"It was a beautiful way to end the festival"

From Alison Fensterstock's wonderful review of The Cure at Voodoo: "Speaking of Trent Reznor, who stood on the Voodoo mainstage Saturday night, there is, of course, a great overlap between the armies of darkness who ally themselves with Nine Inch Nails and with the Cure. (“If you had told me, in 1996, that I’d get to see Nine Inch Nails and the Cure in the same 48-hour period, I’d have flipped out,” one of those elusive goths of days gone by said to me at the festival.)

But where NIN can be hard and cold, the Cure’s misery – even at its darkest depths – is a sweet, soft one. When Trent makes you hurt, it’s with the bite of cold, industrial jaws; Robert Smith's hurt is exquisite. There is no love left in Nine Inch Nails’ world, but for Smith, love is all there is – even if all that’s left of it is delicious pain. Part of it was lights and fog, but the mainstage Sunday night also swirled with aching passion. It was a beautiful way to end the festival, and even Smith seemed overwrought: after a final encore of “Boys Don’t Cry,” he clutched his powdered cheek, blinked, and scampered off, as if he’d been caught with his heart on his sleeve."

The Cure in New Orleans (Nov. 3rd, 2013)

The Cure in New Orleans on Nov. 3rd, 2013. Photo by Erika Goldring.

Setlist: Shake Dog Shake, Fascination Street, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, The End of the World, Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, Burn, Pictures of You, Lullaby, High, Hot Hot Hot, The Caterpillar, The Walk, Stop Dead, Push, Inbetween Days, Friday I'm in Love, Doing the Unstuck, Bananafishbones, Want, The Hungry Ghost, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Give Me It

Encore: The Lovecats, Close to Me, Let's Go to Bed, Why Can't I Be You?, Boys Don't Cry.

If you went to the show, please vote in the Nola.com poll. 

Photos: Offbeat / Sound of Violence / Consequence of Sound / Pure Volume / Crave / It's A Perfect Day / Fuse / Brooklyn Vegan / Wire Images 1 - 2 / Getty Images / Mauro Melis 1 - 2 / Nola.com / 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

Reviews: Offbeat / Crave / Gambit / The Advocate / Huntsville Times / LSU Daily Reveille / My Spilt Milk / NOLA / Spin / Craig

Video Clips: Lovesong - Just Like Heaven - Burn - Pictures of You - Friday I'm In Love

Audio: FLAC at The Cure Commununity

Videos: Shake Dog Shake / Fascination Street 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 / From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea / The End of the World / Lovesong 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 / Just Like Heaven 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 / Burn 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 / Pictures of You 1 - 2 - 3 / Lullaby 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 / High / The Walk / Stop Dead 1 - 2 / Push 1 - 2 / Push (with a bit of Shake Dog Shake & Fascination St.) / Friday I'm In Love / Bananafishbones / Want 1 - 2 - 3 / One Hundred Years / Give Me It 1 - 2 / The Lovecats / Close To Me 1 - 2 / Let's Go To Bed 1 - 2 / Why Can't I Be You? / Boys Don't Cry /

Note for Sunday

Pearl Jam were allowed to go over curfew by 10-15 minutes tonight. Keep this in mind for Sunday if The Cure go over and they try to pull the plug. Storm the stage! Plug them back in! :)

Update: And Nine Inch Nails were allowed to go 12 minutes over tonight, for their dark, intense, terrific set. Damn they were good!

Voodoo is ready for us

Le Ritual stage is up. Photo from @KeithSpera.

The Merch Church/Merchandise stand. Photo from @KeithSpera.

Rides setup and waiting for riders. Photo from @KeithSpera.

New Levinhurst "soonish"

From the Levinhurst Facebook: "A new photo and some new music coming along soonish...!"

Update on Roger's 'Love & Other Tragedies'

Posted on Roger's Facebook: "Just confirmed that the amazing Francesca Ter-berg will be playing cello on the Orpheus and Eurydice story for the Love and Other Tragedies suite. We are set to record in December when I return from Russia and fingers crossed a March release with a premiere performance in London..."

Calm before the Voodoo storm

A quiet moment on Le Ritual where Eddie, Trent and Robert will stand later this week. #voodoonola pic.twitter.com/6blWuuOpr9
— Voodoo Experience (@VoodooNola) October 30, 2013

Cure initially declined Voodoo offer

From an article posted at Nola.com today: "The Cure initially declined a Voodoo invitation. Months later, the band’s reps asked if the slot was still available. By then, Rehage was in discussions with Voodoo veteran Kid Rock’s camp. Both acts ended up confirming the same week. “We talked to both of them, and figured one of the two would hit,” Rehage said. “They both wanted to do it, so we carved out a slot. It all fell into place.”

The Cure following Kid Rock on the same stage recalls such odd Voodoo pairings as rapper Drake preceding Ozzy Osbourne in 2010, or Dr. John abutting Moby the festival’s first year.
“We’ve always had some interesting transitions,” Rehage said. The Cure and Kid Rock “is certainly one of them.”

Voodoo updates

The Cure have been given 10 more minutes for their set. Will start at 6:50 pm now. Have 130 minutes. Perfect for adding 'Same Deep Water As You' to the set. Or 'Cold' & 'Figurehead'. :) (Thanks Olivier)

Local music critic Keith Spera has a story on the new festival grounds Voodoo will be using this year.

Update (Oct. 27th, 2013): Crave has posted a transportation guide, and GoNola has their Ultimate Guide to Voodoo.

And this word of warning from Roger: "OK whats next.... HAHAH Voodoo Festival in New Orleans, if you don't have a ticket and were thinking maybe you wouldn't come... well think again, last Cure show of 2013 its going to (be) massive!" Always trust Roger! Get your tickets here.

Update (Oct. 28th, 2013): Gambit has published their 2013 Voodoo Guide, which can be picked up locally, or you can read the digital edition here. Nice little Cure article included.

Also, Voodoo has posted "answers to all of your questions". Not included? Will you please give The Cure an extra hour? :)

And here's a survival guide from Fuse.

A list of closings in City Park due to Voodoo.

TV news report from @NewsCarolyn just now says the limited number of single day tickets are almost sold out. If you need them, get them now. 3 day passes should still be available at the gate.

From Voodoo on Facebook: "Deja Voodoo presents Reignwolf plus special guest Baby Bee happening at The Parish House of Blues New Orleans on Friday, November 1st at 11:30 pm. A Loa VIP wristband will get you into the show for FREE."

Update (Oct. 29th, 2013): From Voodoo on Facebook - "Proudly presenting Deja Voodoo at Preservation Hall on November 1st and 3rd featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with special guests Shovels and Rope and Beats Antique. Doors will open at 11:30 pm and showtime is midnight. Tickets extremely limited. To buy now: preservationhall.com/tickets"

If you will be camping at City Park, you should follow @ContentmentCamp on Twitter.

Interview with Voodoo founder/producer Stephen Rehage.

Voodoo stage going up today

Main stage being erected today at City Park. Photo from @NewsCarolyn.

More setup photos at NOLA Defender.

And here's a report from @NewsCarolyn. Ignore the start times they list, those are the old ones. NIN at 9, Cure at 6:50.

NME's Top 500 Albums of All Time

The Cure place 2 albums on NME's Top 500 Albums of All Time list. 'Disintegration' at #139 & 'The Head on the Door' at #494. See the full list at Consequence of Sound. Before getting upset about the list, keep in mind that it's from NME. Of course it's ridiculous! :)

Pearl Thompson appearance on Oct. 17th

From Lisa Johnson on Facebook: "Come see me n Porl on 10/17 at Mr Musichead Gallery for the 108 RSG EXHIBIT & BOOK LAUNCH!"

Update (Oct. 25th, 2013): Lisa has posted some photos from the event on her Facebook.

'Wild Mood Swings' revisited

Soundwaves took another look at 'Wild Mood Swings', and tried to make it a better album. But they left 'Club America', 'Return' and 'Round & Round & Round' on it, and deleted 'Strange Attraction' & 'Gone', so they failed. :)

Fantastic photos/videos from recent shows

Wanted to spotlight some of the fantastic photos from the recent shows:

Here's William Soragna's photos from El Paso & ACL weekend 2.

And from Mauro Melis, photos from El Paso (Flickr & Sound of Violence) and  ACL weekend 2 (Flickr & Sound of Violence) 


And those great El Paso & Monterrey videos from It's A Perfect Day have been uploaded again, after being removed from YouTube. See the El Paso videos here, and here's Catch & Sinking from Monterrey.

Matthieu Hartley items for sale

Matthieu Hartley is selling 2 of his old Cure keyboards, 1 amp, and other memorabilia on ebay. (Thanks Matthieu)

Cure at Glastonbury 1990 on 6 Music

Listen to 30 minutes of The Cure at Glastonbury 1990 on the BBC 6 Music Live Hour. Expires tomorrow, Oct. 24th.
(Thanks Perfect.Murder)

Simon and The Silence

Yet another Doctor Who reference from Simon, and further proof of his awesomeness. See those sets of marks on his arm? He must have run into The Silence quite a few times in Austin! ;) Thanks to Rev. Heron for sending the photo, and to Fuji for taking it at Austin City Limits on Oct. 5th.

No East Coast "special appearance" show

Roger confirmed it on Facebook. In reply to a comment about waiting on word about that show, Roger replied, "Not happening!" So looks like if you want/need to see The Cure this year, you better get to Voodoo.

The Cure at ACL webcast

The Cure at ACL setlist

Photo of the soggy setlist from The Cure's set at Austin City Limits on Oct. 12th, 2013. Note that 'Shake Dog Shake' was listed but not played. And 'Boys Don't Cry' was added at the end.
(Thanks Greg)