the cure
tuesday, august 31st, 2004 • everett events center, everett wa • review by karen • photo by danny mctague


review: Now, moving on to my next trip down memory lane...The Cure! Let me clarify that: The Cure in Everett! This was their rescheduled performance due to the cancellation at the Curiousa Festival --- incredibly professional of them to reschedule the date.

Having never been to Everett for any type of event, we left Seattle and headed north to the land of mystery, and arrived in time to have a rather generic dinner at Buck's American Café...who doesn't love a restaurant with dead animals on the walls? Afterwards, we headed to the Everett Events Center and got in the will-call line...not sure where to start with the Everett Events Center, but let's just say we were told it was near a prison (cannot confirm or deny this fact).

What a crowd. It ran the gamut from goth teenagers to golden oldies like me. Very amusing. So there we were in line...two Cure fans from back in the day...just looking forward to a night of great music and memories.

And then, as we waited to be searched, we noticed a girl who was obviously starting to feel whatever recreational vitamin she had taken prior to arriving at the center. She could hardly stand up. This girl was in trouble. No motor skills and without a posse to come to her aid. I noticed one of Everett's finest policemen standing near the entrance where they were taking tickets. I brought her to his attention and was promptly told, "Not my job". I looked at him and said, "You are a cop. Isn't it your job to help people?" He told me that I should help her!!! Honestly, that is what he said. I told him he was the person qualified, not me. He laughed and ignored her.

We waited in line about 20 minutes to get in. In this time, we had noticed that nothing had been done about the girl. We entered the venue and waited for our $6.50 jumbo Budweisers and took in the crowd. Really quite terrifying. Nothing against the suburbs, but...

After about 15 minutes, we noticed some paramedics tending to a girl. Yes, it was our girl from outside. I walked over to tell the paramedics how long ago I had seen her in trouble. They said she had hit her head (oh, there's a surprise). I told them about my disgust of the situation and they appeared disinterested. Then I spoke with a gentleman who came up to check on things. He was the "man in charge of the venue". I stated my grievance and again, was disregarded. So, I then stated my disappointment in the police department and in his reaction. He brushed me off. Absolutely foul. I asked if he would feel the same way if it was his daughter or sister. He did not respond. Needless to say, this tainted things quite a bit.

We enter the "Center" and found our general admission seat. I had no idea that we were in store for three hours of The Cure! Like Prince, there was no opener, just the headliners! Three hours, five encores and Robert Smith sounding phenomenal!!! Unreal! Can't even begin to list the tracks performed. They started the night with "Lost" from their current self-titled release. Some big surprises include "Grinding Halt", "M" and "Play For Today". And it's always great to hear a crowd sing along with the biggest hits and this show was no exception. You couldn't help singing "In-between Days", "Friday I'm In Love", "Pictures of You" (still not happy this became a soundtrack for HP), "Boys Don't Cry", "Fascination Street" and their final encore "Why Can't I Be You?". Not even the crazy man dancing next to us on some sort-of acid could ruin all that is The Cure! Really a fantasic show...they gave it all they had considering they were playing the Everett Events Center.

In closing: Dear Everett, drugs are bad, but cops are too. Long live the 80's!!!!!!!!!! Here's to my youth!!!! See you in the crowd...