Happy Curechella-versary!

One year ago today, it was Curechella. The Cure were at Coachella and the Cure fans that hadn't already gone home after the Pearl Theater show were making their way to Indio, CA.

Something I didn't mention in my last blog post, which some may not know, was that one of the reasons for the high anticipation regarding these shows was that they were immediately before Robert Smith's 50th birthday on April 21st, 2009 and just weeks before the 30th Anniversary of the official release of  The Cure's first album, Three Imaginary Boys on May 8, 1979. There was a semi-coordinated effort to sing "Happy Birthday" to Robert at the Pearl, but with the sudden end of the show, the celebratory mood had been severely dampened. So when the sun rose on the day of the Coachella show, we literally didn't know what would happen!

Some of the most die-hard among us had already staked their claim front and center and were sweltering through the hot April day in extreme Southern California in order to be close to The Cure during their set. We had a leisurely breakfast in Las Vegas and then drove through the very scenic and deserted Mojave National Preserve and the Joshua Tree National Park on our way down to Indio.




We arrived at Coachella and found parking, bought teeshirts, found a few of our Cure friends and got ready for the show! We did not have much trouble getting up close to the stage as people were leaving throughout the set and we ended up about 4 rows back from the front on Porl's side of the stage as we had been at the Pearl.

Hearing the waves break and roll into "Underneath the Stars" while actually out under the stars again was a huge treat, and for the most part the set was a repeat of the show at the Pearl. Did anyone else notice the inclusion of Wrong Number where the songs had been messed up at the Pearl? We thought it was a nice little insider joke from the band.

Of course, no mention of The Cure's set at Coachella would be complete without telling the story of the end. While we were all enjoying the show, the topic of the encores was pretty fraught  with anticipation, since they had been interrupted mid-encore two nights before at the Pearl. Some sharp-eyed fans noted how swollen Robert Smith's right hand was, but nobody knew what had happened at the Pearl, or what was going to happen at Coachella. All bets were off. So as the main set finished and the guys launched into the same set of encores as at the Pearl, we were all holding our breath. Would we finally get to see the show finished with "Faith"?

The anticipation levels were sky-high. The band seemed to be in a very good mood, so we thought it seemed like a good omen. However, we were all aware that the curfew for Sunday night was midnight, and it was rapidly approaching. So when the first encore started, we were happy and relieved, it was happening! We swayed and sighed and closed our eyes to listen to "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" and watched in  awe as Robert made his guitar scream through "The Kiss", despite a visible injury. 

Then, a pause, holding our breaths again. It was now several minutes past curfew. A collective sigh of relief came when "At Night" began, and The Cure worked their way through the "Seventeen Seconds" encore. We cheered and laughed and bounced our way through "M" and "Play For Today" and clapped at all the right moments during "A Forest". 

Once more came the tension, even greater now. The clock was ticking, and every minute past midnight would cost the organizers money. Would they come back? Uncertainty reigned and we stood there craning our necks toward the stage as some discussions took place between small knots of people to the right of the stage. This was the moment that we missed at the Pearl. No third encore, no Faith. Suddenly, the band launched into "Three Imaginary Boys" and the crowd exploded in cheers. Without pausing, they ripped through "Fire in Cairo" and we cheered louder and longer. Then the familiar melody of "Boys Don't Cry" came, and we danced harder. Suddenly the large video monitors and speakers on the sides of the stage went black. The crowed booed loudly,  but the Cure still played on! Thousands of people sang along to the end of the song and they jumped right into "Jumping Someone Else's Train". Unfortunately, fewer people knew the words to this, so they listened to what they could hear coming from the stage monitors. The song ended, and there was hesitation on stage, but Robert was not to be stopped! He got Jason started on the drums and walked to the front of the stage, encouraging the crowd to sing along. Finally, he gave up and dropped his guitar into the lap of someone sitting at the front of the pit. 

Personally, I've never heard of any show where the Cure was cut off like that as a headliner, ever. Even during the infamous "F*(& Robert Palmer" video they did not get the plug pulled like this. Does anyone out there know if this was the first time? I'd love to hear about it if they were. 

The fact that they tried so hard to give us the encores was incredible, and for weeks afterward I could only describe it with one word. EPIC. When I got back to Utah early on Tuesday morning the 21st of April 2009, it was Robert Smith's 50th birthday that day, and a Belgian radio station was doing a special show about it. Having a connection to a Cure fan that had submitted a page for the 30th Anniversary book, I was interviewed for the radio show on that day just as I had awoken from a very short sleep after a very long weekend, and all I could say about it was EPIC. And it was. I'm glad I got to see it, and I know a lot of people who wish they had. 

Here's my video of the end, and there are a  lot more videos of this moment out there that you can see in the related videos. Watch for yourself and see just how EPIC it was! 

Here's a set of about nine hundred pics of that night from various peeps on Flickr:



Finally happy birthday to Ms. Plainsong who got this show for her birthday present last year!!