I'm pointing this one out because it's pretty damn funny.
"An even more annoying group of drunk, obnoxious women sat down a row behind them. They would be fine during something popular like “Lovesong” or “Pictures of You” because their tone-deaf caterwauling of the lyrics was slightly less annoying than their vapid conversations about cheerleaders."
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Ha! Very funny. This was my favorite line:
ReplyDelete"Unfortunately, the concert tickets aren’t dispensed grouping like-minded fans together."
That's a stellar idea! What I wouldn't give to be surrounded by people who actually know the back catalog! Even front row is no guarantee, at the SLC gig I was near 4 barbie types who bounced gleefully to lovesong but hadn't a clue when the old skool encore came on. And then to rub in the salt even more, after the show, some functionary came out passing out backstage passes and zoomed right in on the squealing barbies! Ick!
To get good seats, you should have to pass a test or something. I am so sick of having concert experiences ruined by these sorts of people. I just don't get why people go to shows if they just want to talk and mingle. Some guy at Red Rocks was doing that to me. He was friendly enough before the show, which I didn't mind. But when he came over to me in the middle of a song and said, "So, Vanessa [not my name, but he forgot my name and kept calling me Vanessa instead], how are ya doing?" I couldn't believe it!! Luckily he got the hint when I said, "I'm watching the show," and pretty much gave him the "fuck off" message with my body language. These people suck a lot.
ReplyDeleteugh. we need to make a plan. i ABHOR casual cure fans.
ReplyDeletethat's right! ya heard me!
i have to admit it would be quite nice to know what you were getting into when you purchased your tix! i've always got serious doubts when i'm going into the venue, whether the person will be friendly/loud and overtalkative/smelly/obnoxious/etc...
ReplyDeleteMonkeyButt: I think smelly is the best case of all of those scenarios! ;) At least you can hold your nose and still hear the band!
ReplyDeleteFunniest thing I've read in a long time! =D
ReplyDelete"We had to listen to their incessant carrying on about the gourmet items they shared: “Who wants onion hummus? Did you try this cheese from Montengro?"
Hilarious!
And I'm all for this 'testing for seats' idea; "Dedicated Cure fans to the frontof the queue, please!"
It could work.
I don't think being a casual fan is necessarily a disqualification. Hardcore fans have the potential to be totally obnoxious as well. Last night, there were two girls behind me who were obviously obsessed with the Cure. They knew every word to every song, and I know this because they were screaming the lyrics so loudly that at times, I couldn't hear Robert at all. And between songs, they kept screaming "PORL!!" and "SIMON!!" over and over again. Like Porl is going to stop what he's doing and say, "Oh hey, how are you doing?".
ReplyDeleteI was also subjected to their constant SUPER-LOUD banter about what song they wanted to hear and what song they thought would be next and what song is their favorite and how cute Simon looks and how awesome everything was, and it was all punctuated by shrill outbursts of "FUCK YEAH" (which were occasionally replaced by screams of "FUCK YES", ostensibly in an attempt to make their cheers less colloquial, I'm guessing).
Now I don't have a problem with energy and enthusiasm. In fact, I love it. But annoying is annoying. And hardcore fans can dish out the annoying just as well as any casual fan.
iceblink: I had the same problem! There was a girl behind me screaming incessantly, "SIMON I WANT YOUR BABIES!"
ReplyDeleteTotally creepy, and you're absolutely right - it's not like Simon is going to put down his bass and come impregnate her on the spot. (Assuming that that's what she meant - because it almost sounded like she wanted to eat them, not have them. Shudder.)
iceblink: but did they scream "OH HELL YES!" ?
ReplyDeletegood point though. hardcore fans can be just as bad.
Lol, MonkeyButt.
ReplyDeletev- I am laughing so hard right now. It does sound like she wanted to eat his babies!
ReplyDeleteSheesh... talk about The Baby Screams....
monkeybutt - I'm sure they would have if Underneath the Stars had been played!
ReplyDelete:| *cough*
ReplyDeletei'm one of those singers and dancers.
sorry, dudes.
Sofia: Yes, but are you a screamer?
ReplyDeleteAnd more importantly, are you trying to eat Simon's babies?
ReplyDeletev, i'm "that girl" that the security guards have to know by name because they have to keep her from throwing herself on stage.
ReplyDeletei have decorum in real life. but cure shows aren't real life.
hhh...i guess long story short? yes. like i'm in a horror movie.
iceblink: That would have been my next question! :D
ReplyDeleteiceblink, somehow i think they would taste gamey...?
ReplyDelete*smacks lips* probably not.
Sofia: As long as Simon's little ones (and not-so-little ones, for that matter) are safe, then I guess your antics are acceptable. :)
ReplyDelete(And I was referring to his 18-year-old son up there, not other things!)
v, oh i KNOW what you were referring to. tsk. but very ladylike of you to try and cover it up! ;D
ReplyDeleteAt the Dream Tour Toronto date, my father and I were seated front row center in the 200 section, keeping us out of the pit, but giving us an awesome view. Seated to our right were two young women who'd driven all the way from Syracuse for the show. They spent most of the time standing up and dancing, even to the new stuff. In front of us, at the back of the pit, were the owner and a moderator of the Babble e-mailing list.
ReplyDeleteAlso, most of the people in the pit were REALLY into the show, as evidenced by many, many sets of hands going up in the air during FTEOTDGS. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. I honestly don't know if anything could ever top that show.
I had this guy near me at the Chicago Show who kept saying I have no idea what this song is, so I guess I'll just go & get a beer and skip the song! He must have went back & forth in the row in front of me about 10 times!
ReplyDeleteIt got so annoying! Why go if your going to drink over priced beer all night long & complain about they are playing. Save some cash & stay home!
In Philly quite a bit of the people around me didn't know all of the songs but they were still into the show. Best thing was they did sit down for a while & allowed me to have a better view!!! It's funny to see all the 80's people who just like The Cure's pop songs get all crazy for Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, Lullaby & when something more dark comes on or the new songs they are like duh...........what's that! LOL!
Sofia: Well, I am at work, so I have to at least try to maintain a pretense of decency.
ReplyDeleteomg. at curiosa there was a girl who was drunk before she even got there and she had her shoes off and was trying to clean off the mud from her bare feet with MOUNTAIN DEW.
ReplyDeletei saw her at the end of the night on a cot asking "did they play just like heaven yet?"
Too funny....I hope I'm not surrounded by the like for the Dallas show. I'm in the second row on Simon's side so I guess the potential will be there. Did anyone else catch that the blogger stating he had found a bootleg copy of the show. Would be nice to get my hands on that baby....
ReplyDeleteWho the hell brings a picnic to a show?
ReplyDeleteOh and just for the record, if I ever meet the "Oh Hell Yes" guy I will shake him warmly by the hand before punching his teeth down his throat. Being a cult legend doesn't take away from the fact he almost ruined the best bootleg of the best song from the new album.
Weird, my mom just IMed me to tell me that a Cure song (sounds like POY, from her description) is used in a new McDonald's commercial. Has anyone else heard this? I think (and hope!) she is probably mistaken...though she did correctly identify it in the HP ad and recognized "Plainsong" in the Marie Antoinette trailer... hmm.
ReplyDeleteV - no way! Oh I hope she's mistaken. Let me see what I can find.
ReplyDeleteCraig: There's a HUUUUGE chance she's wrong...she's been known to mishear things like that before. So I don't want to start any rumors, but just thought I'd throw it out there in case someone else has heard it. :)
ReplyDeleteI get giddy at Cure concerts, and perhaps have been semi-obnoxious without meaning to be. But I agree that the casual "Lovesong" fans are annoying. I say you need to be quizzed before entering the concert, and then they can seat you according to your level of fandom. Mind you, I'd be somewhere in the middle, slightly toward the front but not exactly in the front. I haven't read the article yet - maybe that's what the writer is suggesting?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else find the bootleg recording of the show he mentioned in the blog?
ReplyDeleteI was at the Chicago show and it was like nails on a chalkboard every time I heard the drunken idiot yell "freebird" between almost every song.
ReplyDeleteThere was a girl, who, when I told her that I was a Cure fan, told me that she was, as well. I got a little excited, and asked her about her favorite song, and she basicallt told me that the only one with which she was familiar was Friday I'm In Love. Sigh. If you know just one or two songs, you are not a fan of the band. You simply know one or two songs.
ReplyDeletebasicallt=basically
ReplyDeleteHi, Cure fans! Long time reader, first time blogger Jacob here to splice in a little anecdote of his own about the Shrine show last night...hope this isn't too long...
ReplyDeleteWas seated in the very last row on Porl's side in the very back corner...just for reference. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I arrived to find myself buried under about 20 rows of balcony seats, but I got over it and waited patiently for the show to start...and what a start! This was my first Cure concert, and on the way there, after driving around for about an hour looking for parking (note to self: never go to a concert without at least $50 in cash) I prayed desperately to the music gods, wherein I made the preposition "I don't care what else happens or what else they play, but if I hear Out of this World it will all be worth it." Well, I'm sure you can imagine my utter ecstasy when those first couple of drum clicks rang through the Shrine and Jason's ever present foot began the magnificent work of regulating my pulse for the remainder of the evening. I was riding on cloud Robert, and the first half of the concert proceeded without a hitch. About an hour into it, however, things started to take a turn for the worse. The three vacated seats in front of me were suddenly occupied by two Cure fans who seemed to have misplaced their third member. This is when the cell phone calls began. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of yelling back and forth at each other, they managed to find their estranged friend and left, only to return minutes later (with more alcohol, obviously). I think it was about this time that the Impersonations-of-Dave-Chapelle-doing-Impersonations-of-Lil' John began, and I had the lovely pleasure of hearing the brilliantly performed Push interrupted sporadically with cries of "Yeeeeeeaahh!" and "Oookaaay!" But I was okay, I was fine. I mean, hey, they played freakin' Kyoto Song, how upset could I be? Well, I needed a moment, and the next song to hum through the speakers was How Beautiful You Are, a KMKMKM song I’ll admit I am not terribly familiar with nor fond of, so I decided to have a seat about halfway through the song and just let my ears do the work. Enter “drunk frat boy who couldn’t keep his hands out of the pants of his Barbie-doll girlfriend for the first half of the concert,” whom I shall for the remainder of this post refer to as “dude.” He was apparently quite concerned about my enjoyment of the concert because he kept shouting to me, “You having a good time, man?!” and “C’mon, dude, stand up! Woooo!” It was at this time that Simon chimed in with the familiar twenty or so opening notes of In Between Days, so I grudgingly appeased his request that I vacate my seated position for a more bipedal one. IBD was followed by Just Like Heaven which was then followed by Primary, three songs that work masterfully well together, the first two having about 145% of the audience singing along, and the last gaining a respectable 80% rating on the “does the audience know this song” scale. It is here that I must regretfully report that Dude did not fall into the majority, which must have been shockingly abnormal for him (not falling into a majority, that is). So he, of course, did what anyone else in that situation would do, which is to say, turn around and find more drunk people behind him to be obnoxious with. His endeavors were a success. Now, my timing may be a bit off here, but I believe it was somewhere around the end of Primary or in the middle of Us or Them that he casually mentioned (and by “casually” I of course mean “at the top of his lungs”) that “[he didn’t] even know half of these songs.” It was here that I found a bit of empathy for this poor fellow because I, too, had never heard some of these songs. I, however, was a bit more fortunate, having already listened to the new single “The Only One” a few days prior, my count came in somewhere around 11% (2 out of 19). By the end of the night, that percentage would drop to about 6%. I guess it was just my lucky night, though I have managed to come across a few Cure albums in the past that did not contain the words “greatest” or “singles.” Dude, I’m sorry to say, was not nearly as fortunate as I, and I’m again saddened to report that, judging by the increased drunkenness that ensued, his percentage must have ended somewhere in the 70-80 percentile bracket of songs he did not know. At least he may find solace in the fact that he has once again found himself in a majority.
My final encounter with Dude occurred during (what else?) Boys Don’t Cry. It was here that he once again became concerned with the happiness of those around him and insisted on raising morale by giving us all high fives. Upon contact with my hand, he again inquired something about having a good time. I couldn’t quite gather the entire inquiry, however, so I replied by stating “What? I couldn’t hear you.” He seemed dissatisfied by my response and probed no further for the remainder of the evening, except at the end, as we were making our exits, he insisted on another high five. I obliged once more, for I now believe that it was HE who sought the morale boost. The poor thing…they didn’t even play Love Cats! I can only hope that next time they play more songs he knows.
Seriously though, it was a great concert, despite those unfortunate people.
Personal highlights: Out of this World, Pictures of You, FTEOTDGS, Kyoto Song, Bloodflowers, Happy Birthday Faith…aww, hell, they all rocked!!
Oh, the poor reviewer! It’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a while, but I kind of feel sorry for him/her. I know I’d be annoyed no end if that happens to me. I can take loud singing and screaming and dancing and pushing and jumping, but constant talking would drive me mad. If you just go there to have your afternoon tea and chats, there are many, many places for you, but a Cure show is not one of them.
ReplyDeletethis all reminds me of the time jewel (yeah, the "singer/songwriter") opened for peter murphy on the cascade tour.
ReplyDelete2 bars in it was social hour for the goths! a haze of clove smoke (natch!) and eyerolling.
the 90s were pretty awesome, folks!
(sigh...that was me again)^
ReplyDeleteVery funny review.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of seating plans being based on true love of the band.
There's a $50 million lotto draw in Australia on Thursday night - if I win, I'm gonna hire a venue, hire The Cure and invite only true Cure fans to enjoy the show of a lifetime!
Elise - you HAVE to win the lottery! :D
ReplyDeleteI "earned" front row seats for a show once. May 18, 2000 in Atlanta for the Dream Tour. The very day of the show, the local radio station, 99X, posed a trivia question for listeners to call in and answer. Call in first, and get the answer right, and you won front row seats.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually an obscure question, so I really felt like I had EARNED my tickets as a serious fan. The DJ was really acted surprised that i knew the answer.
It was wonderful!
-Kate (from the Fairfax and Philly setlists)