| london prayer three 24/07/1989 |
| plainsong pictures of you closedown piggy in the mirror catch a night like this just like heaven last dance fascination street primary slight cut mid-song the drowning man lovesong charlotte sometimes the walk a forest inbetween days the same deep water as you prayers for rain disintegration lullaby close to me let's go to bed why can't i be you? medley shake dog shake siamese twins slight cut mid-song one hundred years homesick untitled faith w/extra lyrics/"2 late"/excellent m three imaginary boys fire in cairo boys don't cry 10.15 saturday night killing an arab |
| the cure wraps up a brilliant three night prayer tour stand from wembley stadium in 1989... it's all here, from the opening wind-chimes of "plainsong" to the closing rip thru "killing an arab," and the cure makes their mark at a high point creatively and professionally...the show/recording is quite good, not great/slightly thin--but good w/the mix of instruments and sound...and the crowd is great--good stuff, just turn up the bass a touch =) the opening shot of "plainsong," "pictures of you" and "closedown" are excellent as they always were...robert talks about playing different songs for all the people who've come to all three shows, and that they "only know about...fifty" songs--and then they launch into "piggy in the mirror." the crowd makes an appearance w/added hand-claps on the intro for "a night like this," so loudly that i have to give them a performance credit (!!) but it doesn't distract and falls away quickly. |
| "just like heaven" follows to great response...good spirited performance--even though the band plays great most of the time, sometimes they have off nights, or even sound like they're bored--but not this night--even the most familiar songs sound full of energy. "pimary" sounds tight--it's got a little cut (from taping perhaps?) but still not bad...the first real gift is the next song, "the drowning man." very cool...well-done. the singles sound great, and "a forest" is really good w/building momentum...and then back down, and then back up w/some great guitar work skittering all around--about twelve minutes long...things grow nicely darker w/the "disintegration" songs ending the normal set..."the same deep water as you," "prayers for rain" and the title cut. it works--the flow from the slower song into the harder "prayers for rain," and then into the harder and more driving "disintegration." robert really leans into the long long note in "prayers for rain," singing very very hard...and the growing and growing vocals thru "disintegration," plus the storm of noises near the end is just great--great. the encores are a pretty wide mix on this last uk prayer tour date...it could've very well been the last given robert's ever-changing mood, and the songs are cool--the normal prayer tour encore songs work well...good performances. "why can't i be you?" is another fun trip...into "young at heart," "witchcraft," "everybody wants to be a cat," "the lovecats," a line or two from "it's not you" and all the way back. the second encore is darker--and really cool starting w/"shake dog shake" and including "siamese twins" and "one hundred years." great performances, "siamese twins" has a cut (taping i'm sure this time) but "shake dog shake" and "one hundred years" are really hard--aggressive, even though robert kinda mixes up his lyrics in "one hundred years" which makes for some anxious moments when the key changes. the third encore is "homesick" and "untitled," both done nicely (excellent six-string bass in "untitled")...plus a great extended/emotional version of "faith"(which robert dedicates to opening act shelleyan orphan "because they've been fucking great.") another encore of the usual cure classics follows, ending w/a rush of punk energy/adrenaline "10.15 saturday night" & "killing an arab." they also mix in a rare live 1989 take of "m," and a brilliant "fire in cairo" that robert plays mostly alone w/just guitar...and then in the middle the others join and finish a really cool take on an older cure classic. this is just a super set, even though the sound doesn't sparkle (it's good and solid, but not amazing). this just kills---the band is spectacular and plays forever---robert says goodbye w/"maybe we'll see you again, but maybe we won't..." but this is a stunning example of the power and grace taken from the prayer tour. |