“I have it on good authority that the band have read the review and liked it.” Caroline Sullivan… WHAAAT?!!
SHE WAS COMMENTING ON HER OWN GUARDIAN ‘REVIEW’ OF OUR EPIC 45 SONG 213 MINUTE FRIDAY RAH TEENAGE CANCER TRUST SHOW
TO BE CLEAR – AND ON THE BEST AUTHORITY - THE BAND HAVE INDEED READ THE REVIEW - BUT DID NOT LIKE IT!
THE REVIEW WAS – TO PUT IT POLITELY - LAZY NONSENSE… swampy… numbing… yet to work out how to build up a show… GULP!!!
BUT WE NOW KNOW WHERE WE HAVE BEEN GOING WRONG ALL THIS TIME: Condensed into 90 minutes, this would have been one of the gigs of the year
WE PLAY TOO MANY SONGS! DOH! BUT… IS IT NOT VERY OBVIOUS THAT WE PLAY OUR OWN SHOWS (AS OPPOSED TO FESTIVAL HEADLINES) FOR FANS OF THE BAND?
THAT IS WHY WE PLAY A MIX OF SONGS, AND WHY WE PLAY FOR AS LONG AS WE DO…
WHEN WE GO TO SEE AN ARTIST WE ARE FANS OF, WE DON’T WANT THE PERFORMANCE TO END… THAT’S WHAT BEING A FAN MEANS… ISN’T IT?
WE HAD TWO FANTASTIC NIGHTS, PLAYING TO GREAT CROWDS FOR A WONDERFUL CHARITY… THE GUARDIAN ‘REVIEW’ WAS SAD BITTER JUNK
PS. AS FOR THE TORYGRAPH HACK… sigh… ONWARDS
Wow! I freaking love this! In case you don't know what this refers to, the shows have had ridiculous bad "reviews" in the UK press. Like this one in The Guardian, this one from The Telegraph, and this idiot from The Times who felt "trapped" at the shows.
From Perfect.Murder: "Ask this little girl if she felt trapped or if her band still have to work out how to build a show"
From Reeves on Twitter: "critics are like eunuchs in a harem... --brendan behan"
Great post from Lol on the Levinhurst Facebook:
"Having read some fairly ridiculous reviews of The Cures RAH shows my two cents:
It’s funny, nearly four decades after The Cure started The British press still can’t work out quite what it is that the band do!
So instead of acknowledging that the fans of the Cure are very happy to see them play a full 45 songs they choose to invent reasons why that can’t possibly be so!! Un- bloody- believable!
Unfortunately this myopic view is unlikely to change I fear. Back at the beginning of the band we experienced much the same nonsense . So we left for a while and found out that this particular form of self aggrandizing journalism didn’t exist much elsewhere on this planet.Thank goodness!
Everybody I know that went to the RAH shows had a wonderful and extraordinary time. As Robert said today, The Cure play these type of shows specifically ” For fans of the band"
Luckily I realize in the grand scheme of things that the fans matter immeasurably more to The Cure than any self appointed critic and what the critics may not realize is….they always did.!"
Wow! I freaking love this! In case you don't know what this refers to, the shows have had ridiculous bad "reviews" in the UK press. Like this one in The Guardian, this one from The Telegraph, and this idiot from The Times who felt "trapped" at the shows.
From Perfect.Murder: "Ask this little girl if she felt trapped or if her band still have to work out how to build a show"
From Reeves on Twitter: "critics are like eunuchs in a harem... --brendan behan"
Great post from Lol on the Levinhurst Facebook:
"Having read some fairly ridiculous reviews of The Cures RAH shows my two cents:
It’s funny, nearly four decades after The Cure started The British press still can’t work out quite what it is that the band do!
So instead of acknowledging that the fans of the Cure are very happy to see them play a full 45 songs they choose to invent reasons why that can’t possibly be so!! Un- bloody- believable!
Unfortunately this myopic view is unlikely to change I fear. Back at the beginning of the band we experienced much the same nonsense . So we left for a while and found out that this particular form of self aggrandizing journalism didn’t exist much elsewhere on this planet.Thank goodness!
Everybody I know that went to the RAH shows had a wonderful and extraordinary time. As Robert said today, The Cure play these type of shows specifically ” For fans of the band"
Luckily I realize in the grand scheme of things that the fans matter immeasurably more to The Cure than any self appointed critic and what the critics may not realize is….they always did.!"
Robert, thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Desperate Journalists for sure!
DeleteHoly crap man ~ I NEVER want their concerts to end!!! The whole Cure-concert experience is frick'n brilliant; the travel, the wait in line, the wait to buy a t-shirt - blah-blah-blah... There's nothing worse than post-Cure concert melancholy!
ReplyDeleteBut here's an idea: if they play all the pop-song-hits @ the beginning of the show, the window-shoppers can leave early, so that the rest of us Cure fanatics can get close to the stage & savour the experience... as it should be
ReplyDeleteHell-yeah...
thats what i am suffering from today.......onwards !!
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't love a Robert rant?!
ReplyDeleteGlad he put them back in their boxes!
Way to go Robert. I wrote on my Twitter that if anyone thought the Cure's set was too long, I would have GLADLY taken their place.
ReplyDeleteDon't listen to them. There opinion not mine.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in a comment on the Xfm interview, the band doesn't seem to get much good press at the moment over here in the UK.
ReplyDeleteBut clearly it was wrong to say it doesn't frustrate the band as much as it does the fans! Obviously it does!
Robert probably would have just let it slide, but her lie about the band liking her review could not go unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's probably true. Wonder where she got her good authority from!
DeleteBrings to mind thw old quote, opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one :)
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ReplyDeleteRobert's rants are always brilliant! I've never seen so much bullshit in a review... It was my first time at a Cure gig, I travelled from Italy and queued for 10 hours to get the first row, but all the tiredness disappeared with the Plainsong chimes, and after the concert I felt soooo melancholic! I could never get tired of singing along with them!
ReplyDeleteOh, and no one but a complete idiot could ever describe Plainsong as "about being cold and dead"... a very deep analysis, congratulations! ._.
Rockabilly bassist!!!
ReplyDelete(in Times review)
NME made a reference to Simon being Elvis in their O2 review a few years back. Is this shit honestly the best they can come up with?
DeleteYou have to wonder what kind of people get off on slagging off charity concerts. Especially ones where everyone involved (apart from the three journalists) had such a wonderful time. Well done Robert for responding.
ReplyDeleteCraig, I don't recall how the last Teenage Cancer Trust show was like in April 2006, but do they ever announce how much money was raised?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure they do. I'm monitoring their Twitter and Facebook feeds, and will post the total if they announce it.
DeleteSullivan and her cronies haven't got a clue - people who actually love music and are really into a band don't just want the 'hits' we love hearing the album tracks,B-sides & the odd surprise. Those with seats were up on their feet by the end singing along which says it all. However, long The Cure play is, um to coin a phrase, Never Enough!
ReplyDelete"I have it on good authority that the band have read the review and liked it.” Caroline Sullivan…"
ReplyDeleteJust how stupid can you be to claim such things in public?
I really don't get these people. We (the ones who really count on a cure concert) don't want a 90minute hits set.
Man, nobody knows how to build a show like the cure does.
And if I had something to complain about, I would say they even need to play less singles. Not a show full of it ...
Idiots.
These journos probably love x factor!
ReplyDeletePerfect! I loved that when you showe it to me during your setlist updates. She is awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat post by Lol on Levinhurst FB page
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to "PLAY ALL NIGHT" ?
ReplyDeletethe writer probably likes mittens because they're easier to put on...
ReplyDeletelove the RS response!
I love Lol's two cents. Kind of shows that The Cure is still an underground band. Just the world's biggest one...
ReplyDeleteAfter following the gig here on COF, updates and all, when I read her review yesterday I thought I could see her point. It's not made for non die-hard fans. I can understand that for a music lover... for example I like Bowie a little but i own just one of his record, so not that much, and i guess if i were to go and see one of his concert, which i've never done, because i'm not such a fan, i suppose a 90 min gig would be fun, but a 3h30 would probably be like eating too much chocolate at a time. A 90 minutes either all heavy or all pop or all whatever could have made more sense, and prove more powerful in a way. For non hardcore fans.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. Yeah i wasn't there, and i know the people there were mostly real big fans. Most of you, if not all, will say i'm just jealous, and indeed i would have loved to be there and wish they had played all night. Still, i can feel a kind of general sense of uniformal easy going along the set, lacking a certain accentuation of sensation of different tensions during the show, longer different momentum.different. It makes me remember of Perry at the press conference for the release of Wish, something like with open and end, they wanted the album to sound like a concert, heavy at the beginning, heavy at the end. And I didn't really feel that. That's in that sense I can understand CS point of view.
Now i hope to see them live this autumn and that they'll play for 5hours.
I've finished, you can start throwing mushy apples.
"a rockabilly bassist". Thanks for the laughs, The Times.
ReplyDeleteThese reviews just kill me! I could not make the show but I knew from the press that it was going to be a 3+ hour show! So why would anyone expect a 90 minute show? Why would you buy a ticket to see The Cure knowing it was going to be 3+ hours and that might be too much for you? What nonsense!
ReplyDeleteI was flicking through the uk channels on Monday morning and Matthew Wright of channel5's The Wright Stuff opened the show with something like 'Huge shout out to anyone who saw The Cure at the Albert Hall at the weekend. Amazing show and the played 3 1/2 hours, 7:30 to 11, pheonominal
ReplyDeleteIt was advertised as a 3 hour show, that statement in itself says 'fans show' also the ticket price was targeted at 'fans' not many casual listeners would pay £100 plus just to check them out. Off the back of festival shows where they should play the 'hits' I applaud Robert for playing what
ReplyDeleteThey did at the weekend, it was a fans set and I had the best night! Sadly I broke my ankle on the way home (was still on a high from the gig though) and was unable to attend on saturday
DeleteAlso.. I wonder if the journalists donated their fee for writing such guff to the TCT? Somehow I think not!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOkay, next time just 90 minutes (mainset and encores) like many other bands do (for the same price).
ReplyDeleteI would never pay so much money for any other band just to hear a few songs I know/like.
Desperate Journalist 2014....."Tantalizing enigma
ReplyDeleteOf the Cure "
this review is very stupid. one hour and half is not a concert.
ReplyDeleteCheck this!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/apr/01/the-cure-marathon-gigs-royal-albert-hall?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487