Aug 08 2008 11:27 am,
Shout Out Louds
Dingwalls,
06/08/2008
It must have been amazing to see The Cure early on in their career. They’re still great now, of course, but to be there in the early 80s, when ‘Fire In Cairo’ and ‘A Forest’ had only just been written and Robert Smith was a lithe, ambitious frontman on the verge of greatness, would have been something truly special. It’s too late for that now, some twenty eight years later, but there’s a shimmer of what it might have been like tonight, as
They’re full of the same bundled, fizzling energy as those early Cure songs (before the (admittedly brilliant) darkness applied itself in spades to Smith’s eyes) – joyous, exuberant songs that fill you with hope and sadness in equal measure, filling you with life as they drain it out of you. The band begin with the sad eyed melancholy of ‘Impossible’, one of the standout tracks on their implausibly good second album, ‘Our Ill Wills’. Immediately, any weight sitting on your shoulders disappears, not just removed, but demolished. ‘Parents (sic) Livingroom (sic)’ is a cherished memory brought to life, forced out of a mind that can’t shut it out and ushered into the ears and lives of all listening tonight.
Two songs before the encore, they bring out Spider from The Pogues, who solos his way through ‘Very Loud’ with his tiny flute. It’s a strange effect and one that probably shouldn’t work, but they make it – just. It’s the impromptu stage invasion during ‘Tonight I Have To Leave it’, the first song of the encore, that really sums up this gig and this band, however. As people clamber onstage to be sing and dance along with the band – who in turn seem bewildered, bemused and just utterly lovely – it feels like the beginning days of something very special. Right now, it’s still possible let their music flow through your veins like vodka, to still be a part of this band, to touch and be touched by them in equal measure. But on this form, that balance won’t last long. It wouldn’t be surprising if they like the band they take so much influence and inspiration from, are going strong in almost thirty years’ time. Let’s hope so.
Mischa Pearlman
