The Cure

[Jorge]

Damn that sucks. Also, aside from the obvious thrills of hearing Disintegration live, that setlist doesn't seem particularly exciting. How was the crowd terrible?

[Birds in Hell]

A combination of a few things but most directly two tall dudes standing right in front of my wife and I blocking our vision almost entirely unless we also stood up, then blocking the view of the people behind us. It was kind of an awkward venue to stand in - it's a tiered opera theatre, not a general admission kind of deal. Nonetheless, as soon as the band started Plainsong, tons of people (including our guys right in front) stood up and didn't sit down until the end of the show. It was kind of a drag and my wife in particular was really upset by it. There was also some very competitive, performative fandom going on and I have a pretty low tolerance for that kind of thing.

Aside from all of that, I probably could've ignored much of it if I were genuinely blown away by the performance but that wasn't the case. The guitars sounded thin and lifeless in the room, surely not helped by Robert using cheap Line 6 Spider digital modelling amps, and my perennial disappointment with Jason Cooper's drumming didn't change. I had mixed feelings about Reeves Gabrels last night too, some of his musical choices weren't to my taste at all. His tone on Prayers for Rain in particular was very weird, like he was jamming out an 80s hard rock song.

The Cure are one of my favourite bands of all time but I didn't recognise much of what I love about them in the show I saw last night. Having had a few similar experiences, I'll think twice about seeing them again at this point.

[Jorge]

On behalf of Very Tall People everywhere, I'd like to apologize for our Australian representatives' inconsiderate actions

[Birds in Hell]

I am also moderately tall and generally have sympathy for our people's plight at live music events but this was just unfortunate placement for all concerned. Had we or they been a few seats over, it would've been no big deal.

[LetMeSleep]

Sorry to hear that Spenno. It seems the first night was probably worse and they were trying to sort out the peaks of the set.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... s-the-pain

[Jorge]

I am also moderately tall and generally have sympathy for our people's plight at live music events but this was just unfortunate placement for all concerned. Had we or they been a few seats over, it would've been no big deal.

Did you find the sound markedly worse than the last time you saw them?

The sound wasn't particularly great when I caught them in 2013 either

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, I found it worse this time. It was really loud, a bit too loud for the size of the venue I thought. The drums, bass and vocals all seemed relatively clear but the guitars and keys were very indistinct and washed out.

Sorry to hear that Spenno. It seems the first night was probably worse and they were trying to sort out the peaks of the set.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... s-the-pain

The crowd was definitely very muted for the opening set of obscurities. It was the only part of the show I could actually see, so I enjoyed it the most even though some of those songs simply aren't very good.

I can understand it must've made for a strangely paced set the previous night when they opened with the album songs and followed with the b-sides and instrumental outtakes and nothing else. A few people around us were grumbling on the way out that they were expecting to hear Friday I'm In Love, etc.

I just wish everyone had mainly stayed seated and were respectful of that fact that it was a different kind of venue and performance however I suppose some people aren't capable of behaving differently as context demands.

[psychobain]

Sorry to hear that Spenno. It seems the first night was probably worse and they were trying to sort out the peaks of the set.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... s-the-pain

That guy doesnt sound like a big fan of the álbum anyway

[Birds in Hell]

Sorry to hear that Spenno. It seems the first night was probably worse and they were trying to sort out the peaks of the set.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... s-the-pain

That guy doesnt sound like a big fan of the álbum anyway

I don't think he's entirely wrong, I think Disintegration is one of the band's weakest album of their classic period and most of the b-sides are pretty forgettable.

[LetMeSleep]

It's a common problem with album shows. Not many albums peak at the end so that doesn't translate well live. The only album show I've seen was Doolittle which was preceded with a few bsides then they played a few classics as an encore. Even that show lacked a bit as you got to the middle of Side B.

[Jorge]

Album shows are better in theory than in practice. I still stan for Disintegration though

[LetMeSleep]

Album shows are better in theory than in practice. I still stan for Disintegration though

Stand up for the album or stand up in front of Spenno?

[Birds in Hell]

Don't get me wrong, I still like the album quite a bit and seriously love a few of the individual songs from that period (Same Deep Water, Last Dance, Lullaby and Babble in particular). I just like other periods of the band better.

Having previously seen Pixies and Sonic Youth do similar things, I agree that playing a whole album in sequence is usually a bad basis for a concert setlist. I'd rather see that material resequenced and recontextualised for the different environment.

[Jorge]

Album shows are better in theory than in practice. I still stan for Disintegration though

Stand up for the album or stand up in front of Spenno?

No no, stan, it's a verb. It's in the dictionary now!

[bart]

Jorge, please.

[psychobain]

Sorry to hear that Spenno. It seems the first night was probably worse and they were trying to sort out the peaks of the set.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... s-the-pain

That guy doesnt sound like a big fan of the álbum anyway

I don't think he's entirely wrong, I think Disintegration is one of the band's weakest album of their classic period and most of the b-sides are pretty forgettable.

Its my fav álbum

[Jammer XCI]

To quote Kyle from South Park, “Disintegration is the best album ever”.

Now I don’t think it’s the best ever but it’s a 10/10 classic, fuck that reviewer. Especially for saying Prayers for Rain is a bad song because that’s my favorite song on the whole record.

[psychobain]

Especially for saying Prayers for Rain is a bad song because that’s my favorite song on the whole record.

Thats what bothered me the most

The show probably was bad, but the guy doesnt sound like a huge fan of the band

[LetMeSleep]

Live stream on YouTube right now.

[Birds in Hell]

That was quite amazing. Much more enjoyable than being there in person!