new york city second kiss 11/08/1987
					after playing madison square garden the night before, the cure plays a smaller club show at the ritz in nyc during the 1987 kissing tour... and the recording isn't spectacular, but kinda noisy (w/tape hiss in the mix) w/steady sound. good solid mix of instruments and vocals, and once you get used to the sound...it's good, listenable--far from perfect--but something you can easily listen to... and robert asks "how many of you went yesterday?" before "shake dog shake" instead of the normal tour opening of "the kiss." it's fun, a good show and change from the normal 1987 kissing tour set-lists w/this smaller show. so "shake dog shake" sounds fresh and powerful--and a quick  "play for today" sounds really tight as well, very punchy drums/bass lines driving it along. everything sounds really energetic, "torture" "primary" and "just like heaven" all jump w/color and movement, never losing momentum--all sharp!! robert is quite chatty, even if i can't make out what he's saying most of the time...but he does say "this is apt, this is called 'hot hot hot!!!'" before they jump into that one...and a good take!
	shake dog shake play for today torture primary just like heaven hot hot hot!!! catch the walk inbetween days a japanese dream the perfect girl shiver and shake a forest extra lyrics/verse--excellent performance close to me slight recording flaws let's go to bed why can't i be you? extended/some extra lyrics three imaginary boys boys don't cry 10.15 saturday night killing an arab "killing everyone else in the world" forever very short version wild thing
		after "hot hot hot!!!" comes "catch," which is nice--and by now, it's quite obvious that this is a different show...no really dark stuff at all (except perhaps an angry "shiver and shake" later in the set)--this is almost like a singles show kinda feel. and while some fans/reviews might not like it, the cure are just as brilliant w/creative pop and singles as they are w/atmospherics and darker material...curefans and the many different members of the cure themselves may find one or the other more important and/or rewarding--but they've always been successful and adept at both!! so an off-center pop/singles show can be just as creative and interesting as a fourteen explicit moments show...or a dream tour show... "the walk" keeps the crowd moving, and "inbetween days" is also good--bouncing off the walls!! the next one is a bit of a change for the crowd, as the band jumps into a performance of the b-side "a japanese dream." pretty cool and pretty good...more robert chit chat follows, but i can only make out bits and pieces (not even complete thoughts) before "the perfect girl," which is nicely done. much more attitude follows w/"shiver and shake" as it burns w/some real fire...excellent!! and then robert says something about the last of this part (ending the set i'm sure) not w/the normal kissing tour closer "fight," but "a forest" instead. and it's a good one...the band are right in the middle of a brilliant creative period (from 1985 w/"the head on the door" and the head tour...up to and including 1989 w/"disintegration" and the prayer tour) where everything kept getting better and better...and live performances are growing more and more fully realized..."a forest" is always reaching new high points during the shows, and this one is among the highs--relentless drumming and bass work provide an excellent jumping off point here, and robert takes off...extra lyrics follow the normal ones, and then some super guitar work comes quickly after. nearly 12 full (and hot) minutes--and not at a slow pace!! after a quick breath, the band comes back out w/"close to me." the beginning has a few slight recording flaws (change of depth, quickly back to normal), but it's fun--as is "let's go to bed," fun and everyone's dancing no doubt--right thru "why can't i be you?" as well!! quite a little package of fun singles--dance party time, and robert plays w/the vocals lots. "why can't i be you?" is extended into different directions...extra lyrics are in there too, but i can't decipher them really...but it eventually just gets more and more over the top, really good. then comes "three imaginary boys" (robert plays a few recognizable guitar chords from "it's not you" and "fire in cairo" first to tease everyone)...it brings things back down to earth, but that's not bad at all...a nice change from the very upbeat singles. then the classic pop of "boys don't cry" is next, and then "a song we haven't done for ages" says robert...as they go into "10.15 saturday night." it wasn't played all too often on the kissing tour, which explains the introduction...it's good, but some real fun starts after... robert says a few things (can't quite make them out) and then "this is called 'killing everyone else in the world.'" which turns out to be "killing an arab," with some lyric changes! funny stuff, all round...and then sure enough, the second chorus comes and robert sings "killing everyone in the world" over the top. the third verse is all improvised and different, and everyone just keeps bashing it around until the end...good aggressive stuff, followed by some "forever" chords when the noise dies down...some lyrics, too...and then suddenly it slows down, changing slightly until the guitar chords actually become "wild thing!!" off they go playing "wild thing," w/robert singing the first verse kinda normally....but then going all over the top w/the vocals (in a silly and much deeper voice), putting on quite a show for the crowd. it's either robert going mad and losing his head, or someone else taking over    =) so that's quite a show/recording!! even though this isn't the greatest recording based on sound quality alone--the performances and unique setting (a smaller club show during the arena tour for the "kiss me kiss me kiss me" album) make for an excellent pick up. the stuff is great, and very cool--a must have.