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Live DC: The Cure @ Patriot Center

May 12, 2008 by Greg

ALL PHOTOS: Faith Desired (we highly recommend powering through the whole set-it is BEAUTIFUL)

How in the world do you review the Cure? It’s imposing.
Especially given their status and my personal feelings towards them (easily in my top 25 artists, maybe top 10). Their music is iconic, to be frank; there is little debate on this. They are highly influential and their sound and approach have permeated pop consciousness.

This is part of the problem.

Combine their stature, the nature of their music (heavy reliance on emotional resonance for full effect) and an arena-like venue that doesn’t exactly engender personal connections and intimacy and you have a potential recipe for disaster.
Expectations set impossibly high based off studio output resulting in a live experience that can do nothing but fall flat, regardless of music quality and performer talent, due to the inability to recreate those personal moments with music in the comfort of your own room. But I was pleasantly surprised with the Cure’s performance at HFStival 2004 in the M&T. They delivered a stellar performance that spread warm feelings all around, if not so exhausting and gloriously personal an experience as listening to Pornography and Disintegration in my room alone. So I figured, let’s give them another go and see what they do with a headlining bill, essentially all to themselves.

Friday was the opening night for the Cure’s re-scheduled fall 2007 tour. The original tour was postponed to ensure completion of their 13th (!!!) studio album, as of yet untitled and being released in September of this year.

Fellow Brits 65daysofstatic opened with a set of instrumental rock. Not bad, but nothing really good. Their bio advertises prog, math and post-rock, but they really didn’t play anything too representative of that. Focusing on moody, layered permutations of modern rock radio circa 80s and 90s, their set felt like tongue-in-cheek flippant commentary with little substance. Which is a shame since I am fairly certain they were holding back some virtuoso playing abilities. They served their purpose as openers though, ably setting the mood for the Cure.

Really though, the Cure didn’t really need any help setting the mood. They played a main set and 3 encores to arrive at a sum total of: 3 hours and change. A fucking 3+ hour set. And not a single song would I classify as anything close to a dud or pedestrian. 3 hours of electrifying, moving, reaching into your soul and pulling out buried thoughts and emotions music.

I don’t know where to begin, honestly.

They opened with a ferocious one-two from Disintegration, “Plain Song” and “Prayers for Rain.” Initially Robert Smith’s vocals were impressive yet wavering in quality. It could have easily been viewed as interpretive, being engrossed and moved by his own music, but I think he moreso just needed a few songs to warm up. Luckily with those two, the quavering, unstable quality actually worked to his advantage (as you can probably imagine); but after that, things were rock solid.

Those who write Smith off as a vocalist are completely off-base; the man is a vocal powerhouse. Extremely versatile without sacrificing his own unique style. This was no better illustrated than the perfect synergy of his voice with a funky rendition of “Lullaby.” When he really lets loose, your hairs stand on end and your spine starts to tingle; he’s just as effective whether singing a full-bodied pop chorus or a verse from a fractured and tortured soul.

Now I’m going to level with you. I stopped being really critical after about the 4th song, and just got washed away in the performance which was utterly phenomenal. Even tracks off relatively less impressive albums like the recent self-titled full-length, gained new life with the live treatment. While it might have dragged some for those unfamiliar with the Cure’s entire catalog, the peak points in the performance more than compensated for them.

Set highlights included an explosive version of “A Forest,” a rip-roaring “Lovecats” that got the crowd playfully humming along, and a beautifully crushing “Lovesong.” Also, I really liked the new track “Freak show.”

Robert Smith and the Cure have done what every aging artist hopes for, remaining relevant and ever evolving rather than being relegated to a nostalgia act. Their canon holds up to the test of time, sounding as fresh, beautiful and affective as the first time you heard it; and they have figured out how to recreate that experience in the less-than-optimal live setting that their status puts them in. They are unafraid to experiment with their sound, but never do so losing sight of themselves or sacrificing the cohesiveness of the song. And now I can’t wait to see what they’ve done for their next album. </drooling>

Set List (courtesy of cure-concerts.de)

plainsong
prayers for rain
a strange day
alt.end
the walk
the end of the world
lovesong
to wish impossible things
pictures of you
lullaby
the perfect boy
from the edge of the deep green sea
hot hot hot
the only one
push
friday i’m in love
inbetween days
just like heaven
primary
shake dog shake
never enough
wrong number
one hundred years
disintegration

the lovecats
let’s go to bed
freak show
close to me
why can’t i be you?

boys don’t cry
jumping someone else’s train
grinding halt
10:15 saturday night
killing an arab

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