Robert Smith criticizes The Guardian's review about the RAH Teenage Cancer Shows

Started by dsanchez, April 01, 2014, 11:37:00

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dsanchez

Robert's opinion on a recent review written in The Guardian about the RAH 2014 shows:

From The Cure's Facebook:

Quote"I have it on good authority that the band have read the review and liked it." Caroline Sullivan... WHAAAT?!!

SHE WAS COMMENTING ON HER OWN GUARDIAN 'REVIEW' OF OUR EPIC 45 SONG 213 MINUTE FRIDAY RAH TEENAGE CANCER TRUST SHOW

TO BE CLEAR – AND ON THE BEST AUTHORITY - THE BAND HAVE INDEED READ THE REVIEW - BUT DID NOT LIKE IT!

THE REVIEW WAS – TO PUT IT POLITELY - LAZY NONSENSE... swampy... numbing... yet to work out how to build up a show... GULP!!!

BUT WE NOW KNOW WHERE WE HAVE BEEN GOING WRONG ALL THIS TIME: Condensed into 90 minutes, this would have been one of the gigs of the year

WE PLAY TOO MANY SONGS! DOH! BUT... IS IT NOT VERY OBVIOUS THAT WE PLAY OUR OWN SHOWS (AS OPPOSED TO FESTIVAL HEADLINES) FOR FANS OF THE BAND?

THAT IS WHY WE PLAY A MIX OF SONGS, AND WHY WE PLAY FOR AS LONG AS WE DO...

WHEN WE GO TO SEE AN ARTIST WE ARE FANS OF, WE DON'T WANT THE PERFORMANCE TO END... THAT'S WHAT BEING A FAN MEANS... ISN'T IT?

WE HAD TWO FANTASTIC NIGHTS, PLAYING TO GREAT CROWDS FOR A WONDERFUL CHARITY... THE GUARDIAN 'REVIEW' WAS SAD BITTER JUNK

PS. AS FOR THE TORYGRAPH HACK... sigh... ONWARDS
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

Ulrich

Ha ha, it's a good thing that one of those "professional" reviewers gets her review "criticized" by RS!  ;)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

Lol's comments on the same topic (taken from his official Facebook page):

Quote
Having read some fairly ridiculous reviews of The Cures RAH shows my two cents:
It's funny, nearly four decades after The Cure started The British press still can't work out quite what it is that the band do!
So instead of acknowledging that the fans of the Cure are very happy to see them play a full 45 songs they choose to invent reasons why that can't possibly be so!! Un- bloody- believable!
Unfortunately this myopic view is unlikely to change I fear. Back at the beginning of the band we experienced much the same nonsense . So we left for a while and found out that this particular form of self aggrandizing journalism didn't exist much elsewhere on this planet.Thank goodness!
Everybody I know that went to the RAH shows had a wonderful and extraordinary time. As Robert said today, The Cure play these type of shows specifically " For fans of the band"
Luckily I realize in the grand scheme of things that the fans matter immeasurably more to The Cure than any self appointed critic and what the critics may not realize is....they always did.!
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

MeltingMan

Quote from: dsanchez on April 01, 2014, 11:37:00
Robert's opinion on a recent review written in The Guardian about the RAH 2014 shows:

From The Cure's Facebook:

Quote"I have it on good authority that the band have read the review and liked it." Caroline Sullivan... WHAAAT?!!

SHE WAS COMMENTING ON HER OWN GUARDIAN 'REVIEW' OF OUR EPIC 45 SONG 213 MINUTE FRIDAY RAH TEENAGE CANCER TRUST SHOW

TO BE CLEAR – AND ON THE BEST AUTHORITY - THE BAND HAVE INDEED READ THE REVIEW - BUT DID NOT LIKE IT!

THE REVIEW WAS – TO PUT IT POLITELY - LAZY NONSENSE... swampy... numbing... yet to work out how to build up a show... GULP!!!

BUT WE NOW KNOW WHERE WE HAVE BEEN GOING WRONG ALL THIS TIME: Condensed into 90 minutes, this would have been one of the gigs of the year

WE PLAY TOO MANY SONGS! DOH! BUT... IS IT NOT VERY OBVIOUS THAT WE PLAY OUR OWN SHOWS (AS OPPOSED TO FESTIVAL HEADLINES) FOR FANS OF THE BAND?

THAT IS WHY WE PLAY A MIX OF SONGS, AND WHY WE PLAY FOR AS LONG AS WE DO...

WHEN WE GO TO SEE AN ARTIST WE ARE FANS OF, WE DON'T WANT THE PERFORMANCE TO END... THAT'S WHAT BEING A FAN MEANS... ISN'T IT?

WE HAD TWO FANTASTIC NIGHTS, PLAYING TO GREAT CROWDS FOR A WONDERFUL CHARITY... THE GUARDIAN 'REVIEW' WAS SAD BITTER JUNK

PS. AS FOR THE TORYGRAPH HACK... sigh... ONWARDS
LESS IS MORE.
Robert,come on. :roll:
En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

japanesebaby

all i can think of is nothing ever seems to change *sigh*
"People don't forget the penman
It's just that in 1979 2014 people shouldn't be allowed to get away with things like this."

as if!

The Cure - 04 A Desperate Journalist [BBC Sessions] [HQ 320 kbps]

Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

japanesebaby

i was curious to dig into some old stuff for comparison: compare the review in the guardian of the RAH gig in 2006 to the current one.
seems like back in 2006 they still had some standards/reviewers who knew their job - five stars.
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

dsanchez

Quote from: japanesebaby on April 05, 2014, 12:12:12
i was curious to dig into some old stuff for comparison: compare the review in the guardian of the RAH gig in 2006 to the current one.
seems like back in 2006 they still had some standards/reviewers who knew their job - five stars.
thanks for sharing this!

here the online version of the review: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/apr/04/popandrock
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

japanesebaby

Quote from: dsanchez on April 05, 2014, 22:49:40
thanks for sharing this!

here the online version of the review: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/apr/04/popandrock

you're welcome. i knew i could have googled it, that it was probably available online too. i guess i'm just a bit old fashioned, with my precious paper cuttings ;)
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Magnetfisch

yeah, I read RSs "in your face" reply back then. fab thoughts! makes us proud fans, eh?

MintQR

I was "witnessing" this whole Robert's bursting out on twitter, it all sounded quite emotional, in my opinion and I was really pissed off at the way this woman treated him and the review.. and the band...

On the other hand this situation made me realize something else too - we ' as in: we - the Cure fans - are really a bit of a dying species... or at least in danger of extinction. Less and less good music is being produced and people expect less and less it would seem.

BTW - David really deserves credit for keeping this forum alive, it's always great to pop in here and read what all you guys have to say :) It really melts my heart :D 

Ulrich

Quote from: MintQR on September 15, 2014, 16:30:45
On the other hand this situation made me realize something else too - we ' as in: we - the Cure fans - are really a bit of a dying species... or at least in danger of extinction. Less and less good music is being produced and people expect less and less it would seem.

I don't know, I didn't think about this much... The concerts of The Cure seem to be well-visited to me... (but then again, they don't tour for months currently).
I'm sure there's loads of Cure fans out there still. And the band is bound to playing more gigs here and there, I would guess.

I don't agree with the "less and less good music" - at the moment, I have a pile of new albums to listen to, but not much time, that's annoying! So many old and new bands are out there touring or releasing new albums, with the internet it's even easier to find what you could like (because you can give it a quick listen before you buy anything)...

However, the lack of "Cure news" is a bit worrying, I agree with this. No new album on the horizon, no rumours of the band entering a studio, no release date for the "4:14 Scream" album, no release date for the planned live DVDs (South America and others). A Beatles cover recorded in 2011 is a big news event in these rather uneventful times...
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

cheyler

The 2006 show was the breakout of the 'new' Cure at the time with the 2005 gigs being the 'getting used to each other again' period, seems like.  The marathon gigs of 2008 were very fine, always left wanting more which is for me sadly not the case with the current line-up.  The old attention span isn't what it once was, that may be the problem.  Could use a smack on the head with an 'attention spanner' if you get my meaning.  Glad to see Harold & Joe and 2Late.  Not glad to see the set list beginning to ossify.  Not sure I can really expect much from the band at this point...hope for, sure...but not expect.  They've won the game you know?  How competitive can one feel when you've crossed the finish line in first place?  Plus Roger is (sorry) nearly 60 and everyone except Jason in their mid-to-late-50s.  Not a lot of bands are going to hop back on the 'album-tour-album-tour' treadmill at that time of life (not that it's old, I'm only a few years behind and older than Jason as it is).  Plus without a record label the expenses come right out of the old bank account.  The earnings more than make up for it (obviously) or they wouldn't do it.  Lots of reasons to lay low, probably should be glad they play any gigs at all.  Maybe, just maybe, they still enjoy it!!!!  Can't imagine another world tour like 2007-2008, no matter what the rumors are.  Would like to see more than summer festivals on the itinerary however...

MeltingMan

Quote from: MintQR on September 15, 2014, 16:30:45we - the Cure fans - are really a bit of a dying species... or at least in danger of extinction. 
Yes.I mean the danger is quite existing considering the audience in general at the moment,
but...we are still alive. popcorn
En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

Ulrich

Quote from: MeltingMan on October 16, 2014, 18:25:16
Yes.I mean the danger is quite existing considering the audience in general at the moment,
but...

You shouldn't worry too much, millions (literally!) have bought the albums. Many of those might have forgotten about the Cure in the meantime, but there are still many fans left... (and not to forget the "occasional" fans who would go to a concert if they'd play nearby).  :)

Btw, this idea (to play one album as a whole in a cinema) seems not bad to me and I guess it's not just coincidence that they chose this Cure album for the event (goes to show that there are Cure fans in sometimes unexpected places):
http://curefans.com/deutsches-forum/25-jahre-'disintegration'/msg761156/#msg761156
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

Quote from: MintQR on September 15, 2014, 16:30:45Less and less good music is being produced and people expect less and less it would seem.
i can't agree with you on this one. there's some fine music being produced these days. just to cite an example, listen the latest work of 65DOS (they supported The Cure in their 2008 4Tour), it's amazing (and way better anything The Cure has produced in the last decade)

Quote from: MintQR on September 15, 2014, 16:30:45
BTW - David really deserves credit for keeping this forum alive, it's always great to pop in here and read what all you guys have to say :) It really melts my heart :D 

Thanks :oops: however I would mention Ulrich, as well :smth023 He has been doing a great job here and has been more active than me in this year - Slowdive reunited this year and they have my priority until The Cure goes back on tour :P
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo