Okay, I went to this thing last night in Nashville at Starwood Ampitheatre and this thing f*cking rocked!! I had my tickets for over a month (cost 40 plus dollars and this was for general admission!) and as of Tuesday afternoon, there was some doubt that I would be able to go because of an unforeseen thing that is work-related. Fortunately, I was able to postpone that thing by one day (but I am tired and having to fly this afternoon), but after what I saw last night and heard, I don't care about being tired. My ticket said 5:00 P.M., but the Tennessean said it really started around 6. So, I using logic, got there a little before 5:30. When I walked in, there was already a band playing. Turned out it was Mogwai, a "post-rock" band in the vein of Sigur Ros and Godspeed You Black Emperor!. I have one of their albums in "Young Team" but never really liked it; however, hearing them live changed my opinion about them. They were very good live. I probably caught the last 15 to 20 minutes of their set. Now the interesting thing about Curiosa, is that there is a second stage in which minor acts like the Muse, Thursday, Auf De Maur (sp?), etc play. I had no idea where this second stage was and didn't really want to leave where I was sitting in the grass to go see people that I had never heard. The bad thing (also a good thing in a way) was that the acts on the main stage would not perform until the second stage acts were done with their set. So, while Mogwai was playing, no one was playing on the second stage and vice-versa. As a result, there were long waits (at least it seemed that way) in between acts on the main stage. So, I got to sit there and see all the people who had come to this. As I expected, there were lots of people dressed in black, trenchcoats, tatoos - most dressed like the stereotypical goth. And here I was dressed in jeans with a dress/golf shirt on! Needless to say, there were some interesting looking people at this thing. Another thing is that it seemed that 75% of the people there were smokers. Granted, I was in the general admission area, but the seats down in front of us had people smoking there as well. I don't care if people want to smoke - that is their business (my sister and brother-in-law are big smokers), but I would prefer not to have cigarette smoke being blown in my face for over an hour. But that was the only bad thing about the evening and that was minor. Okay, the Rapture came on next and even though I had not heard anything by them, I was impressed by this band. They have 4 people and one of them either plays the saxophone or the cowbell, lol! They were more of an emo band, I thought, but they were good - I might have to look into buying a CD by them. "House of Jealous Lovers" was the best song they played. Then it was waiting time again. By now, all that was left to play on the main stage was the 2 main acts I had been looking forward to seeing - The Cure and Interpol. Interpol came on and man, were these guys incredible! It is funny, though, because they don't look anything like I thought they would. They are basically 4 normal guys (the Rapture looked like 4 college students in jeans) with dress shirts and ties and suit pants! At least that is what they looked like from where I was sitting (it might have been just the lead singer who was dressed that way). They played 9 songs - 6 of them recognizable off the album, "Turn on the Bright Lights" including "NYC", "Leif Erickson", "Obstacle 1", and "Untitled" to name a couple. The three songs that I had not heard before by them were also very good - I think one was called "Rosemary" or "Rosary". Definitely the highlight of the show...so far. The Cure came out, it seemed, a little after 9:00. The very first song they played was my all-time favorite Cure song in "Plainsong" (the first track on the "Disintegration" album). I was so f*cking blown away that they played this song (never thought there was a possibility that it would be played), that I was in complete shock and awe at the same time for close to 5 minutes! I finally stood up because everyone around me was standing and breathed it in (while avoiding the cigarette smoke at the same time)! All in all, they played, at my count, 19 songs followed by 4 encore songs. Here is the set list, unofficially: Plainsong Shake Dog Shake (concert staple, from "The Top") Fascination Street The End of the World (current radio hit) Anniversary (dark song off the new album) In Between Days (YES!!!) Just Like Heaven Pictures of You (!!!!!!!!!) (I Don't Know What's Going) On (another song from the new album) Maybe Someday (from "Bloodflowers") Before Three (another song from the new album) From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (from "Wish") The Last Day of Summer (from "Bloodflowers") Push (!!!!!!!!!!!) Just Say Yes (wasn't sure if this was the song but I think it was, I may be getting it confused with The Last Day of Summer) Alt.end (another new song) Us Or Them (yet another new one - this one was probably the best one of the new stuff along with Anniversary) One Hundred Years (from "p*rnography") Disintegration (!!!!!!!!!!!) Encores were Love Song (of course), Play For Today, A Forest (YES!!), and Boys Don't Cry. Of course, I could spend a lot more time talking about the songs that they did NOT play such as "Friday I'm in Love" (the biggest surprise), stuff from the "Faith" album and it would have been great if they could have included more stuff from 2 of their best albums in "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" and "Wish", but when you have been around as long as the Cure and have done so many great songs, they are going to be ones that inevitably get left off. Robert Smith sounded great and the rest of the band were really into the concert. You can tell that these guys really enjoy what they are doing! I was really impressed with the way that these guys carried themselves but also with their musicianship. The crowd went crazy after "Disintegration" which of course led to the 4 encore songs and after "Boys Don't Cry", people (including me) clapped for over 5 minute straight. Robert came back out again and thanked all of us and said "Wow, this has been definitely a f*cking excellent day!" I then headed back to my car and left the place which was a little after 11. And yes I am tired, but like I said before, it was definitely worth it. So, those of you who are going to the show in the Woodlands, I hope it is as good or even better than what I heard last night. You guys have a lot to look forward too, and I wish that I could be there to hear it again! Ciao.
I've got 4 pit tickets to the show in August. As for Muse and Thursday, you've never heard of them? Muse friggin' kicks mucho butt and Thursday is very good also, if you're into the so called 'Emo' type sound. You definately should have checked out Muse though. As for the three new Interpol songs, I heard a few that were leaked over the weekened off of their upcoming album. I'm a HUGE Cure fan, but since I've seen them 15 times since '85, I'm much more excited to see Interpol. Just hoping the temp stays below 100 for the Woodlands show. Nice review though. Thanks.
Yea, I am not really into the "emo" scene at all, but there was a guy behind me who saw all the second stage acts and he said that Muse was the best. He was really impressed by them and I wished that I would have gone over there to see them play now. 15 times?? Wow - granted, I am not a big concert-goer, but I am going to make every effort to see the Cure again whenever they play in Nashville. I still can't get over how well they played and sounded! But Interpol was awesome, too as was everyone else. I knew that there were some people here who were going to the show in August. Just wanted to let people know that this event is well worth your time and money. Hopefully, they (all the acts) will put on as good of a show in Houston as they did last night.
Manny, Great review. I'll be attending the Curiosa Festival on 8/15 in the Woodlands. I mainly bought my tickets just to see Interpol. I'm glad they are playing alot of their songs from their first album. I also recieved an advance copy of their new album "Antics." There are 10 tracks in all. I would say that 4 of them are outstanding, 3 good, and 3 average. I've only listened to the album for a few days now, but I think its growing on me slowly. I really liked the first album, the first time I ever listened to it. I think alot of casual Interpol fans really won't enjoy the album as much as the first one. That song you mentioned with the lyrics of Rosemary, is entitled "Evil." I would say that is probably the best track on the new album. I've listened to The Rapture a little bit, and I think they are a decent band. Havent heard much from Mogwai though. I've really only been a casual fan of The Cure. I have their greatest hits album, and I enjoy it. But I really don't enjoy much of their new stuff on the new album. Thanks for the playlist. I generally like to listen up to the bands and songs that are playing prior to a concert. If my ticket says it starts at 4PM, you think it would be a good idea to show up at 5PM, since these things always start late? How long did the concert last? I am thinking about 5-6 hours for all the acts to get through?
synergy, My ticket said 5:00, but the local paper said it started around 6. So, I came in the middle - 5:30 and Mogwai was already playing. If I could had done it over - I would have gotten there a little bit earlier, like right at 5. But it is up to you - you may want to bypass hearing Mogwai. However, I am not sure if it is always going to be Mogwai, the Rapture, Interpol, and the Cure performing in that order. I do know that the Cure has always gone last, and I would really be surprised if Interpol went 1st instead of 3rd, but it could happen. The Cure has their own website () , and there are people posting about the experiences they had at the shows that have already been performed like Nashville and Atlanta. I would go there and you may find out info that will be useful to you. BTW - the concert took a little over 6 hours. When is the new Interpol album supposed to come out? Do you know? Thanks
It's this close to me! The Woodlands, TX / Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion 8/15/2004 - 4:00 pm The Curiosa Festival- Main Stage: The Cure / Interpol / The Rapture / Mogwai Second Stage: Muse / Auf Der Maur / The Cooper Temple Clause / Head Automatica although someone mentioned the bass player for Muse hurt himself and won't be on. should kick ass nonetheless
El Toro, Glad you brought this thread back. You and everyone else who is going to the show today need to let us know how it went!
Not a bad outing to say the least. As someone posted on The Cure's website, the bass player for Muse was out so that band didn't perform. When we got there The Cooper Temple Clause was playing on the main stage. After a short break Head Automatica started on stage B, followed by The Rapture on the main stage, Auf der Maur on B, Interpol on main, Mogwai on B, and finally The Cure. I mainly went for Interpol and some of the older work by The Cure, but The Rapture, Mogwai, and tctc sounded very good. Interpol played NYC, PDA, Leif Erikson and one or two others from their current cd. Narc and Evil were the tracks they played from their upcoming leaked cd. Curiosa was in Dallas last night and someone mentioned they had 2 encores for The Cure. There was only one at The Woodlands. A few of their older stuff included Lovesong, Lullaby, Pictures of You, Boys Don't Cry, and Just Like Heaven. Their newer work I'm not too familiar with to list. Wish they'd have done Close to Me or Friday I'm in Love but the festival in its entirety was well worth it.
The concert was a blast. I also mainly went for Interpol, and was not dissapointed. I wish they had played more than 6 songs though. They had a good mix of old and new songs. I was surprised with how good Head Automatica and Mogwai were in person. Head Automatica had great energy- its something which is not a given for a rock band. I really didn't like Auf Der Maur that much. I couldnt get into their music for some reason. The Cure's set was decent. I'm not too familiar with The Cure-mostly I know their old stuff. It was pretty cool all in all. While I was watching Mogwai, I turned to my left and suddenly realized Daniel Kessler of Interpol was standing next to me. I talked to him a good five minutes in between Mogwai's set. I asked him how the tour was going and such. An interesting thing he told me was the Houston crowd wasnt as enthusiastic as the other cities they had been to. He also mentioned the crowds werent as big as other cities. He seemed like a really nice guy, and someone who cared about his fans. I was kicking myself for not bringing a camera. Overall experience=A+
synergy, Great story - sounds like you and El Toro and the rest who went got your money's worth. Interpol played 8 songs when they were in Nashville, so I am a little surprised that they only played 6 songs. I am SOOOOOO kicking myself for not going to see Muse play.
