November 2002 by unknown
De Morgen
translated in english from belgian by Valerie Van Der Hende
Thursday night, in Forest National, The Cure was going to play their 3 darkest albums – Pornography (1982), Disintegration (1989) and the most recent Bloodflowers (2000). Full albums and chronological. A crazy idea, but for the ten thousand fans, who found the way to Forest National, it was a dream coming true.
The Cure doesn’t know how to stop. Since 1983, they announce every album as their last one. And there are
always rumors the band will split. But now, 12 CD’s later they are still there. Last Thursday, Robert Smith had a
unique concert for the Belgian fans.
Robert Smith is a man with two faces. One time he writes songs that are so depressing, you can better listen to
them with slit wrists. One moment later he can easily make light pop songs like “the lovecats”, “ Close to me”,
or “Why can’t I be you”. Then, life seems like a big party. You have to admit: how serious can a band take
themselves as they dress like a fur rabbit in one of their video clips or give a concert in dresses. Next to that,
they don’t make of a secret of the fact that for ¼ of a century they take care of the make-up industry.
So, you better take their depressing image with a grain of salt. But last Thursday, you could only laugh behind
closed doors.
With “ A hundred years” (opening with “it doesn’t matter if we all die”), Smith gave a good impression of the
atmosphere for the rest of the night. If people were dancing, they were doing it with the death. Why would you
want to live, if your life if filled with homesickness, loss, lovesickness and terrible nightmares? The band, without
exception dressed in black, was, with a great sense of drama, putting down nice marshes of death from
pornography. They were putting new life into songs like “Cold” and “The hanging garden”. The band was very
sharp. Smith was singing very enthusiastically, Gallup was playing the bass until his fingers exploded, Roger O’
Donnell was –as usual- standing untouchable behind his keyboard, but missed no single note. Smiths “waving”
guitar sound was as it used to be and more than once his solo’s were so out of this world that you might think he
was playing on frozen strings. I never thought you could play such a cycle of songs about suicide with such a lust
for life.
The second part, based on “Disintegration”, was, if possible, even better. The songs were built like movies. The
long intro’s were the décor for the scenes they played. “Fascination Street”, a mix of gothic; funk, new wave and
rock, was developing to a predictable climax. “Untitled” and “Homesick” were – sad and sedating- close to
perfection. So, after that, it couldn’t get any better. Bloodflowers stayed the weakest part of the chain of three, but
the damage was little.
“There is no if” didn’t leave an impression you couldn’t forget. Also midlife crisis song “39” was showing a bit
tiredness. “Maybe someday” sounded like the hit it never was, while the very loud sound of silence of “The
loudest sound” expressed an untouchable beauty. With “If only tonight we could sleep” and a waving, orgasmic
version of “The kiss”, the concert got to an unpredictable climax. You might have seen it by now: the Cure was on
stage for 4 hours but we didn’t get bored for a second.
Was this really the last concert of this band? Of course not !! “See you next year” mumbled Robert Smith before
he wandered off to the dressing rooms. At this moment, the band is working on another new CD. That would really
be the last one. Or the one before the last one.
Anyway, one of the last ones. And, about that splitting up, if it’s on us, they don’t have to hurry…"