, and I was
going to meet up with a girl I met at college the previous semester.
17 July 1987
San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego California
Robin
didn't want to go down to see the San Diego show, so I was on my own for
this one. The set lists for these shows were all basically the same,
with Hey You or 1000 Hours added in occasionally, so it is difficult to
comment about specific performances.
18 July 1987
Mesa Amphitheater, Mesa Arizona
Robin
and I left the LA area somewhat early this morning en route to
Arizona. I had heard back in LA where the band and crew were staying,
so that is where we were heading. It seemed to take forever. And
it was hot in the desert and my car didn't have air
conditioning. We arrived at the hotel around 5pm. We had
no reservations, and no idea what it would cost. There was indeed a
room, since the summer is the "low season" and there was a special
rate of only $35 per night! I was amazed. I then asked the
receptionist if she knew how to get to the Mesa Amphitheatre. She
pointed to a set of double-doors and said "through those doors and past
the tennis courts." Incredible! The amphitheater was
nothing more than a knoll of grass and a band shell. I was beat after
the long drive and a week of traveling and late nights. We attempted
to rest before the show. But I couldn't. I was too amped about
this show. Once again the show began with the sun still shining, so
the film was lost. I don't know if they even showed the film this
time, but they did play the soundtrack. There was a "moat"
or small pond between the stage and the audience. During Hot Hot Hot,
some people jumped in and started splashing around. It was
great. After the show, the hotel was a mad house. There were
drunk kids running around in the halls etc. Rumor had it that the band
changed hotels. I believe it. I was really tired at this point,
and Robin and I had a 16 hour drive the next day to go water skiing with her
family up in Northern California. I was singing If Only Tonight to
myself for weeks afterwards...
more to come...
[Other show comments]
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