And your ears shall hear…

As The Cure made their way into the jam session they call “Pictures Of You,” I nearly shed a tear. The only reason why I didn’t was because my permanent grin was so tight that my face couldn’t force the emotion. If I did muster droplets of water from my eyelids, they would have been tears of joy. For this was the first time I laid eyes on the band in person, and the music coming from their bodies was angelic.

As Robert Smith sang, “I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you,” I had a kind of Pseudobulbar affect, which is a condition that’s characterized by episodes of sudden uncontrollable and inappropriate laughing or crying. Google anything and you think you have that condition, which is a load of shit. For me, though, I was getting all of the feels, smiling, laughing, and crying tears of happiness. It was as good as I expected, and I was glad I came out to Douglas Park, alone, even after getting ripped off once on Venmo before grabbing another ticket from a reputable source. Though, on a side note, that second ticket seller kept asking me for more money the next day, saying “I’m really broke right now and I shouldn’t have sold you the ticket for that price. Can you please send me ten more dollars, or even five? Anything would help!” Wow. Slowly, Venmo becomes the new Facebroke, but so we go.

I stood at the front of the audience for almost the whole of the first set, then left after I started to get surrounded by kids half my age talking and smoking through every song. I needed to hear Robert clearly and didn’t want to be stepped on anymore or squeezed together as people tried to push forward. So, near the end of the first set, I raced to the back to dance with the adults and to explore the space in the back half of a damp Douglas Park.

One of the things that struck me most over the course of the evening was how much of a jam band The Cure have become. We saw this beginning with Disintegration Street, and it seems to have carried through to their present-day set with choreographed interludes. These jam sessions border more on prog rock than improvisational noodling or rapid-fire bends and hammer-ons. But it brought a new element to The Cure that I wasn’t expecting, and I don’t think I’d miss them again if they return in the future.

The highlight of the night, as I mentioned, was “Pictures Of You,” followed by “Boys Don’t Cry,” and “Close To Me.” “In Between Days” and “A Night Like This” ripped as expected, and “Fascination Street” sounded bigger than I remember, belonging to a stage. “Why Can’t I Be You” felt effortless, like a signpost for The Cure’s career, especially when Robert yells, “Whyyyyyy!” towards the end.

“Friday I’m In Love” seemed to get one of the biggest receptions of the night and sounded good. But, like “High,” it felt a tad too happy and polished for The Cure, but maybe that’s what the younger generation appreciates. Another song that really stood out is “A Night Like This,” another one of my favorites from The Head on the Door, which had a darker, brooding feel to it. I love the way Simon Gallup drives the intro with his foreboding bass line as Smith and Co weave their blanket of instrumentation around him. They really are a stadium band now, but that didn’t stop them from completely drawing the audience in and taking them on a journey that ended Riot Fest in the perfect way.

I left feeling elated and content with my decision to venture out on a dreary Sunday evening when watching football on the couch would have been much easier. I was scammed by the first scalper but did end up snagging a second ticket on Craigslist, for $25, so my cost to see The Cure was around $50, which isn’t bad. I stated earlier in the post that I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see this band if given the chance again, and I stand by that statement. Their catalog is so vast, and their core sound is still intact, so I look forward to new surprises. Finally, I think parking my vehicle by Maria Saucedo was the right decision as I wasn’t stuck in traffic trying to get out of Douglas Park for hours this time.