2008.05.29 Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara Bowl (USA)

[Plainsong]

Any tips on hotels near the Bowl?

[jbud1980]

Have fun at the show guys, Santa Barbara is absolutely gorgeous (my 2nd home). 

[dsanchez]

Not sure if A forest was played as part of the final encore, or as a part of the second encore (Bloodflower didn't point that). But I let it like this for now.

Thanks again to Bloodflower!

[japanesebaby]

thanks Bloodflowers for keeping us directly updated. 

(that's not a bad main set, i wonder why they couldn't do something similar in europe too. and it looks like they are now playing 'other voices' more or less regularly - maybe my sign wasn't in vain(?). then again, little does it comfort me since they are playing it literally on the other side of the world: it's just some "distant noises" indeed.)

[Bloodflower]

Just got back.

AMAZING show. Very much above-average setlist, VERY tight musically, and spent with some really fantastic people. I ran into Plainsong and a friend of hers while we were waiting to get into the Bowl and ended up in the pit with them, bopping along and loving the show.

Just after The Perfect Boy, I shouted to Robert "OTHER VOICES!" when the crowd had quieted down for a second. He looked at me, then back at Jason, and they proceeded into it. I'm sure it was coincidence, but I'm still going to go ahead and credit myself with this one. 

After Killing Another, they tried to leave, but a bunch of us started shouting for just one more. They were a couple minutes under curfew, and Robert said something like "I'm sorry -- there's no time." But a minute later, he and the rest of the band came out and went into A Forest.

Fantastic, fantastic show. Doing the Unstuck, Catch, Other Voices, Primary -- I'm very, very pleased.

And I can't wait for LA on Sunday!

Oh, and I saw, but didn't get a chance to speak to, Brian. Which was half-nice, but I'll take the half I can get.

[gleason_cure]

I really love this concert!!!

It was very energized LOL

The song order was near like the third mexican 2007 night. Good, really good ...

Thanks for keep us updated.

[crowbi_wan]

Good show last night.  Was hoping for Underneath The Stars, but...daylight?...Saving it for the Hollywood Bowl?  Really nice mix for this show.  Soundwise it was right up there with Red Rocks.  Crowd was as enthusiastic, if not more than West Valley City.  Other Voices, Doing The Unstuck.  Yeah, this was a good one.  They should've done the KMKMKM encore as it hasn't been done for several shows now.  Hopefully I can catch that one as my run of west coast dates winds down.   

Porl is always fun to watch during his solos, spinning around, doing his guitar hero moves and all.  At some point during One Hundred Years he knocked over one of his speaker cabinets.  Not sure it it was on purpose or he was just caught up in the moment of the song.     I quickly started snapping some pics and will get them uploaded later on.

Next up is the Hollywood Bowl and Shrine gigs.  Some inside info on the Shrine...well, all I can say is that if you're thinking about going, GO!  It's going to be a good one 

   

   

[cure_kitty]

Thanks for the reviews crowbi_wan & Bloodflower.  Glad you both had a good time at the show!   

Great set-list esp Other Voices & Doing the Unstuck!    

I'm so wishing they did them 2 songs earlier on in the tour.

[coxoxi]

Just after The Perfect Boy, I shouted to Robert "OTHER VOICES!" when the crowd had quieted down for a second. He looked at me, then back at Jason, and they proceeded into it. I'm sure it was coincidence, but I'm still going to go ahead and credit myself with this one. 


Fantastic, fantastic show. Doing the Unstuck, Catch, Other Voices, Primary -- I'm very, very pleased.

And I can't wait for LA on Sunday!

awwww this sounds beautiful! lucky you... 

[Cold Colours]

Well, I'm back home after travelling quite a distance down to Southern California and back for the show in Santa Barbara.  What a fantastic time my sister and I had.  We were right down in the pit, amongst the rabid fans (well, most of them were up for it anyway  ).  I was standing to the left side of the crowd, propped up and primed right in front of Porl the whole time.  The show was an absolute blast from start to finish.  Memorable moments were multitudinous: Porl spinning and inadvertently slipping/tripping himself and tumbling into his Cronford amp stack, then rearing back up and taking a frustrated, embarrassed stance and attacking the still-working one with his guitar, generating a fusillade of feedback; Robert coming up to the edge of the stage repeatedly, smiling down at us and squinting at the request signs fans were holding up; people making the security guy in front of us laugh and use silly sign language style gestures at the crowd;  an assaultive, extremely heavy One Hundred Years (perhaps the best live version I've ever witnessed personally); shouting for "Primary" and actually having it played a few songs later in the set; EVERYONE in the crowd singing along to "Just Like Heaven"; and coaxing The Cure back on stage at the end of the night for a final, furious version of "A Forest" (which we had all been shouting for up front all the way through the final few encores).  It's a damn shame that the other California Bowl concert and the Shrine gig stole all of Santa Barbara's thunder.  The SB Bowl gig was spectacular.  I have to say that it may have topped the performance from the Rose Bowl Wish show way back in 1992 for me.  The fact that I was standing only about 2 or 3 people away from the stage the entire time may have biased my opinion a bit  8).

Not enough time right now to go into a more detailed review.  For now, I'll just say what a privilege it was to have attended one of these SoCal shows.  I've already seen shows at the Hollywood Bowl before and they were always underwhelming, no matter the band.  At the Shrine I most likely would've been stuck way at the back or in the seated areas.  Seated areas?!  Not for this lineup, honey.  The current lineup is a force to be reckoned with, no question about it.  I was amazed at how loud and powerful they are now.  Project they did!  No, Santa Barbara was exactly where I needed to see this lineup of The Cure.  It was intimate.  It was thrilling.  It was visceral.  It was 3 hours I hope I never forget.  Wish I had known what some of you looked like so I could've said "Hi" to some other dedicated Curios.  I may've been standing right next to and bopping along beside some of you Curefans.com members.  Everyone there should have felt lucky.

I've got a few grainy pics I snapped with my cellphone cam once the show got going and just before while the crew was testing out the smoke and lighting rigs.  I stopped snapping once the show really got under steam and started really cooking.  Was too busy dancing and singing  .  Not sure if anyone else would want to see them.  Are cellphone photos even acceptable in the photo galleries?  You guys seem to have pretty stringent standards around this forum  .  Not sure I have mastered the board's nuances just yet  .  I'd feel a little embarrassed putting them up in the galleries with pictures taken from actual digital cameras.  If enough people start clamoring for them, I might put them up.

Hopefully more later.

[Cold Colours]

For what it's worth, I put the best of my batch of pictures I snapped at the Santa Barbara Bowl up in the Gallery.  It's my first picture post on this forum so be kind.  I'm fairly sure that I did everything by the book.  They are not in sequence unfortunately but it shouldn't really matter that much.  I will warn you that the pictures were taken in the heat of the moment with my wimpy little cellphone camera so the quality and composition may not be too high.  I was at the show to see The Cure, not take photographs  .  At least they're something new to look at.

Oh yeah, and the photo that says that they are playing The Blood is not really the one where they are playing The Blood.  That comment goes on a different pic  .  Oops  .

[japanesebaby]

For what it's worth, I put the best of my batch of pictures I snapped at the Santa Barbara Bowl up in the Gallery.  It's my first picture post on this forum so be kind.

thanks

(i really like porl the spaceman )