It was the day we had been waiting for for months. We were finally going to see THE CURE performing live before our very eyes. We'd actually waited for this moment for years, not just months, to have them come to Australia and be lucky enough to seize a ticket. We travelled all the way to Melbourne to make this dream come true. Staying for just one night, flying down early in the morning and back the next day, just to have this 'once in a lifetime' experience.
It didn't quite work out that way, unfortunately…
The concert took place last Thursday night (28/07) and I'm only just writing about it now because it still feels so fresh and I'd really rather not think about it. But for your enjoyment, here is what happened…
Getting to Melbourne was fine. We had a really delicious breakfast. Checking into out hotel was fine; it was a really spacious apartment. It was here that I started to feel unwell. I rested for a little bit and decided that the pain in my stomach had passed and we ventured back out into the streets of Melbourne before meeting up with our friends for dinner.
I was feeling unwell again before dinner but just thought it was because I had a collision with a pedestrian that left me a bit winded, and with a slightly black-eye (that's a whole other story), so I thought nothing more of it. We all enjoyed a bottle of wine and a very good meal before we hiked it to Rod Laver Arena. Whilst walking I was feeling really sick but just put it down to eating too much food at dinner and then embarking on a brisk walk and being extremely unfit - which was all true but unfortunately not the case this time. But by the time we got to the venue I was going downhill and fast. I had sharp pain in my stomach and could barely stand up. However, I was determined to grin-and-bare-it for I wasn't missing out on this opportunity and also didn't want to ruin it for anyone else, especially my partner who is the biggest Cure fan I know.
The Cure had no supporting acts and came out onto the stage and just simply did their thing. It was effortless and comfortable for them and they had a great sound. Robert Smith's voice was in such good shape after all these years and Simon Gallup showed an unnatural amount of energy at his prime age of 56. Their light show was all kinds of crazy but just made it a more exciting show. For an audience clad in Dr. Martins, leather jackets, black eye make-up, and mostly over the age of 30, it was ironic how a group of people usually perceived as 'goth' or 'emo' were exceptionally happy just to be there and enjoying every minute of it. They opened with 'Plainsong' followed by (my favourite) 'Pictures Of You'. The next six songs ('Closedown', 'A Night like This', 'The Walk', 'Push', 'In Between Days' and 'Doing The Unstuck') were a bit of a blur for me as I was using all my energy to focus on NOT throwing up. I was in a state. Covered in sweat but also covered in goosebumps. But there was no way I was leaving.
It was during 'Friday I'm In Love' that I excused myself to go to the bathroom, hoping to catch some fresh air and revive myself, when my partner messaged me from inside the concert saying he wasn't feeling well and that he might have to go home. Little did he know, I felt the same way. He staggered out to meet me crumpled over in pain and with one look at each other we knew we couldn't soldier on any longer. We caught a cab and never said a word to each other until we were back at the hotel where we just cried tears of frustration and disappointment. We had come all this way only to let it slip between our fingers.
I remained positive over the fact that at least we got to see them in real life and saw a whole nine tracks played live and got to buy a t-shirt! And were lucky enough to spend the night in Melbourne together. But as we heard more about the set - like how they played for three hours and how they played four encores - it was harder to remain positive and it was easier to just not think about it anymore.
I read in a review that Robert Smith declared at the end of the show that he will be back and this one line is my shred of hope that I will be able to take my partner to see them again one more time in our lifetime and we will love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment