Issue n. VIII Spring 03
i[ issue: n. VIII spring 03 - web-only extras: The Cure "trilogy" concerts ]

The Cure - 9.11.02, Color Line Arena, Hamburg - 11.11.02, Tempodrom, Berlin (D)
Back in 1989, while enjoying the aftermath of the Prayer Tour gigs, many thought THE CURE had topped themselves, but for the very last time. DISINTEGRATION was the ultimate output of Mr. Robert Smith, what turned out to be a sort of manifesto for the depressed generation. Sadness, melancholy, beauty, rendered uniquely in twelve mind blowing tracks. As many had noticed, the pace of DISINTEGRATION carries straight the heritage of PORNOGRAPHY. This applies also to the eponymous tracks. "I must fight this sickness, find a cure" was the closing statement of PORNOGRAPHY. The cure maybe came, but many of the symptoms appeared to have remained unaltered. Distress, uneasiness, violent feelings, the portrait of a deeply emotional living as only Mr. Smith can depict. "A hundred years of blood", then… Disintegration. Last year, year 2002, THE CURE were 25 years old, PORNOGRAPHY 20 years old, Disintegration 13 years old. Are THE CURE still relevant after all these years? I see many out there already rolling their eyes. BLOODFLOWERS is only 2 years old, perhaps there lies the answer to that question.

The big "quarter of a century" celebration began in Brussels, Belgium, where the band played the first of their Trilogy shows, much for the happiness of thousands of fans. The concept of the show revolves around the fact that they would play in their entirety the three milestone albums of their career: PORNOGRAPHY, DISINTEGRATION and BLOODFLOWERS, one after the other with short breaks between the albums. A pretty though task if you ask me, specially thinking of what the demands of the audience might be in such a case. Talk here about people gathering literally from all over the globe for this occasion. One can argue that it's not very enthralling when you know the setlist in advance. This is arguable but in order to satisfy everyone, The Hamburg show came in. For this date it was not previously specified that it would be one Trilogy show, although sandwiched between the Brussels and Berlin shows. The evening turned out to propose our heroes in action for more than three and half hours, playing out of their hands the best of the best ex-Trilogy. As it turned out, THE CURE were invited to the "nearly" grand-opening (Phil Collins, had beaten them by one day, oh my!!!) a brand new horrific venue that we irreverently hope will be torn down by the next flood. I can't quite quote the numbers attached to the budget of this horrible monument catering for 15000, but I wish they'd invested a little extra in engineering the place so that a decent sound could be achieved. Or maybe in a decent sound system. Or simply a decent sound engineer? Fact is, no matter where you stand in the arena, the sound quality was simply rotten. It was as bad as you couldn't recognise most of the songs until the vocals appear or so.
THE KISS, one of the unexpected gems on the setlist is a case in point, as the growing feel of the long guitar intro is totally lost due to the acoustics shortcomings. CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES is hardly recognisable, so is A FOREST or SHAKE DOG SHAKE just to name a few. But let's come to the cheerful facts now. Strong on a 25 year long history, THE CURE have effectively offered the best setlist one could ever conceive, a dream came true for many. THE DROWNING MAN, M, THREE IMAGINARY BOYS, GRINDING HALT, a great deal of tracks from KISS ME KISS ME KISS ME including the magical IF ONLY TONIGHT WE COULD SLEEPS, which was already an encore at the Brussels show. Although not part of the Trilogy, it was a highly appreciated addition to it, according to reports. Maybe the most remarkable entry in the set was a smashing, as usual improvised, version of such an early day classic, FOREVER. Despite being myself a sad old fart, it was still the very first time I could enjoy hearing such a song if not from a bootleg tape! The down time of the show came from the overheard commercial stuff that they had managed to avoid for some years now, to good reason. CLOSE TO ME, LET'S GO TO BED, WHY CAN'T I BE YOU, FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE. But over a nearly four hour strong set, one can concede that these had quite a limited (negative) impact on the overall quality of the gig. They end up playing as many as five encores and at some point I was asking myself what else they could get out of the drawer that could please the audience a bit more, finding no real answer on the spot. Of course I had forgotten FAITH, which was not played but would have been the definitive treat for such a show or even TRUST, another sadly missed pearl. The second (or third) encore was dedicated to the Trilogy shows: ONE HUNDRED YEARS, FASCINATION STREET (which sounds like PICTURES OF YOU at the Beginning, as great as the sound was!!) and BLOODFLOWERS. To sum it up: a top notch show, just set in the wrong place. Willing to indulge in some of the nonsense of the evening: the standing area was split in two, the front part of it only open to the first 800 clients showing up and getting a dedicated wristband. No need to mention it, that area was only half full throughout the show, as punters were more interested in enjoying the essence of the show rather than coping with the VIP games so familiar to the Hamburg setting, enforced by ill-looking, out-of-place security people.

Tempodrom hosts the band in Berlin, a more conveniently human-sized arena. Officially catering for about 4000, the venue offers great sound quality and you don't need to hold a special permit to actually see the band. ONE HUNDRED YEARS opens to rapturous reaction, COLD, SIAMESE TWINS the entire PORNOGRAPHY unfolds in front of a stunned audience. The rendition of this old time classic trip into deep darkness is really energetic, much more than it is on disc, with more emphasis on drumming and guitars and less on keyboards. Songs like COLD suffered a bit, but the overall feel was overwhelming. The light show is sumptuous to say the least, with projections contributing to animate the set, while flying cameras record the proceedings A STRANGE DAY, and the arena sings and dreams. PORNOGRAPHY is raw and crude. "I must fight this sickness, find a cure", and the first third of the show is gone, leaving an undeletable mark on the memory of the attendees. It's a 20-minute break before the chimes to PLAINSONG open the second chapter of the evening. "I think I'm cold and I'm feeling pain". Some emotions are unforgettable and THE CURE bring them up pricelessly, even after all those years. Again the album sounded more raw and solid as compared to the disc. The crowd, a totally mixed bag in terms of nationality, gets really into the show, moving wildly to every track, singing along, getting generally emotionally involved. FASCINATION STREET is an obvious high in terms of crowd reaction. I'm in the dream, as the rest of the audience, during the entire performance of DISINTEGRATION. The last synth line to UNTITLED sets the dream on hold for a while. 20 more minutes of break, then BLOODFLOWERS is up. Now I can't tell you much about BLOODFLOWERS, as I stopped following up THE CURE releases after the truly low-down that WISH was. Listening to it at this live performance, it gave me the impression of being a bit too slow and repetitive. The question comes back to mind: are THE CURE still relevant today, or should they be consigned to the archives of nostalgia? No time for answers in loco, the encores come: IF ONLY TONIGHT WE COULD SLEEP highlights instantly a great deal about what has happened to the band creativity during the last 15 years. You know what I mean. THE KISS sounds majestic, M, the little gem we all know, the anthem PLAY FOR TODAY sets the arena in stadium-like sing along. A FOREST, the same short version as played in Hamburg, still an unforgettable milestone in the band's career, symbolising their much neglected humorous side. "See you in June" was the closing line from Mr. Smith right before walking, apparently reluctantly, off-stage as if he were willing to go on with the performance. It looks like the "disintegration" never came.

I still could ask myself whether this is good news or not, but as a matter of fact I found myself being thankful to THE CURE for having had the guts and the talent to re-create some of the most emotional moments that have characterised their career. Alongside that, lie the emotional worlds the thousands of people who attended the shows, rewarded by their highly professional and involving performance. In this bleak panorama of tired musicians playing the shadow of themselves in dull and overpriced shows, THE CURE showed that they are still much relevant in the live panorama. And their commitment to the fans calls for admiration.

Gianfri

photos Gianfri UmSK

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