08121987

the cure plays the second of three nights in london during the 1987 world tour...

this one opens up w/a pretty complete version of the intro music known as "eyemou," not perfect quality but very listenable. the sound is kinda distorted on this recording--obviously audience sourced--with the louder parts pushing the edges...but still very listenable--and the recording is turned down (which helps the sound) about half-way thru "the kiss." all the instruments/vocals are heard in the mix, so it's well worth having around.

that said, the band rips right into "the kiss," which must have been a stunner to experience from the crowd...absolutely pounding...and even w/the limitations of this recording, you can still hear the squeal of guitars being abused--and it's just right. then before anyone can catch a breath, they take off right into "torture," which is just as quick and sharp.

"piggy in the mirror" follows, a trippy change from the aggressive openers...but colorful just the same. the b-side "a japanese dream" comes next--complete with some great noises from the guitars scraping and scratching.

three "kiss me, kiss me, kiss me" singles come next, all right in a perfect row starting w/"catch" and a very fresh and tightly wound "just like heaven." then quickly into a jumpy version of "hot hot hot!!!" all three are excellent and very much of that time--rawk--and robert gets almost all of the lyrics correct as well.

"a night like this" is always good, tonight setting up a very atmospheric "if only tonight we could sleep..."

"like cockatoos" comes next, before the mood is picked up w/two classic singles...a smart run-thru of "the walk," and a bright performance of "inbetween days." robert is obviously having fun w/the singles, and it shows in the performances. the single that never was..."how beautiful you are..." comes next, and is very nice--and the next song, "the perfect girl," could have been another.

the band sets themselves up nicely for a change of mood and pace towards the end of the set--starting w/"the snakepit" to move away from the singles/upbeat stuff...then into "one hundred years." "the snakepit" is full of cool sounds, even though this isn't a crystal clear recording, you can hear some interesting stuff...and "one hundred years" is strong like it almost always is--robert's guitar work is especially good and harsh--just really biting.

with heads and guitars still ringing, the opening notes of "a forest" spill out--just as perfectly as can be
--and they're off into a great skittering performance, complete w/more robert guitars and the endless pounding of boris on drums and simon's bass. unfortunately, towards the end the sound quality of the recording changes just a bit--becoming a bit more muffled--but this had to be great to hear live. the uncharacteristically optimistic "fight" closes the set...

the energy stays way up for the first set of encores, starting with a manic "close to me," and more dancing follows with both "let's go to bed" and then "why can't i be you?" "why can't i be you?" is extended w/extra lyrics, but i can't really make them out to be anything recognizable--one of the phrases i caught was "let me put my hands on you!" but that's about it. good fun anyway!

a more somber set of songs makes up the second encore, with "one more time" changing the mood..."charlotte sometimes" comes quickly after, with "faith" behind it--both are classic shimmering performances--the first being precise and quick, the latter slowly revealing itself with each guitar line. "faith" has both some improvised lyrics (not much at first, but a "shiver and shake") and then some nice guitar work from robert again...but then some more impassioned lyrics about "staying the same" and "always love you/me," before slowly finding the end...

a very cure-like ending comes next--w/a tease of "plastic passion" robert says "maybe tomorrow we'll learn that one," and then it's into "boys don't cry," "10.15 saturday night," and a ripping "killing an arab," complete w/a strange lyric fluff only robert can pull off. robert keeps playing into the night and then the ominous little keyboard line from "pornography" sneaks in...really pretty cool.

all in all, this is a worthwhile set to have--not one to hunt high and low for or spend massive amounts of time/money on--but a cool and listenable set from 1987 just the same. good, not great--the recording is ok, but the show must have been brilliant.