Recommendations ?

[new2this]

Like the name says, I'm new to this site and not all too familiar with the whole trading thing.  Here's the deal.  I want to do something cool for an old friend and surprise her with some live Cure.  She's a huge fan but has never been exposed to any p2p or trading sites so she has no idea that it's possible to acquire entire shows.  So here goes.  I'm hoping to change that.
I'm wondering just what are considered by fans to be amongst the best Cure performances out there.  Locations, dates ???
I'm throwing myself at the mercy of the group as I have nothing to offer in exchange, yet.
Is anyone willing to take a few minutes and educate me as to how I might go about getting some kind soul to turn me on to a show or two that I could in turn pass on to someone that would be completely thrilled to hear it ?
I've just signed up for this site.  My profile shows that I have 0 Karma.  I'm hoping to improve that score just a bit and this I think is a good step in that direction.
Any help from the group is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[japanesebaby]

I'm wondering just what are considered by fans to be amongst the best Cure performances out there.  Locations, dates ???

well maybe this isn't overly helpful but there's been a LOT of cure shows over 30 years so it's really pretty difficult to quickly think of a simple list of favorites... a massive task...
and it all depends on what one is looking for: recordings with greatest sound or simply the most interesting performances, or set lists with specialties etc etc. - there's really a lot to choose from and people have different kind of preferences, according which to make such favorite picks.
would be easier to name some favorites from a specific era and/or tour, for instance. or, perhaps your friend went to some specific cure show and perhaps a recording of that show exists? just an idea.

[dsanchez]

I'm wondering just what are considered by fans to be amongst the best Cure performances out there.  Locations, dates ???

The best cure performance -ever- (of course, from my point of view) is the official "The Cure in Orange" (1986) concert. Unfortunately it was released only in VHS and LaserDisc and in a poor VCD version. Another excellent concert is "Show" (1992), available only in VHS and LaserDisc.

Now, if you mean recording made by fans, these are the best ones, again in my opinion:

07.06.1982 Paris - Olympia (France) ***!

20.09.1985 Birmingham - National Exhibition Centre (England)

24.07.1989 London - Wembley Arena (England) ***! -- the legendary concert from the "Prayer tour". Many Curefans ask for this one to be officialy released.

08.09.1989 Los Angeles - Dodger Stadium (USA/CA) -- love the passion of the fans before "plainsong" ****!

23.06.1990 Pilton - Worthy Farm (England) 'Glastonbury Festival' -- absolutely outstanding (this was my first "booteg"). Includes songs from all their discography, even the rare "Lament"***

17.01.1991 London - The T & C 2 (England) -- includes the rare "The Big Hand"

19.01.1991 London - Wembley Arena (England) 'The Great British Music Weekend' -- best "Pictures of you" version ever***

09.11.2002 Hamburg - Color Line Arena (Germany) -- Memorable concert, including rare songs as "forever" and many from all their discography*** ***!

Hope this helps.

(***) concerts you can get in great audio quality
(***!) concerts with a great setlist
(****!) concerts with the craziest fans (they scream all over)

[new2this]

Thanks to the both of you for the response.  Picking a time period would probably be a good thing to do and I had not thought of narrowing the field that way.  I realize it's hard to figire out the best of something when there ar so many ways to view it.
And thanks for naming a few specific shows and what makes them stand out.  I'll keep working on this and hopefully be able to pull together some music that will make someone's day.

[dsanchez]

Picking a time period would probably be a good thing to do and I had not thought of narrowing the field that way.

Sure. Most Curefans have a period they like the most. For instance, I always try to get shows from 1986, 1989 and 1992 mainly. If you want a show in particular send me a private message, maybe I can help.

[rodney]

If your friend likes the darker material, the 2002 festival shows are very good.

[fiction]

20.09.1985 Birmingham - National Exhibition Centre (England)

Yes this is a really great show, even in my opinion.

But my number one honest show is 16.11.1984 Washington - Ontario Theater

[japanesebaby]

the "problem" with every list is that it completely depends on what source you might end up getting. just saying "this concert is great!" means nothing much, unless you state which source/version you mean. and even then you have to make sure you get a good generation copy.

(+i'd personally dismiss every source with lots of screamers from the list - it mostly just pains your ears, to hear some teenage fans screaming. just my opinion.)

If your friend likes the darker material, the 2002 festival shows are very good.

that's true. like carhaix 2002: they didn't waste time on any of the boring hits, no pop singles were played(!). too bad the whole concert wasn't broadcast on radio.

i don't generally enjoy dream tour  shows that much but the FM source for oberhausen 2000 is quite pleasant. if you're looking for a soundboard.

even though the album is often rated low by fans, many swing tour '96 gigs are actually really interesting and a great listen and the tour would deserve to be rated higher than it often is. robert's voice was very good during swing tour. the set lists were really varied compared to some other tours.
i especially like many gigs towards the end of the tour, stockholm, kiel, hanau 1996 - some US gigs are really good too.

[fiction]

But my number one honest show is 16.11.1984 Washington - Ontario Theater

Come to think of it, this is just the 7:th or 8:th concert that Boris Williams did with the band. Pretty impressive I´d say.