Top 10 Shows of 2008
1. Pinhead Gunpowder at 924 Gilman, Berkeley
2. Tom Waits at the Ratcellar, Dublin
3. Of Montreal at the Grand Ballroom, SF
4. Boredoms at the Fillmore, SF
5. George Michael at the HP Pavilion, San Jose
6. Crooked Fingers at the Great American Music Hall, SF
7. The Cure at the HP Pavilion, San Jose
8. The Crux at the Boogie Room, Santa Rosa
9. Themes at the Church House, Petaluma
10. Bennie Maupin & James Newton at the Raven Theater, Healdsburg
The Cure at the HP Pavilion in San Jose
We started taking bets on what the Cure’s opening song would be. “‘The Kiss,’” I said, “it’s gotta be ‘The Kiss.’ Can you imagine how awesome that’d be?”
When the lights went down and faint chimes tinkled over the stage, I knew I’d guessed wrong. The bells, the chimes, could it. . . would they. . . oh my God, for real? Like an avalanche, the Cure laid down the opening chords of “Plainsong,” the first song off Disintegration, and I squeezed my eyelids shut, balled my fists, and let out an ecstatic cry of release. And I pretty much didn’t stop until the end of the night—37 songs later.
Until Wednesday night’s show, I was never a total superfreaky Cure fan. Over the past 20 years, I’ve loved them incrementally—album by album, song by song—but never signed up as one of the fully obsessed. That’s all in the past now. Show me where to sign. On Wednesday night, during a staggering three-hour and fifteen-minute set, the Cure was even more than a great band: they were the greatest band in the universe.
Superfreaky fans abounded, that’s for sure. Around us, there was The Reciter, who blankly spoke every lyric back to Robert Smith as if it were scripture; The Dancer, who occasionally made his way out into the aisle to do some ’80s prom dancing before being shown back to his seat; and The Hoochie, a girl who kept the ticket stub stuffed in her very-exposed cleavage and who at one point stripped down to her bra, singing wildly.
As for me, I stood in awe and sang along to an onslaught of fantastic song after fantastic song—for over three hours! Take that, Bruce Springsteen!
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