2008.12.14 Universal City - Gibson Amphitheatre 'KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas'

Started by crowbi_wan, November 21, 2008, 03:17:52

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j

Thanks for posting the pics (+1).  Looks like you were in the section right above mine in the Loge  :smth023  Crowbi_wan and I were upstairs a couple times hanging out by the bar near the VIP sky box.

minisuperjennifer

Quote from: j on December 15, 2008, 09:26:12
I nominate tonight's show as the lamest Cure show EVER.  Anyone second that motion?  :roll:

After 2 or 3 songs in, the place was already 25% empty.  By the time the crappy old school encore came, the place was close to half empty.  Special guest tonight...Kanye West.  Yay.  Now my life is complete.

On a positive note, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand sounded fantastic.

Yeah, I pretty much agree. I saw the Troub show, ACX and the disastrous Kimmel show. Wrote about it all at http://www.thecure.com/forum/default.aspx?cid=621&tid=305344




minisuperjennifer

Quote from: pink ego box on December 15, 2008, 11:03:57


I got to meet Simon which was both pretty cool and extremely awkward.

How did you meet him, and why was it awkward?



**I modified this post, just to end the quote- minisuperjennifer's comment was included in the quote ~j

pink ego box

Quote from: minisuperjennifer on December 18, 2008, 07:16:12
Quote from: pink ego box on December 15, 2008, 11:03:57


I got to meet Simon which was both pretty cool and extremely awkward.

How did you meet him, and why was it awkward?

Thanks for the rundown of your weekend. I wrote one out on my livejournal but it is inappropriate. haha

I got some backstage wristbands from some guy and while everyone was watching Franz Ferdinand him and Keith U walked by waved and came back a bit later. He mentioned how he knows me and how we met before, which was 4 years ago. Then we kind of just stood there in silence and he said he didn't want to disturb me anymore etc. and left. Came back later in the night and stood arm to arm with me and didn't say a word, stared off into space for 10 minutes. It was awkward because I didn't expect him to come up to me to say hello so I was basically mute and he probably thinks I'm a freak.  :oops:
I know that probably doesn't sound so bad.

minisuperjennifer

Quote from: pink ego box on December 18, 2008, 07:55:11
Quote from: minisuperjennifer on December 18, 2008, 07:16:12
Quote from: pink ego box on December 15, 2008, 11:03:57


I got to meet Simon which was both pretty cool and extremely awkward.

How did you meet him, and why was it awkward?

Thanks for the rundown of your weekend. I wrote one out on my livejournal but it is inappropriate. haha


I got some backstage wristbands from some guy and while everyone was watching Franz Ferdinand him and Keith U walked by waved and came back a bit later. He mentioned how he knows me and how we met before, which was 4 years ago. Then we kind of just stood there in silence and he said he didn't want to disturb me anymore etc. and left. Came back later in the night and stood arm to arm with me and didn't say a word, stared off into space for 10 minutes. It was awkward because I didn't expect him to come up to me to say hello so I was basically mute and he probably thinks I'm a freak.  :oops:
I know that probably doesn't sound so bad.


sounds cool. I'd love to meet the band some day. Good score on the backstage wristbands!

Lady

Very good pics, thanks J! :smth023
Wow, the crowd was very close to the stage!!! :D
[color=red][b]I BELONG TO THE CURE!♥[/b][/color]
[color=black]Lost forever in a happy crowd![/color]
[color=purple][i]I will kiss you forever on nights like this, I will kiss you, I will kiss you...and we shall be together...[/i][/color]
[color=green]CUREFANS.COM RULEZ!:D[/color]

jbud1980

Quote from: j on December 18, 2008, 04:24:29
Thanks for posting the pics (+1).  Looks like you were in the section right above mine in the Loge  :smth023  Crowbi_wan and I were upstairs a couple times hanging out by the bar near the VIP sky box.

no point in taking my camera when in the mezzanine section. i was mainly outside for most of the show sans snow patrol, paramore (buddy wanted to see them) and the cure, mingling with concert go-ers. i did have a long, interesting conversation with a 26 year old, stoned out of his mind, and claiming to be a doctor.

somebody should create a new topic, "worst contact high at a cure show".

j

I forgot to mention that Lol must have not been impressed with the show, especially since his wife and him walked out during the encores!

nausearockpig

Quote from: j on December 19, 2008, 03:25:32
I forgot to mention that Lol must have not been impressed with the show, especially since his wife and him walked out during the encores!

Maybe he thought that "his" old songs were getting butchered with the new lineup?

jbud1980

Quote from: j on December 19, 2008, 03:25:32
I forgot to mention that Lol must have not been impressed with the show, especially since his wife and him walked out during the encores!

...funny that you mention that because i have seen something similar happen, but with people who have stated on more than one occasion that The Cure has influenced them. Trent Reznor and his entourage brushed passed me @ baby rag dog book, not staying for the encores. as well, the lead singer from AFI stopped selling churros around the same time. Perhaps they didn't want to deal with the the crowds/traffic?  ;)

minisuperjennifer

Because I'm still sick from the Jimmy Kimmel wait in the rain show, I'm going to post my LA 12:08 dream story here. I originally posted it on thecure.com and am finding that forum quite- hmmmm strange to put it nicely.


Intro Dramatico
As soon as I found out The Cure was headlining KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas (ACX), I booked a flight to L.A. Then I found out it was one of the hardest concerts of the year to get into. At only 6,000 seats, with a star-studded lineup, and scalpers clamoring to get a share, tickets went on sale only one day before the show and sold out in less than 10 seconds. The most infuriating thing about ticket sales was when, 10 seconds after sale time, Ticket Master said they were sold out of the regular priced ($80) tickets and immediately directed buyers to their affiliate, Tickets Now, who were selling the same tickets for $200. Isn't that called insider scalping?

Anyhow, in the week leading up to my trip all I had for sure was one ticket to an outdoor mini concert on the Jimmy Kimmel show. (Later to find out that's not such a sure thing after all. But hold on, I'll get to that). The night before my flight, I did manage to buy two tickets for ACX from a 'broker' at $190 a ticket. My husband, a US Olympic snowboard coach, assured me that he was happy I had this distraction while he was working in Italy. But as I drove to the airport, I felt more than a little guilty at the money I had spent on those tickets.

minisuperjennifer

The Troubadour
What a surprise I had in store! Saturday morning I woke up at my friend's house in Mt Washington to find that thecure.com announced a free Myspace super secret concert at the Troubadour that evening in West Hollywood. First come first serve.

My friend, Seonaid dropped me at the Troubadour at 11am. I was the 46th person in line. This was the first time I had ever done anything like this. I had never lined up for a band before nor mingled with so many diehard fans. My first (and lasting) impression of LA Cure fans was a great one. They were self-governing the line with a sharpie number system (that the Troubadour in-fact honored) and were a really fun and welcoming group. I met Blanca, T, and Freddy who were right in front of me. They had driven from Anaheim as soon as they woke up that morning. We hit it off right away. We of course shared our favorite songs and stories about the shows we had been to.  Most of all we shared a common enthusiasm. Wow, I was in my own little Cure- obsessed world and there were other people in it! The LA fans I met embraced this little gal from Montana and I felt right at home! We settled in for what we thought would be nine-hour wait.

Two hours later and with about 200 people in line, the Troubadour handed out sparkly red wristbands for the show. They cut off the line at 150 and sent us on our way. Oh no! I had been holding a spot for Seonaid. No one had expected that they would give away wristbands so early.

West Hollywood. What a trip. The unofficial gay capital of the US was a fun and cheerful place to kill a few hours. I had my pizza handed to me with a show tune and saw a young handsome man walking with a toy dog in a baby sling. Not only is it a gay capital, but it truly is a dog capital as well. I watched as a bull dog garnered the love of every patron of a certain chic café and a Chihuahua ate from his owner's lap.

I met Andrew and Crista on Santa Monica blvd. They gave me hope that my friend, Seonaid would still be able to get a ticket for the show if she waited. Rumors that the Troubadour would issue more wristbands were making their way through the Cure fan text-enabled grapevine. Sho drove back across the city to give it a shot.

Told to return only after 7pm, more and more black-clothed fans began to loiter near the Troubadour the later it got. Sho and I, doing our best to be inconspicuous, ducked into a charismatic Italian restaurant next door and had a couple of drinks. (Sho whiskey, me cappuccino.) There, high on energy, we saw Andrew and Crista and met for the first time, Juan. Juan took my compliment of his Morrissey jacket and pretty soon we were rolling in a full-blown Cure conversation.

Outside we convened with Denise and her 11-year-old daughter, Emily. At about 6:30 we got as close as the over bearing bouncers would let us. Then at 7 on the dot, people dashed from all corners of Santa Monica and Doheny to line up. We stood there in anticipation of the Cure event of a lifetime. The energy was palpable.

At this point in the story, I have to leave my friend Seonaid behind. Yes, just as I had to do so at the gates of the Troubadour. Sho and so many other wristband-less fans got shut down and threatened with arrest. Fans were not happy as they watched VIP rock stars and their model girlfriends stroll in past them. I went in with T, Freddy and Blanca and we staked our claim at far stage right: in front of Porl's position. I was so amazed at how close I was that I took pictures of his pedals. I was so close, I was smooshed up to the stage and my hands were on his inputs (oh that sounds weird) but I'm an audio geek and I couldn't help but think of the havoc I could wreck there.

Thank you Mr. Bouncer Steve (who had never heard of the Cure before) for letting me keep my super special spot right under Porl's nose. I was so close I had to lean back when he really jammed out – I could have gotten a black eye from his guitar or knee! They opened with Underneath the Stars and gave old favorites like 10:15 Saturday Night, Pictures of You, Friday I'm in Love, Killing and Arab, Boys Don't Cry, Without You, and Just Like Heaven a rocking kick. Robert danced playfully to Lullaby. The crowd raised their arms to Elise's 'hands in the sky, surrenders it all' (I thought I was special when I was the only one who did that in the pit at Sasquatch).

But I didn't cease to feel special the entire night at the Troubadour. They played a full set and they were amazing! Seriously, when was the last time they played a venue this intimate? There were about 150 of us normal folk and 150 VIP rock stars (who the rest of us could care less about even though they included the likes of Kirsten Dunst and Leo DiCap.) I danced my butt off right under Porl's feet, and it felt like at times he played to me. (Ah, isn't that how we all feel?) Everyone was totally blissed out: Blanca, Juan, Denise almost cried... Andrew and Crista had a "Do the Hanza" sign that made the Getty website and made Porl laugh.

They played two encores and at the start of the first (are you ready folks?) I gave Porl a rose. The moment that he took it from my hand felt like an eternity burned into my memory. I had attached a note about a secret artistic project that I want to do with their music. In the end I felt silly about pitching an idea that way- like a love struck fan;)

Robert's nephew videoed from the stage. What a cute kid. He seemed to be having a great time! Eventually this ecstatic experience had to come to an end. New friends, T, Blanca and Freddy went out of their way to drive me to Seonaid's home (see what I mean about LA Cure fans?). I couldn't fall asleep for an hour and I was wide-awake in the morning with the same excitement!

minisuperjennifer

ACX
So, it was Saturday, the day of the big Almost Acoustic Christmas concert and I was feeling hung over with joy from the concert of a lifetime. To be honest, I got spoiled. Sho and I found our $190 seats to be not so intimate. Granted, it was closer than a convention center but now my perspective has been skewed.

This was the neither Acoustic nor Christmas lineup.

6:00 Vampire Weekend (what in the world does that 60s style prep boy pop have to do with vampires?) 6:30 Snow Patrol (if only their music rocked like their dance moves) 7:00 Scott Weiland (plowed over self-indulgent front man from STP) 7:30 Franz Ferdinand (now we're talking!) 8:00 Their surprise guest was...... Kanye West. I had no idea who he was. Sho told me his name and I thought she said Conde Nast. Not only does he destroy his vocals with Cher-esque reverb distortion, he exploited Korean traditional drumming by pairing it with Blue Man Group stoicism. Anyhow, hip pop. Whatever. 8:30 Paramore (she really could be doing something better with that voice). 9:00 Death Cab for Cutie (always fabulous live!) 9:30 The Killers (a showy hit-filled performance. Bringing back the 80s keys) and 10:00 The Cure.

Their set was similar but shorter than the previous night's. All the big hits, rocked out by their latest powerful lineup. Juan was just a few rows in front of us having a great time. We eventually joined him and danced out the rest of the night. Emails and phone numbers exchanged, I have a feeling I'll see him again....

minisuperjennifer

Jimmy Kimmel extravaganza Part one waiting for the band
Monday morning. 8:30am I hit the road with Sho to her workplace in Burbank. I tried to sleep in the car in the parking garage but, heck I was so close to so many exciting things I couldn't sleep. Taxi, metro, Hollywood. I went to a three-story vintage clothing store that had everything you could ever need for a costume! And then Amoeba records, the famous enormous music store on Sunset blvd. I got some great deals on some cds, got caffeinated and at 3:30 headed to the Jimmy Kimmel outdoor show. The official arrival time was 6:15 but with this crowd, you don't take chances and I'm glad I didn't.
3:30 I won't say exactly where I was, but I was hanging with Andrew and Crista and a couple of guys outside waiting for the band to show up. One of the guys when telling me his name asked me which name I would remember Beaver or.... Something else. I told him it was the second, but now its obvious which one I remembered.

This was so fun! Seriously, I've never done anything like this and I'm glad I've had the chance to experience it. We stood around in the drizzling rain for three hours and laughed the time away. A friend of mine asked me if Cure fans were melancholy... not the ones in LA! The best part was being able to make fun of ourselves while we defended our turf. I also had a run in with some serious mud on my way to a port-a-potty that destroyed my shoes and almost put me on my ass.

At 5:00 the band showed up. We were behaved and didn't go past Peggy, the security guard. That is everyone but Beaver. Beaver looks like your average straight dude yet he had with him a pink ruffled parasol for the rain. When The Cure showed up, he bolted for them, pink parasol over his shoulder. We feared security would tackle him. He must have realized the wind drag was slowing him down because he let the parasol go and it fell into a puddle. How funny and sad it looked laying in the rainy streetlight.

Robert came out of his car wearing sunglasses! How dreary! None of us met the band but we appreciated our glimpse and the scene with the parasol!

minisuperjennifer

Jimmy Kimmel Part deux and finale

Back to the concert line. It was now pouring rain and we got drenched, hungry and cold. The crew did sound check on the outdoor stage. 6:30 An army of security guards marched towards the crowd of 300 and we knew something was amiss. They had just decided to move the concert indoors but that meant that only the first 100 of us could go in! I was lucky to be in the first 30.

After the 100th person in line, it was not a pretty sight. Diehard Cure fans are tenacious and feel their disappointment deeply. There were tears and anger and frustration and just the overall dismay of people getting thrown out. I would have hated to be the one who made that decision. Especially, because the sky cleared up immediately when they started to move the stage. It would have been a beautiful outdoor show.

8:00 treated like children in boarding school, the fortunate 100 were marched to Hollywood blvd to await entry to the indoor show. Little did we know we had another 1½ hour to wait! But that did not stop us from having a good time. We spent the entire time singing. New friends Wayne, Miguel and Jackie chimed in with Andrew, Crista and I. We started out with our favorite Cure numbers, quickly going through Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Interpol, Motown, The Little Mermaid, hip-pop, La Bomba and finally Christmas songs. We were even taking requests from the security guards and would pick certain songs we thought the pedestrians would like.

9:30 OMG are they ever going to let us in? Moving through a metal detector, I heard that they were cutting the crowd off at 50. How awful for the second half of the crowd that had now waited over 5 hours! They didn't even get to see the show.

I found my spot in front of Porl again and was right up against the rope between the crowd and the entryway for the band. Whoever that jackass is who warms up the crowd for the Kimmel show came on stage and tried to entertain us. First of all, Cure fans do not need to get fluffed by some corny, bald fat white dude in a suit. Second of all, he had no idea how many people just got turned away drenched, cold and disappointed.

The band came out and I waved at Porl. He recognized me and gave me a wave!!! The rest of the band slid past, avoiding grasping hands. One woman behind me grabbed Robert's wrist and got thrown out. The camera crane swooped over us. Steady cams tracked the band and they played... The Hungry Ghost, Freakshow, Lets Go to Bed, Close to Me, Why Can't I be You, Boys Don't Cry, JSET, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday Night, and Killing Another. (I guess that's what they are calling it now. I don't blame them.) Although it was very cool to see them for a third night in a row, they didn't sound as good on this studio stage and the band seemed bummed. I think they wanted to play the outdoor show. I wonder if they knew how many fans were turned away.

On their way out, Porl shook my hand! I thanked Simon for the show. In return I got a long intense look. That's one of the highlights of my trip. Other things from the weekend that left an impression... gals and guys yelling "I love you Robert;" the game between huffy bouncers and tenacious fans; pink parasol in a puddle; the woman that came further than I did (from Italy) and spent the last four days camped out at venues, the fabulously huge community of Latino Cure fans, three new friends Wayne, Jackie and Miguel who walked me from the metro to the taxis in Union station, and a nearly endless string of laughter (laughter through the drear- oh my). Thank you Simon, Porl, Robert and Jason for an unforgettable 12:08 Los Angeles Dream. Thank you Cure fans for being so.... You!