Cureuphoria

To answear to my own topic on the forum, titled What are your Top 5 Cure moments, here are my Top Cure moments.

As it got too long to suit a forum post, I decided to publish the thing on the blog section. Feel free to go to forum, and publish your list.

Here’s mine…

1) The sneaking into the soundcheck at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 2006.

I actually did that. They let everybody in while the band was still busy with the soundcheck. Of course, all the doors to the theater were shout and there was this “no-access belt” in front of them. I had a ticket for the 3rd row on the ground floor, right in front of the stage, but while waiting to go in I decided to go to the bar that was on the 3rd level.

I was with this japanese girl I just met outside the venue. While walking to the bar you could hear the sound of the band playing inside. I looked around and noticed that there was no security stuff in that particular area and moment. So I went under the “no-access belt” and tried to open the doors to the balcony. Surprisedly they weren’t locked or anything, so I helped myself in and said “Come, come!” to the japanese girl (her name was Nobuko).

I couldn’t believe it: I found myself on the balcony of the totally empty arena of the Royal Halbert Hall with just the band right there in front of me, busy playing Open. I was on the left side of the stage. I felt like I was stealing a magic moment to life.

Adrenaline kicked in, and for that little while I imagined that I was having the immense privilege of having The Cure playing a private concert in one of the most prestigious venues in the world, and for me only. Well, AND for the japanese girl that I pulled in.

She was so happy. She never actually saw The Cure before then, and that show was to be her very first Cure concert. So she must have felt so special seeing them like that, in secret, outside of the normal concert context.

I made sure we would both keep our heads low. I was sure that at any point someone from the security staff would get there and walked us out by the ears and that we would be forbid to see the actual concert as a punishment for breaking the rules (it’s England, what do you know?).

At some point Robert spotted us and turned his look toward us and stared at us for a while, with his head a little inclined, you know, the way he does when he stares up at people on the balconies when he’s performing actual shows.

I instinctively waved at him, kindly, not frantically, and he kept looking toward us.

So, there I was, living the dream of having The Cure playing just for me, and having Robert’s attention on me for a moment.

Well, as cocky as it is, for me the episode makes it number one of the list.

2) The announcement of the Trilogy Concert in Brussels

When the Trilogy concert – and the concept behind it – was announced, one couldn’t help but feeling that the event was going to be a big milestone in the history of The Cure.

The fact that it was to be performed on two exclusive nights in Berlin and filmed for a DVD release, made it even more exciting.

Despite the great pleasure for such an epical event, I felt frustrated of knowing I wasn’t likely to make it to Berlin to see the albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers performed live in their integrity.

Then something magic happened: The Cure announced that there would be a third concert, just a couple of days before Berlin, and that it would be in Brussels, at Forest National.

Now, not only I live in Brussels, but I did live at five minute walking from Forest National. Pure magic.

Call me crazy, but I felt like it was a deserved gift for loving The Cure so much.

And when I walked there – because I just had to walk to get there! – the moon was right up the venue, big and bright and full, and that moment seemed like the perfect night to watch The Cure playing three amazing sets. And it was.

3) The Taormina concert, 2005

Well, I will never mention it enough, you know, the beautifulness of the Taormina show. Never.

Watching The Cure in the ancient greek-roman theater, under the summer sky, has been the most joyful and amazing Cure experience I’ve had. It all just felt so much different than a standard concert.

Everybody’s mood, from the band to the fans, was so special and the sound was the best ever. It didn’t even felt like a concert. It felt like a Cure party, with The Cure them self playing for us. Can I say more about it? I could, believe me, I could.

4) The release of the Wish album

Even thought in retrospective it feels weird to me, Wish has actually been the first new album since I start loving The Cure.

I started to gradually get into the Cure world and music right after the Disintegration release. Then I started to literally get my hands on everything that The Cure ever made. And of course, there was so much stuff to catch up with, and almost about anything was new to me. So it was exciting to dive into that world, made of so many different things – mostly being songs, of course.

But somehow the excitement I got when a brand new album was released after I was officially addicted to The Cure, is the kind you don’t forget. Also, at that time, there was no internet yet, so, back then, those were the days where one couldn’t find much information about the upcoming songs, and the surprise factor made the waiting and the discovery of an album, much more exciting, I think.

5) Making and publishing Cureuphoria.

The willing of making Cureuphoria has been present in my soul for a long, long time. Putting a lot of efforts and some of my professional competencies in web design to build a website that would be at the same time a personal tribute to the band and their work, and to all fans out there – Cure lovers like me – has been and is my way to give what I can to the Cure world. And it is an experience that I enjoy very, very much. The publishing of this project, to me, represent one big moment in my life as a Cure lover.

Otherwise, other than the Top 5…

Ok, the list was actually quiet hard to make for me. I was tempted to extend it to a Top 10 or something, considering all the other Top Moments that I thought deserved to be in mentioned. Anyway, I feel like sharing some of the moments that didn’t make my list but that really could or probably should. Think of them as… b-sides.

B-side #1: The New York double show in 2008

Well, being in wonderful New York, knowing that you are going to see the band playing two show in a row, one day after the other, in two epic venues (Madison Square Garden and Radio City Hall), is just the kind of thing that would deserve to make a list like this one.

B-side #2 Listening to Want live, when it was an unknow song

When the band played some festival in the summer of 1995 they decided to open the show with Want. It was a new, never played before song. And right then, to me, it sounded like the most Curish thing ever. And I got tears in my eyes.

B-side #3 The first time I saw The Cure

Well, I guess that this should be an “everybody’s top moment”, you know… watching The Cure live for their very first time. Mine was in Florence and I got there with my super friend Roy, with a night train. And after all this time, it is still such a beautiful souvenir.

Wrap up.

Ok, there it is, long as it sometimes get when emotions are called to play.

Anyway, without it having to be this long, I’d enjoy knowing everyone else’s Top 5 moments in their Cure life. I am sure there are some, and that you don’t need to dig that deep to find them. Right?