The Cure at the Pantages Theatre

Check out my photos of The Cure at the Pantages Theatre over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Night 2 at the Gibson Amphitheatre

It was the hottest ticket in town. KROQ constructed an alternative rock fan's wish list on night number two of their annual Almost Acoustic Christmas show.

The Cure




The mood turned as The Cure wrapped up the evening with a marathon set for a radio station run show. After five hours of solid music, The Cure still managed to get people out of their seats as they played a career spanning set. "The Perfect Boy" from their new album 4:13 Dream easily blended in with such staples as "Pictures of You", "Lullaby", "Friday, I'm In Love" and "Just Like Heaven". The Cure even came back for an encore filled with classics like "Boy's Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train".

The Killers




The Killers easily had the best set of the evening. From the opening showering guitar notes of "Human" to the final synthesizer swell of "Mr. Brightside". Vocalist Brandon Flowers was in top form gesticulating his vocals across the stage as they ripped through "Somebody Told Me". "Read My Mind" was as glitzy as the Las Vegas illuminated letter "K" in front of Brandon's keyboards.

Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie followed with a tight set, as vocalist Ben Gibbard was a lean mean fighting machine with his Obama stickered guitar. Death Cab played a shortened set but made the most of their time with "The New Year", "Long Division", "Soul Meets Body" and "Cath". I was surprised they played the eight-minute "I Will Possess Your Heart" as that chewed up most of their time.


Kanye West



A slew of WTF? texts lit up my phone as the one and only Kanye West made a surprise appearance. This confirms in my mind, Kanye's bid to crossover into the alternative rock audience. A lot of the folks knew the songs and the audience reacted favorably after catching their collective breath. Kanye is quite the showman and seemed to revel in the fact that he could rock an audience that wasn't expecting him. "Stronger" with its incorporation of Daft Punk samples was the highlight of his set.


Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand rocked the house. This was the case back in 2004 when they were only upstaged by a blazing performance from Muse. Franz Ferdinand would get upstaged again later but they had everyone's attention in the building during their way too short set. "Bite Hard" from their forthcoming album Tonight:Franz Ferdinand lived up to its name with its rapid-fire dance fueled guitars and sinewy synthesizers. There was some ironic symbolism when they played "This Fire", as Franz Ferdinand figuratively burned the city of Los Angeles with their performance.

Scott Weiland

Scott Weiland managed to find time to put together another solo album in between his stint in Velvet Revolver and the reformation of Stone Temple Pilots. As much as I like Stone Temple Pilots, I can't say the same thing about his solo work. Scott Weiland's cover of The Smiths "Reel Around The Fountain" was unnervingly uncomfortable. "Paralysis" was another meandering tune that seemed out of place in the context of the evening. The good news is at least Scott isn't collaborating with Timbaland.

Snow Patrol


It was anthem time as Snow Patrol tried to crank out as many hits in their allotted time slot. The moody swell of a Moog Voyager synthesizer signaled "If There Is A Rocket Tie Me To It". Paul Wilson was rattling my teeth with his lefty Rickenbacker bass throughout the set. "Chasing Cars" was a highlight but I was surprised they didn't play "Run".

Vampire Weekend


Does KROQ even play Vampire Weekend? Opening a bill as big as this can be daunting but Vampire Weekend was up to the task by playing a brisk thirty -minute set including the bouncy "Oxford Comma" and the delightful "Mansard Roof". "A Punk" garnered the biggest reaction with early attendees dancing in the aisles.

The Cure at the Cox Arena

My Southern California tour of The Cure came to a close with one final stop at the Cox Arena in San Diego. Since my photos from Santa Barbara were used in OC Weekly for my review of their Shrine Auditorium show, I was looking forward to offering both the photos and review of their San Diego on my site.

65daysofstatic





The instrumental bludgeoning sounds of 65daysofstatic continued to grow on me with each successive live show. It was tough for me to appreciate their noisy racket in Santa Barbara because they were playing in the direct sunlight. Their dark and foreboding tunes fared much better in the vast confines of the Cox Arena with minimal stage lighting. 65daysofstatic released a new EP entitled The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties which is a pulsating electronic whirlwind of synthesizers and programming. 65daysofstatic opted for some of their more metal tinged instrumental tunes for the crowd. I recommend you listen to "Retreat! Retreat!" which is from their album The Fall Of Math for a good representation of their sound.

The Cure


The epic lead off song from Disintegration, "Plainsong" sparkled as bright as the background stars projected against the towering screens behind The Cure. The Cox Arena was electric on this particular night as they stood and cheered throughout the nearly three hour set. The fluid guitar lines of "Prayers For Rain" poured over the audience and drenched everyone in sound as Simon Gallup (Bass) dialed up some jet engine flanging on his Gibson Thunderbird Bass. A screaming wah pedal lead was quickly backed by Simon's pulsating bass line as The Cure embarked on "The Walk".



Jason Cooper(Drums) showed off his drumming skills with the syncopated beats of "To Wish Impossible Things" with Simon's bass quietly creeping along in the background. The stuttering bass line of "Pictures of You" was hypnotic as Porl Thompson (Guitars) added coats of atmosphere with his 12 string guitar. It was a spine tingling moment as the cheers from the crowd were deafening after Robert completed his first verse. Robert Smith's songwriting skills have been well documented but his tremolo picking during "Lullaby" was strong enough for me to appreciate his guitar technique. "From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea" had Robert on his custom Schecter acoustic guitar as Porl shined with a wild shredding solo.



The Cure have been releasing new songs around the 13th of every month. "The Perfect Boy" is one of The Cure's new songs that I anxiously await as it is could have been included on Wish. "Hot Hot Hot!!!" had a loose almost funk feel to the song as Porl was frequently using his wah pedal. I already downloaded the new Cure song "The Only One" as it is an instant classic with its propelling bass line and shimmering guitar lines. "The Blood" was a nice surprise in the setlist with its seductive guitar lines as Robert had a nylon string guitar.



Another spine tingling moment of the show was the back to back wallop of "In Between Days" and "Just Like Heaven". The Cure didn't stop as they continued to play hit after hit. The windy visuals of "Jumping Someone Else's Train" perfectly fit the hyperactive bass line. Robert Smith used a glass slide to replicate the screams of "Lovecats". The multiple encores kept coming with "A Forest" perfectly capping the night. I have to give a lot of credit to the enthusiasm of the San Diego audience for making this the best of the three Cure shows that I saw.

The Cure setlist for San Diego at the Cox Arena (6/3/2008)
"Plainsong"
"Prayers For Rain"
"A Night Like This"
"The Walk"
"The End Of The World"
"Lovesong"
"To Wish Impossible Things"
"Pictures Of You"
"Lullaby"
"Fascination Street"
"From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea"
"The Perfect Boy"
"Hot Hot Hot!!!"
"The Only One"
"The Blood"
"Sleep When I'm Dead"
"Push"
"In Between Days"
"Just Like Heaven"
"Primary"
"Shake Dog Shake"
"The Baby Screams"
"One Hundred Years"
"Disintegration"
"Boys Don't Cry"
"Jumping Someone Else's Train"
"Grinding Halt"
"10.15 Saturday Night"
"Killing An Arab"
"The Lovecats"
"Let's Go To Bed"
"Freakshow"
"Close to me"
"Why can't I be you?"
"Play For Today"
"A Forest"

The Cure at the Shrine Auditorium

Check out my review of The Cure at the Shrine Auditorium for OC Weekly here. The slideshow of pictures from Santa Barbara is here.

Download Festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre

One of my first concerts in the early years included an amazing performance by The Cure at the Rose Bowl back in 1992 with Dinosaur Jr. opening. I had a bunch of The Cure shows lined up but was disappointed when they announced they were postponing their shows in order to work on their new double album. One of the few dates they kept was the Download Festival at Shoreline amphitheatre. I opted to miss one of Morrissey's shows in order to go to Mountain View to catch The Cure.

I was too late to catch Love Like Fire and was disappointed I missed them. They totally rocked the Detroit Bar last time I caught up with them. I still can't get enough of their new EP "An Ocean in the Air". I will catch them again for sure.

She Wants Revenge



I wondered into the Shoreline Amphitheatre as She Wants Revenge were rounding out their set. I saw the debut of their new tunes at the OC fair . They have recently released a new album entitled "This is Forever" that I have on deck for evaluation. I did catch the new track "This Is The End" which ironically had a Cure vibe to it. I will see their full set at the Grove in Anaheim.


Black Angels



They had two stages in different locations at Shoreline Amphitheatre and I ran to the other stage to catch the Black Angels. Black Angels have a hallucinogenic vibe that conjurs visions of sitars, pipes, and kaledioscopes. I enjoyed both of their sets when I saw them open for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club earlier this year. The Black Angels are touring behind their psychedelic offering "Passover". I did spot a Moog Opus 3 on stage and a Vox Jaguar keyboard that helped transport the audience back in time. It was still early in the day and weird seeing them behind a gorgeous blue sky versus a dark smoke filled club. I left their set after a handful of  songs because I didn't want to miss any of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.


Metric



My friend texted me in the middle of BRMC to tell me that Metric was destroying over at the side stage. I was not going to miss BRMC, but quickly walked over to catch the remaining songs of Metric. I realized that my friend was right as Emily Haines (Vocals/Synths) was jumping all over the stage. When I wasn't admiring Emily's performance, I spotted a Sequential Circuits Pro-One that she was hammering on to get some warm analog patchs. I manuvered closer to the stage to see that James Shaw(Guitars/Synths) had a Dave Smith keyboard. I was thinking that Dave Smith would probably approve. It turns out he did, because he was standing in front of me. I recognized him from my trip to NAMM last year, and managed to talk to him for a bit. I forgot to ask him about the drool worthy new Prophet '08. Metric did a phenomenal job and got the crowd really going when they played "Stadium Love". If I didn't have my Morrissey marathon, I would have checked them out at one of their shows.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club




Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) in the middle of the day was another odd site to see. The sun must have baked Robert Levon Been (Bass/Vocals) as he wore his black leather jacket. The sun was outshone by BRMC's set as they simply killed it. They opened with "Took Out A Loan" and never looked back. Peter Hayes (Guitars/Vocals) managed to grab a violin bow to use on his guitar for the opening noise washes of "All You Do Is Talk" which happens to be one of the best tracks off of "Baby 81". "Weapon Of Choice" was a crowd pleaser as some of the audience members started to rise out of their seats. I was surprised that they played "American X" as it included the feedback symphony ending by Robert that runs for about eight minutes. I laughed when I saw Robert had a strip of black tape over his Fender Telecaster as they are sponsored by Gibson Guitars.
 
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Setlist at the Shoreline Amphitheatre
"Took Out A Loan"
"Berlin"
"Love Burns"
"Spread Your Love"
"Ain't No Easy Way"
"Stop"
"All You Do Is Talk"
"Weapon Of Choice"
"666 Conducer"
"Need Some Air"
"American X"
"Whatever Happenend To My Rock 'N Roll(Punk Song)"

Kings Of Leon


Kings Of Leon were closing out the second stage and I checked in with them. They sounded great but were having monitor problems and could not hear themselves that well. "My Party" was extra loud with Jared Followill (Bass) knocking out the fuzz drenched bass line on his Gibson Thunderbird bass. I heard some more of their set in the background as I went to get some dinner.


AFI



I heard of AFI back in the day when I saw Screw 32 play up in Northern California. Screw 32 had a bunch of AFI stickers on their guitars and told the audience to check them out. I never got into them that  much but their stage lighting was fantastic for photography. Jade Puget had a bright white Gibson Les Paul. I heard they did a cover of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust".


The Cure



The Cure postponed all of their North American dates except for this show. I imagine they were contractually obligated to fulfill this date as they were the headliner for the Download Festival. I was curious to see how the band would fare without keyboardist extroadinaire Roger O'Donnell .  The Cure is now a four piece with Jason Cooper (Drums), Porl Thompson (Guitars), Simon Gallup (Bass) and Robert Smith (Guitars/Vocals).  They opened with the logical track of "Open" and I couldn't help but have flashbacks from the 1992 Rose Bowl show. "alt.end" was next and I was waiting for a song that had keyboards to come up in the set.Robert Smith was playing his custom Schecter Ultracure signature guitar. Porl Thompson was playing his custom Schecter signature white guitar with a Bigsby Tremolo. Porl was attempting to play some of the keyboard parts on his guitar but it didn't sound quite right in the context of the song. Robert Smith sounded timeless as ever and commented to the crowd how it was such a big departure to be in the studio one moment and then in front of a large screaming audience the next moment. Simon Gallup knocked me to the floor with his low hanging bass and trademark high bass notes. Jason Cooper must run marathons to keep in shape in order to keep the beat for almost 3 hours. The sheer length of their set makes me wonder why other bands can't play longer sets.

The Cure Setlist for Download Festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre (10/06/07)

"Open"
"Alt. End"
"A Night Like This"
The Baby Screams"
"The End of the World"
"Lovesong"
"Pictures of You"
"Lullaby"
"Maybe Someday"
"Kyoto Song"
"Please Project"
"The Walk"
"Push"
"How Beautiful You Are"
"In Between Days"
"Just Like Heaven"
"Primary"
"If Only Tonight We Could Sleep"
"The Kiss"
"Never Enough"
"Wrong Number"
"Signal To Noise"
"One Hundred Years"
"Shiver and Shake"
"End"
"Three Imaginary Boys"
"Fire In Cairo"
"Boys Don't Cry"
"Jumping Someone Else's Train"
"Grinding Halt"
"10:15 Saturday Night"
"Killing Another"
"Play For Today"
"A Forest"