2022.11.06 Geneva - Geneva Arena (Switzerland)

[dsanchez]

presale https://www.ticketcorner.ch/artist/the-cure/

[MeltingMan]

I ordered a standing ticket. No problem. 😎🏔

[MeltingMan]

The start time was stated as 19.00, but the ticket says Caisse & doors: 2 hours before. How am I to understand that? Hopefully I won't make a mistake if I show up at 6 p.m. or do I have to be there around 5 p.m. if I don't want to be at the front but still want to be quite far ahead? 🤔

[Ulrich]

Normally "doors" means that the doors (of the venue) will be opened by that time. "Starting time" usually means the first (support) band(s) will start around that time (but we all know that might change a bit)...
Anyway, if you turn up around 6pm, it shouldn't be a problem at all. Have fun!

[Ulrich]

From the band's official FB:

ITALY - THANK YOU FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEK! TONIGHT #GENEVA - ONSTAGE 7:45PM #

[dsanchez]

Setlist via cure-concerts.de

Alone, Pictures Of You, Closedown, A Night Like This, Lovesong, And Nothing Is Forever, Burn, At Night, A Strange Day, Push, Play For Today, Primary, Shake Dog Shake, From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, Endsong,
E1: I Can Never Say Goodbye, Want, Cold, Charlotte Sometimes, A Forest,
E2: Lullaby, The Walk, Friday I'm In Love, Close To Me, In Between Days, Just Like Heaven, Boys Don't Cry

[Ulrich]

Looking forward to your report, Melting Man, was it a strange day for you? 

[MeltingMan]

Looking forward to your report, Melting Man, was it a strange day for you?

First of all, memories were awakened of my first trip to Switzerland in 1998. At that time there were three of us in a couchette car. The country has never completely let go of me since, and last night's full moon over Geneva seemed to say "stay!". Originally I didn't want to travel by train. The journey time of 12 hours alone put me off, but if you book early you can get to Switzerland quite cheaply. And in the event of 'disruptions' on the German side, the Confederates react quickly and flexibly. Bravo! So I would love to come back...

Around 6:00 p.m. I set off on foot to the arena. Only a few hours I could rest in the hotel and study the city map, which I had done weeks in advance. It was already getting dark and the maze of streets and parking lots should make my orientation difficult. Only planes taking off from the nearby airport allowed a rough estimate of where I was at the moment. Luckily I met Sergej - he also without a smartphone, which is a 'no-go' in Geneva and elsewhere. Soon we both got lost. Sergej was already slightly drunk and therefore did not find the way he claimed to know. So we had to ask our way through and finally arrived at the arena at a quarter to seven, which by the way was still unlit, i.e. the large illuminated signage was missing. Since the doors were already open, I saw a lot of people already in front of and inside the hall. No queue or anything. Many still ate a snack with or without a drink. I went straight into the hall while the support act started to play at seven sharp. I had already lost sight of Sergej.

Back to The Cure, after the opening act, I stood to the side... my pulse started racing. I kept to the left to get a better view of Perry. I was happy when Robert came to this site at the beginning. I waved at him and I mean he saw it. Of course others have done it too. I can read Roger's body language well. There were 'crooked tones' at Closedown. However, I cannot explain the reason. The setlist was decent considering the composition of the audience, but when the first few bars of FTEOTDGS rang out I left the hall in silent protest.   I didn't go all the way for that. When I left the arena around nine, I found that it was fully lit. There's nothing wrong with saving energy, but the neon lighting would have helped me on the way to the event... and I got lost again! Geneva is above all a big city. A friendly French lady finally helped, explaining that unfortunately it's the norm when strangers get lost in Geneva... how true, you just have to be lucky enough to be able to ask locals! As I fell into my hotel bed around ten o'clock, I actually thought 'what a strange day'. First I had a terrible headache, and then the train was more than two hours late... I was exhausted, feet  swollen, I just wanted to sleep. 😴

My conclusion: after eight years it was right and appropriate to leave my comfort zone. It was a sign from "above" that no one was interested in my ticket. The question of what makes The Cure so special has already been answered sufficiently. Assuming they only played new songs, I certainly wouldn't have left the concert early, but that would have meant maybe only a hundred people showed up... almost like in the first half of the 80's. So I don't need a Greatest Hits event with new songs here and there that are very likely to remain unreleased anyway. I like them, so there's no misunderstanding! Just as Robert is aware of this, I am aware of belonging to a minority that is no longer heard.

PS: Finally, something for the heart: the 7th was my hug day. At the Cornavin train station I met a homeless woman who had helped me to find the right street the day before. I thanked her again. Completely unexpectedly she hugged me. I will never forget you... 🥰

[Ulrich]

Thanks, glad to hear you had a strange day.   

Well I still like "From the edge...", if I didn't I'd go get a beer or go to the toilet... I certainly wouldn't wanna miss hearing "Endsong" & some of the encores!!