Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Cure in El Paso (Oct. 10th, 2013)

Setlist: Plainsong, Fascination Street, A Night Like This, Torture, The End of the World, Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Pictures of You, Lullaby, High, Hot Hot Hot, Birdmad Girl, The Walk, Stop Dead, Push, Inbetween Days, Friday I'm in Love, Doing the Unstuck, Treasure, Want, The Hungry Ghost, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Disintegration

1st encore: Shake Dog Shake, Bananafishbones, The Caterpillar, Give Me It
2nd encore: Catch, The Baby Screams, Sinking, Play For Today, A Forest
3rd encore: The Lovecats, Close To Me, Let's Go To Bed, Why Can't I Be You?, Boys Don't Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab.

Reviews: El Paso Times / El Diario

Photos: William Soragna / NotQuiteFaust / Mauro Melis Sound of Violence & Facebook & Flickr / It's A Perfect Day / (These are mine 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6) - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 -

Videos: Fascination Street / A Night Like This / Torture / Lovesong 1 - 2 / Just Like Heaven 1 - 2 / Pictures of You 1 - 2 / Lullaby / The Walk / Stop Dead / Friday I'm In Love / Treasure / The Hungry Ghost / Shake Dog Shake / Give Me It 1 - 2 (Simon-centric) - 3 / Catch & The Baby Screams / The Baby Screams / Sinking / The Lovecats / Let's Go To Bed / Boys Don't Cry /

So, how do you "Top" the fantastic Monterrey show? I don't know, but hope to find out tonight. My first Cure show since Reflections NYC in 2011, so, yeah, I'm pretty excited for this one! I love not knowing what they might or might not play tonight. Love that setlist suspense. I also love that I have realistic hopes of maybe hearing 1 or more of my top 3 Cure songs (Same Deep Water As You, Cold, Charlotte Sometimes), as all 3 have been played recently, so you never know. Whatever they play, I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it!

The band are scheduled to start at 8pm, and I'm hoping, and assuming, that it will be a 3 hour set tonight. US start times are 10pm eastern, 9pm central, 8pm mountain, 7pm pacific. See the current time in El Paso here.

Hey, I don't need to ask for reporters tonight...I'll be doing them. :) At least I hope so. My plan is to update to Twitter, put a widget here to show the feed, and you can all follow along with it. If that doesn't work, or even if it does, also check for Olivier's updates at It's A Perfect Day.

76 comments:

  1. Looks like they just released about 100 more tickets, including Floor GA tixs.

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  2. Just a great event their putting this together! Looking for another Monterrey-style setlist

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  3. Word on the streets that the band wants nothing to do with the fans this run. Approach them and you will be snubbed!

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    1. Maybe if "fans" would stop stalking them in airports and hotels, and acting like fools, they wouldn't get snubbed.

      Leave them alone. Give them their privacy. If you love them, respect them.

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    2. And they did a Meet & Greet in MX and have another one scheduled for ACL, so I'd hardly call that snubing ;-)

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    3. Yes but most of the band does not attend those meet and greets. Usually they just pass out a beer and Jason or Roger comes in and shakes a few hands

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    6. Actually, Jorge, the entire band *did* attend the Meet & Greet in Monterrey, as did members of the production staff, and there are pictures to prove it ;-)

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    7. Check it out for yourself :) :

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/zignialive/sets/72157636405787765/

      Looks like a pretty happy group of folks and the whole band.

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    8. Fair enough. Guess I am just not connected to get these kinds of passes

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    9. It's okay. I figured you didn't know, so wanted to share the info with you.

      It's not always about connections, either. Often, it's just serendipity and good fortune.

      Being in the right place at the right time helps, too and I really hope you have an opportunityt to meet Robert and the band at some point in the future.

      For those who have, it is indeed a special experience ;-)

      Keep the faith, and some day, you too just might meet them in person, and if not, we always have their amazing music and shows!

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  4. If a fan was interested in an opportunity to be snubbed, how would he/she go about that?

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  5. I was being facetious.

    I remember seeing people literally jump into a dumpster to get past security and cling to the windsheild wiper (which broke off) of a tour bus to try to get to Bjork one time after a show in Dallas.

    Talk about going overboard! I can assume it's probably pretty bad for Robert and the gang.

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  6. After the Monterrey show everything is possible...
    I have the feeling that tonight there will be new surprises
    My (hopeful) Predictions for tonight...
    Kyoto Song
    The Exploding Boy
    Throw Your Foot
    Wailing Wall
    Happy the Man
    How Beautiful You Are
    The Snakepit
    A Chain of Flowers
    Shiver and Shake

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    1. All of those? Okay! :) Nah, but maybe 1 or 2?

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    2. No Craig, not all of those ;-)
      it's just a list from which I hope they will choose a couple of gems...

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  7. Now that the cure have got all those millions they have shut the door on their fans.they have obviously forgotten who put them where they are.remember robert and co no fans no money

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  8. Now that the cure have got all those millions they have shut the door on their fans.they have obviously forgotten who put them where they are.remember robert and co no fans no money

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    1. Oh please! Are you for real? Most fans don't feel the need to stalk them. They simply enjoy the music and the concerts.

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  9. Chain of Flowers and Wrong Number for Craig, of course ;-)

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    1. Or just one of those two would suffice. :)

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    2. Well, Wrong Number it is, then!

      Texting the request into to Robert now...Perhaps I should request Hungry Ghost for you as well ;-)

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    3. Just teasing you, Craig! I hope you get everything you are hoping for and more at this show and I can't wait to hear all about it!

      Have fun, and thank you for building an amazing community!

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    4. I like Hungry Ghost and have never heard it live at a show, so I'll take it. :)

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    5. Oh, you do? I must have it confused with another song you *love* then?

      Can't remember which one it was, but HG is really good live...I like it, too!

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    6. Must be thinking of The Only One. Worse than Wrong Number! :)

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  10. I think since fans pay so much for their albums and tickets they have a right to meet the band.

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    1. Because you buy an album or go to a concert? Please! No, that gives no one any rights other than the right to enjoy that album or concert.

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    2. jorge, your posts here are just embarrasing.

      the band owes you absolutely nothing. you pay for an album - you get the album. you pay for a show - you get a show. nothing more, nothing less.

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  11. Replies
    1. That's hardly true. I've been to shows at Foro Sol and Palacio Deportes in the DF., and I'd say the vast majority of Mexican fans are more than content just to attend a concert and expect to personally meet their singers or bands.

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    2. You're not entitled to anything except a good performance.

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  12. Going to be an interesting setlist tonight. Just arrived from Phoenix, 7 hour drive... ugh. Taking a nap before the show.

    Tonight is really the last night they have to 'stretch their legs' with the setlist as ACL and New Orleans are 2 hour shows, should be interesting.

    We'll know right away with whatever they open with, if it's 'Shake Dog Shake' we're getting a 'Top' set...

    However, knowing their setlist patterns, I think we'll see something different tonight.

    Off to sleep for an hour... set 3 alarms, lol...

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    1. Hahaha...I did the same! Or tried to. So tired. Only slept 2 hours last night. Once the music starts, I think I'll be just fine.

      Opening and closing the set with The Kiss and Fight? Maybe.

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  13. I spoke to Robert after the ACL show at his hotel and again at the airport in AUS. Both times I just got incredibly lucky and ran into him. I only said "Hi" and "Thanks for your music" basically, but both times he smiled and was friendly. He could have just ignored me or acted like a "star." Instead, he spent a few seconds honestly being nice and made me like the Cure even more.

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    1. Exactly. And the way you act and approach them goes a long way with how you get treated in return.

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    2. I keep thinking about how those Mexican fans in Mexico City waited outside the bands hotel for 3 days. Not even a gesture to them. Sort of rude don't you think?

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    3. That's awesome, Scott! So happy you had an opportunity to connect with Robert, even if it was just briefly.

      He and the others are really great, down to earth folks who are, by far, some of the most accessible and gracious musicians out there, especially with all of the crowds that never seem to be far behind.

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  15. Checking in for the live thread! Love to all you lucky people in El Paso tonight!!!!

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  16. CRAIG: i'm soooo glad you got a good show!

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  17. Baby screams..cool. Another Hotd track...only six different ways, Kyoto song and Screw left but i guess they're saving them for the Trilogy shows next spring ;-)

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  18. holy shit they played 110:15 saturday night.... that's like 100 times better than 10:15, math skills i gotz dem! :D

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  19. On the subject of bands and their fans...

    I'm sure if, while on tour, it was a couple of people a week they might go along with it, but without the restrictions they put in place it would be dozens if not a hundred people per hour everywhere they went. I've never agreed that celebs owe any time to individual people. Yeah they don't have to act like a twat to fans, but neither do they have to do anything more than put on a fake smile as they walk by. Can you imagine how many people Robert has briefly met in his life? He probably has some auto-mechanism kick in, what people meet for 60 seconds won't even be 10% of who he really is.

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    1. Well I had the chance to meet them all some months ago, and it was way more relaxing and "less professional" than it could be imagined. There wasn't anyone ripping Robert's clothes apart, no screams, nothing. As it was said, they and probably any other kind of artist must get really annoyed when they are treated like gods or something (well some won't....). It wasn't a forced "meet & greet" thing, where people PAY to be there - now that's a job, and they have to be professionals when this kind of thing happens and fake smiles are part of the deal. But when you are with them just for the friendship rather than just the fan status, things go very smooth. When I saw Robert, instead of asking for an autograph or a photo, I just sat there looking at him, didn't want to bother him at all. For me, that was way more than I could ever expect, just the chance to see him that close like a "normal" person. But I got a very friendly "good night" at the end of the night... but of course as in every band there are always those that act a bit more like stars than others... but overall it was a very pleasing experience which I'll certainly never forget, even without taking any picture or getting anything signed.

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  20. In mexico we do NOT believe differently Jorge, of course we would all like to meet our bands, but we are not entitled to just because we go to their show or buy their albums, if that were the case then millions of people would be entitled to meet their celebrities. In fact it is actually kind of disrespectful to show up and stand outsand their hotel just waiting for them to come outside, as if they were supposed to do so, even more so, to actually complain when they do not.

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  21. Fantastic setlist again. 'The Scream' is one of my 2 fav Cure songs. Then you have to add 'Out Of This World' ;))

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    1. The didn't play "The Scream" last night, but they did play "The Baby Screams". I think Craig just just noting that everyone was screaming, when he wrote "Scream!!!!" in the Twitter feed.

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    2. Yeah, sorry about that. I was saying Scream!!!! in reaction to Robert's scream/howl in Want. Wasn't even thinking anyone would think I meant they were playing that song.

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  22. The performance was delightful, and the setlist had a an element of surprise (even though I knew about the performance two days earlier in Mexico). The band sounded great and R. was in a goofy mood (he seemed to get a little tired near the end, which is perfectly understandable). My only quibble is that his voice was mixed a bit too low, and lower than I am used to for The Cure (but I have never been right up at the stage before so maybe that was the reason?). Overall, a night I will never forget!

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    1. Felt the same way. The sound mix was a bit muddy up front. Robert's vocals were too low and not as clear. Robert's guitar and Jason's drums were most prominent in the mix. Simon and Roger were about right, but there were times where you could barely hear Reeves. But like you said, think this was due to us being up front.

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    2. No, we were 6 rows behind the soundboard and the sound definitely could've been better. Reeves was way too low and Jason's toms were pretty much non-existent. Still well worth a 12-13 hour drive!

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  23. First, I will say it was a great Cure show, didn't top Reflections, but some great performances. I think if I had not seen the Monterrey setlist I would have been even more stunned at the songs. 'The Top' material was great, I was pretty close to the stage and I noticed RS was looking sideways at Reeves quite a bit during those songs to see if he was hitting the notes I guess, lol...

    Because of Monterrey two songs really came as a surprise was 'The Baby Screams' and 'Torture', which are two of my favorite Cure songs. I would say the only problem I had with the setlist is I know when they do the Top, HOTD, and KM trilogy I will see those songs anyway. I would have liked more off Pornography, but look, it was a hell of a set list no doubt.

    I'm ashamed to admit it - but I left when they started 'Lovecats', I knew what they would play and was exhausted from a 7 hour drive from Phoenix on 4 hours sleep the night before. I've seen the songs in the 3rd encore many, many times... wanted to beat the crowd and not being familiar with El Paso wanted to get back to the hotel.

    Concerning 'The Scream', they did not play that one, I think Craig was referring to a scream by RS....

    I will say 'Give Me It' was absolutely BRUTAL, I mean, harder than I've seen Metallica play their songs, lol... can't wait to see that one again for the next trilogy.

    All in all, I saw five Cure songs (Stop Dead, Hungry Ghost, Birdmad Girl, Banana, Caterpillar) I've never seen played before, which is pretty good since I've seen every tour since Standing on a Beach in 1986.

    Been a long time since I saw Torture, Give Me It, Treasure, etc... so the change up was nice. I think if they had just played 'Cold' it would have been about perfect, lol.

    Anyway got up at 6am, drove back to Arizona and collapsed. I really think RS is working out these Top, HOTD, and KM songs - especially the Top songs, remember no one currently in the band toured those songs in 1984 or played on that record. So he needs to dust them off, work them out and make certain they are ready to go for the trilogy shows.


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    1. Yeah, Give Me It was an intense experience. One of several highlights of the show.

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  24. Fantastic show. Robert seemed to be having some vocal issues, but still managed to deliver one of my favorite cure sets to date.

    Reeves is amazing and is breathing new life into some of the old staples.

    How amazing is that solo in a night like this?!

    A perfect evening that was well worth travelling for.

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    1. Right? I was so happy to hear Night Like This again, and then Reeves comes in with that solo and it's fantastic! A highlight of the night.

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  25. Catch and The Baby Screams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1FFGVDzB1M

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  26. SInking
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVEPBqyoP2c
    Shake Dog SHake
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LFA6YA8zl0
    Friday i'm in love
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDXuB0vpjG4
    Lullaby
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlI__0WAAOY
    Pictures of you
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo6J74gaPgk
    Just like heaven
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET14L9eruO4

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  27. Let's go to bed
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXbiRqlg1M
    Boys don't cry
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfzhViSyaDM
    The walk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwnbDYA1dGI

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    1. Thanks for collecting all the links while I was gone. Made it so much easier to catch up tonight.

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  28. Yes craig I am for real I am just not from the cure can do no wrong brigade.you obviously dont know the difference between stalking and simply saying hello and can you sign this cd.if fans dont like them there would be no conerts.the cure are very lucky to be paid three million for one concert at mexico city 2013.they should give something back dont just take.stalking is a strong word to use graig dont you know the difference between fans and stalkers.yes craig the cure can do wrong in this case

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  29. Oh please! The cure has no debt with their fans. They dont owe us anything

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  30. epic show!! epic setlist!!! unforgettable...can't wait to enjoy the webcast tonight!

    after the show, a few others and i hung out at the loading dock waiting for a chance to say 'hi', tell them thanks for an awesome show, and maybe get my ticket signed. after awhile, the techs [eden gallup & co.] were on their way out and told us the band left immediately after the last song. apparently, they were a bit overwhelmed from the attention at the hotel the night before and decided not to have any attention drawn on them after the show. i don't blame them...i would probably do the same.

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  31. One of the things I can thank The Cure for is creating El Paso. I had never been but really enjoyed my time there.

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  32. I just read the review, and one thing that always fascinates me is how little Robert's own guitar playing is mentioned. I think many people do not even realize he plays the guitar as well as he does anymore. I mean really! I once played 'One Hundred Years' from Japan live in 1984 to a bunch of people, and one of them knew right away it was The Cure. During the guitar solo, he said who's playing the guitar? I told him, and he looked incredulous. 'Robert Smith can play guitar? Like That?' This guy is a guitar player himself. It so weird to me as someone who has admired Robert's guitar playing since 1984 when I was introduced to them (and he only plays guitar on almost every song!) Anybody Else have similar experiences?

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    1. I just brought my husband to his first Cure show. He went for me thinking he wouldn't enjoy it. He was extremely impressed with RS on guitar! He was impressed with RS and Simon and how well they work together and how they definitely have a distinct sound. So glad he is now a fan :)

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  33. Finally had the time to catch up on the pics and the chat from this special night.

    Looking at your pics, Craig, I cannot believe we were so close...... and yet so far.

    So pleased you enjoyed the show and not long until you get to experience the Cure rush again.

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