FIVE NIGHTS. FIVE SHOWS. 15 MILES

NIGHT ONE

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Eager to catch a glimpse of Tom Cruise we packed up the sleeping bags and headed out. Though we arrived in the wee hours of the night it was not surprising to to see about 8 sleeping bodies in front of the building. The same bodies Ive been seeing for years at these Tom Cruise events.
As the sun begin to rise the line slowly filled in. very slowly.
The last time The Cure came to the tonight show none of us had pre ordered tickets and we all lined up to the side of the building at the box office. About five times the amount of ppl. In the morning a group had tried to crowd and a fight pursued. not this time.
Last time SEVERAL fans that had waited in line much of the day did not make it into the show. not this time. Everyone got in. even the ppl that arrived last minute to see tom cruise.
long story short, they played "perfect boy" very well. sound was great. crowd was decent. But if you watch the show you can hear that Tom Cruise got almost as much applause. SAD. By chance I ran into the band at the side of the building as they were waiting to get authorization to drive into the lot. Not much to report, I waved - they waved back.

NIGHT TWO
a blurCARSON DALY

ANOTHER DAY - ANOTHER LINE
Though the Carson Daly show is on the same NBC lot this show did not run as smooth as the Leno show.
A short walk around the corner after the tonight show brought us to night two of sleeping in the streets. A handful of fans went out for Thai food. The only real meal of the entire week. but a great one. I was in my typical observation mode saying a total of 10 words throughout the meal, but hey, it was not many years ago that 5 words would have been astonishing.
Back to the line we found a handfull of fans camped out. This night was MUCH colder then night one. We had brought peppermint pattys (hot chocolate and peppermint snapps) to help stay warm. Others were drinking wine and OJ, apparently to help with some voice problems.
The Curse (a Cure cover band) broke out the guitars and my first instinct was to get annoyed but it was actually really nice listening to them. (im getting soft in my old age). Security came out, told us that cars were going to fly off the freeway and kill us if we slept on the side walk in front of the Carson entrance. And that rats would eat us alive while we slept. Then threatened to call the real cops if we didnt leave. We didnt leave. The cops didnt do anything to us and neither did the rats. We did Freeze though. The Carson line filled in better then the Leno line. Security was rude much of the day. When the crowd was let in the workers ran around as though they had never done a show in their lives.
They sat us down and made us watch the show then when the band was set to preform they let several ppl whom had waited half the time that we had into the stage area. A few lucky ones from the front of the line made it to the very front of the stage and several of the ppl from the front of the line ended up in the back area of the stage. I manged to shift my way to the side of the stage front row. Then a camera man barked at me to go to the back of the crowd and that he needed space for his cords. I told him that I had waited 20 hours in line for this. He then remarked "why should I care" I then remarked "FUCK YOU" and so it begin, camera man: "do you want to get kicked out"
me: "fuck off" as I stood my ground
camera man: "Im having you kicked out"
me: "kick me out then you FUCK"
camera man: signals to large black man
large black man moves toward camera man and I slowly back towards middle of crowd. Jeremy (tech for the band) tells me to hide in the crowd.
I try to blend in until large black man is out of sight. I throw a couple grade school glares towards camera man and he yells at me not to look at him like that. I then settled into my spot Simon side about 6 ppl back. They play the fist song. Robert seams in a better mood then last night. Chatting with carson. laughing. And just as they are getting set for the second song the camera man picks me from the the crowd and pulls me to the front of the stage telling the ppl in the front to make room. I look up and Porl is smiling at me, Robert gives me an odd look and Sleep when Im dead starts to play. my head was spinning. the last song plays and it was gone in a flash. The camera man apologized to me after the show. The cure tech gave Angelina Roberts beer cup, lipstick and all. Time to head home for a day of rest until the next show right, WRONG. rumors of a secret show at the Troubadour end up to be more then just a rumor.

NIGHT THREE
THE TROUBADOUR!!!!

DREAM 12:13 ITS OFFICIAL
Rumors had been floating about a secret show but nothing was confirmed until sometime around midnight. Straight back to the line. not a soul to be found. We drive around the venue looking for signs of life with no avail. Then park in front of the Troubador until we spot another car of fans. Andy and company. The excitement in the prospect of seeing The Cure at my favorite venue in LA kept me wide awake. More fans started to trickle into line around 6am. Though I rarely speak to ppl I made it clear that even though the conformation had said no line ups before noon, that we Needed to organize this line. Andy disagreed but I persisted and pulled a marker out of my pocket handing it over to Steph insisting that we number everyone. Steph then hands the marker over to Midnight to take control. We number everyone, form a line and low and behold it worked. Security made sure we were in line in order of number and gave the first 140 ppl wrist bands (several hundred did not get in). Then proceeded to kick us off the property. Why? I have no idea why! It just made a mess of the line and drama when it came time to letting ppl line up again at 7. Somebody please explain to me why they use this system.
The Cure at the Troubadour. what can I say. About 140 ppl got wristbands and 200 were on the VIP list. The venue holds just over 400. the floor is about as large as my bedroom. The sound was extraordinary, the experience even better.

NIGHT FOUR

KROQ ACOUSTIC XMAS
watch it here http://vimeo.com/2530650

NIGHT FIVE

JIMMY KIMMEL

PRAYERS FOR RAIN
we arrived to the kimmel show around 10pm or so. A small group of fans were getting sprinkled on. Then the rain started to come down. We decide to sleep in our cars that night and take turns in line. The rain continued to come down. The line was really thin until around 3 that day. then ppl started to tough the rain out in droves. It stared to hail around 5 and heavy rain persisted. Rumors of a cancelled show begin to circulate and none of the several hundred ppl budged. Then security came out and told everyone that they were moving the show inside and that only the first 100 ppl would be allowed in. We were escorted to the front of the building and waited another couple hours while they set up in the studio. They sound checked Prayers for rain, Same deep water as you and The kiss, getting my (and others around me) hopes up. We were finally let into the studio. Only around 60 of us made it in. And they allowed a mad rush to get in at the last minute (after being very aggressive with the line earlier that evening) with several ppl crowding at the last minute. Some of whom did not even wait throughout the day. Out of all the line drama through the several years of cure shows I think this one was the straw on the camels back for many fans. It was almost as pitiful as ticketmaster (the modern day scalper) and the abuse they continue to get away with.
for those whom got in it was a great show. though when I bent over to read simons set list and did not see prayers for rain, SDWAY or The kiss I was wholeheartedly disappointed. I wont complain though. Another low stage without bodyguards staring at me. The sound was great. They played 10 songs!

Though I would rather not a greatest hit setlist, these shows were sensational and its always great to see the band again. I love the cure for songs other then the "hits" but still enjoy listening to the pop songs now and then. It seams as though the band is aging and having fun playing the hits rather then the brooding emotional songs that drain on your thoughts and provoke your essence. Obviously this is much easier on the band.

Thank you to the handful of fans in the front of the line whom let me warm up in their cars and or provided friendly conversation while we endured little to no sleep, freezing cold weather, rain, hail and line drama. It was fun and I hope to see you all next year for the "dark tour" In my dreams.

"will we really remember how it feels to be this alive"