I'm actually quite envious about the happenings. Sounds like it could be a great time.
I saw the show last night in Cleveland and here's a few thoughts.
Get there early and find a schedule...somewhere - anywhere. It was like trying to secure top-secret info. And they change the order on the second stage for every show so by the time I arrived @ about 6:00 I had already missed CTC & Mogwai. I was not happy. The second stage @ Blossom was set up in an outside parking lot which was not an insignificant distance from the main stage (where we had pit tix). With the bands on the second stage only playing 30 minutes - it quickly became apparent that it was not going to be reasonable to try to catch every band. So we just hunkered down on the main stage.
The Rapture was much better than expected. I can't take much of them on record, but actually enjoyed them live. Much more rock. Guitars, percussion, sax - with very little keyboard.
It was the second time I had seen Interpol & really couldn't believe it was the same band - they were so much better this time. Maybe it was the sound & mix @ Blossom, but there was so much power to their set. A perfect mix of bass in your chest - clear guitars and vocals & a cool light show. If only it had been dark out. Some of the new songs sounded very good in the set, especially Narc.
I really wanted to see Muse between Interpol & Cure, but no way we were leaving the pit - running over - catch 10 minutes - running back & fighting for our spot again.
Not sure what to say about the Cure. I had convinced a few friends to go [that really weren't fans] based on the setlist I had seen @ Coachella - which was very 'user-friendly'. Very early in their set R. Smith said "We're playing some different songs tonight"..."I'm feeling sad". Truly a harbinger of things to come.
Here's the setlist:
Lost, Shake Dog Shake, Before Three, High, The End of the World, Anniversary, Lovesong, Pictures of You, Siamese Twins, Maybe Someday, Like Cockatoos, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, A Strange Day, One Hundred Years, Never, The Promise
Encore: The Drowning Man, Charlotte Sometimes, Faith.
It's getting rave reviews on
chain of flowers My friends did not enjoy. I was loving it. But you know what happens when you're with someone who's not diggin' it - it brings you down a bit. My only complaint was that along with the great older songs - they leaned too heavily on the latest record, which I think is really pretty mediocre, especially when played alongside some classics. The songs they didn't play could make up an entire greatest hits collection (In Between Days, Just Like Heaven, Fascination Street, etc.)
Faith was AMAZING. As was Charlotte Sometimes, and Like Cockatoos. Overall, a nice vibe for a Cure show on a cool rainy summer evening. Should you really ever leave a Cure show feeling happy anyway?
