| finsbury park 13/06/1993 |
| shiver and shake shake dog shake one hundred years just like heaven push fascination street open high from the edge of the deep green sea disintegration end friday i'm in love three imaginary boys it's not you boys don't cry fire in cairo robert acoustic a forest good/unique performance |
| the cure plays the great xpectations/xfm concert in finsbury park... in their only live performance of 1993, the cure plays a benefit concert (along w/other artists) to support the radio station xfm--a radio station in london that would play alternative music--seeking liscensing from the government...and a unique performance--the cure played as a four piece band, w/porl having left after the wish tour. and then later made even more important when boris later leaves the cure...making this performance w/the cure his last. the recording isn't great, it's ok and listenable...this recording sounds like an mp3-sourced recording, with a few of the tell-tale noises, but it's not awful. the mix of instruments and vocals are good, there's just some noise in the overall mix--you can still listen to it. the show itself is really cool and different, starting w/"shiver and shake" and then "shake dog shake." |
| both are really aggressive and good, the same mood continues on right away into..."one hundred years!" three songs in, and the cure have already played three really driving/powerful songs--and "one hundred years" keeps things going w/momentum and mood. very good stuff!! a unique version of "just like heaven" comes next, it's cool because they use guitars (mainly perry) to play what are usually keyboard parts!! perry plays all the guitar parts that porl used to play, and then also uses guitar when needed to play the important keyboard lines...interesting and different =) the crowd sings along pretty loudly at the beginning. robert says "this is something we have't done in a long time, it's called 'push.'" and off they go...a really good ripping performance, with some energy and force to it. followed by a guitars only version of "fascination street," which is actually cool too. there's just one place where either robert or perry plays just a bit of one of the keyboard parts, but for the most part it's just straight on--and good!! very "alterna-guitar-rock cure!" the same thing can be said for a nice version of "open," guitars swirling around and about in the mix... everything sounds really good and has a slightly aggressive tone, making some really good noise. in a very familiar move, "open" is followed by "high," just like most of the wish tour from the year before--and then as if to continue the wish theme--they play "from the edge of the deep green sea" next. some excellent guitar noises in this one, and a good all around take--brilliant. the following attack of "disintegration" is just as good--really powerful, w/guitars replacing the keyboard for the little signature repeated pattern...but it sounds just as good, and the band is obviously full of energy and play this one really well. robert (who's been in excellent voice throughout) really sings this one well w/out falling apart. then it's on into "end," which features more good guitar work and some different sounds...excellent noises!! they leave the stage w/the guitars still ringing w/feedback... only to come back w/"friday i'm in love," which robert dedicates to porl and janet....and the crowd jumps back into the mix singing very loudly along w/robert--quite up and not at all like "phoning in the hit singles yet again"--they sound quite fresh. robert stays w/the acoustic guitar from "friday i'm in love," and they continue on w/"three imaginary boys," and it has a unique sound...it's actually quite cool, and when perry comes in w/the solo on electric guitar, it takes off like a rocket =) robert then says a few words about not knowing if they've ever played the next song....and then they jump into the very old but very good "it's not you." and they play it very well--it's excellent!! robert (still playing acoustic guitar) then leads them right into "boys don't cry," which gets the crowd up and jumping...and singing...the energy never fades or falls, the band seems to have been really ready to play. "fire in cairo" comes next, w/robert alone playing acoustic guitar. there are some awful back-up singers in the audience, but they really can't derail this performance/recording--it's very good. the cure ends the night w/"a forest," (the opening synth being played on treated guitar maybe...borrowed synth) and it's still very energetic. robert plays some wicked wah-guitar in this one, not the normal skittering and shimmering guitar lines throughout--in some places it's very familiar, but in others robert plays w/a wah-effect and gets some excellent sounds, he goes out of his head. then a variation in the ending leads things in one direction...only to have them reintroduce the chords over again w/a different feel and beat, all the time w/robert pushing and pulling sounds out of his guitar, getting faster and faster again. and then simon's bass is alone... this is (or more correctly was) an excellent fucking show!! the cure played a brilliant set w/an amazing amount of energy--and the songs were a great selection/mix of different stuff. this is a must have show/recording just for the performances alone--they blow away the limitations of the less-than-stellar recording..and in hindsight, this was a brilliant goodbye from boris williams as well... |