| metz pictures 17/10/1981 |
| the holy hour in your house the drowning man 10.15 saturday night accuracy the funeral party m taping/source flaw (very slight) primary other voices all cats are grey at night three imaginary boys fire in cairo play for today splintered in her head a forest faith extra lyrics |
| the cure plays in metz during the picture tour... this recording is a middle of the road kind of set...not bad, listenable stuff w/a good mix of instruments and vocals...but not great either. lots of tape noise/white noise in the mix, and no real depth or punch to the sound. but even so, it's good and stable for the most part. not groundbreaking, but a good/decent show to pick up in a trade. that said, the band is always pretty good--they don't seem to "phone in" many shows, most have an emotional depth and involvement--never too professional or removed. and the cure plays a nice show w/some emotion and weight... "the holy hour" is a good opener, nice mood established and then maintained w/"in your house." robert then introduces the next song w/"this is a song about a drink problem, it's called 'the drowning man.'" crowd favorites (and relatively upbeat songs) "10.15 saturday night" and "accuracy" follow, both of them succeeding w/the crowd and as good performances...both excellent. |
| things go back to the "faith" album when "the funeral party" comes next. "the funeral party" is good w/a nice mix of instruments, the synths/keyboard sounds actually help this one work very well in a live setting...robert introduces "m" by saying, "this is a song about....tomorrow, it's called 'm.'" and it's strong as well, tight and well performed...robert's guitars in the ending/outro are really nice. there are a few slight blips of silence in this one, but they're very slight...they don't totally kill the mood/recording. the band turns up the energy for a driving performance of "primary," and it's probably the most energetic and provides the most momentum of the night...even w/a fair/good recording sound, you can hear some sharp bass/guitar work ripping along--excellent!! and just as good are the atmospheric sounds in "other voices" following "primary." robert plays some great guitar stuff that sounds really simple but provides great feel and texture...especially in the long intro before any lyrics start. cool =) "all cats are grey" is a great wash of sound, very lovely even w/the tape noise--it's quite good!! worth a listen, definately. the synth/keyboard work is really successful in making this one complete. a more noisy song, "at night," comes next w/buzzing distorted effect and simple keyboard lines coming over the top...more striking and slightly more direct, kinda cool. "three imaginary boys" follows... robert then steps up to the mike to say, "as everybody's having such a fun time, this is a fun song called 'fire in cairo.'" and off they go into a bright little pop song...and even while the last chord rings from "fire in cairo," the cure goes right into a tight and sharp "play for today." the pace of the show is excellent w/strong performances--w/"splintered in her head" throwing a loop--and leading towards the end, "a forest" and "faith." "a forest" is clean and moves along w/pace and energy, it's really sharply done. "faith" is a really good version, robert does sing some extra lyrics after the instrumental stuff at the end, but it's quite difficult to make out the words--there are quite a lot of them really, good stuff. it's really a shame that this one doesn't have better sound, this is a good trade--but not a must have show, just not quite good enough sound-wise. it's a solid listen, after getting used to the particular noise involved, you kinda tune it out and pick up on a really good show/performance. w/other great picture tour recordings out there that qualify as must haves...this one ranks well as a trade, but not must have. |