Wow, what a crazy fun show. When the Monsterpalooza after party show begins with Vintage Monster Cabaret you know you're in for a wild night. Their performances were beyond entertaining, totally on point, they are such talented performers.
First off, I'm so lucky to be in A Night Like This with such excellent musicians. It's so amazing to play the music & play the part of The Cure. I totally enjoy entertaining people who also love The Cure. It is sort of surreal for me to dress up & indulge my inner Robert Smith. We played two sets & we're happily invited to do a 2 song encore totalling two-hour and 15-minutes. We kicked it off with “In Between Days” the track from the Cure’s Head On A door their sixth studio album from 1985, followed by “Just Like Heaven” and “Boys Don’t Cry” in quick succession with no break to keep the momentum building & get everyone dancing.
We performed the fan favorites “Push,” “Charlotte Sometimes,” and “The Walk” and the audience danced & sung along jsut like they would if they were seeing The Cure. We did our best to play both The Cure's greatest hits as well as playing some of the deeper cuts (those are the one's I enjoy most). I've included the night's set list below in case you're interested. THE MIXX is a great sounding venue and I love the view of the audience from up on the stage, (it might sound cheesey but you can't believe how cool it is to see so many smiling faces looking back it you). The Mixx's very own Ed Minassian is always so gracious & he dialed in our sound perfectly. The mega LED screen behind us makes it feel like we're playing the Hollywood Bowl. It's a perfect setting a great place to see & hear bands.
We played "Let's Go To Bed" which brings me back to my days at Marilyn's Backstreet which was located a just a few streets away here in Pasadena. Such a great bass & drum groove that causes me to go slinking around the stage (like when I was a teenager in the dance clubs). I summoned my 80's interpretive dance moves influenced by Robert Smith's lyrics. I felt so inspired by the crowd's dancing it caused me to occasionally jump up on the monitors and some times even into the audience for some impromptu dance. It's so much fun to interact with the audience as we all share the love of The Cure's music. It's super fun when the enthusiastic crowd sings along as they did during Primary... "The Further We Go & Older We Grow" the song’s standout lyric. "Sinking" is a personal favorite of mine to perform. I remember listening to it over & over in my teens as a sort of musical therapy for the woes of high school drama.
We enjoy mixing up The Cures introspective slow songs & then juxtaposing it with an up tempo number. For example we opened the second set with Plainsong the opening song from the 1989's Disintegration album. As the wind chimes began I watched the smiles & saw the excited enthusiasm in the faces of the crowd. We then went straight into "Pictures Of You" with the audience singing along word for word and then right into "Lovesong". I think Lovesong is the perfect song & easily one of the most recognized songs by The Cure.
We kept the Disintegration theme rolling and played "Lullaby" which was so fun for me as I get to show off my "Candy Stripe" legs & also get attacked by a giant spider. I then held up a street sign "Fascination Street" & I was humbled by the crowds warm reception. This was a fun one as the entire band really gets to let loose. We then ended our second set with an incendiary version of the moody song "A Forest". What a blast as by the end of it we've 3 guitars rocking along to the rhythmic drum & bass groove, the perfect song to end on.
Then we were fortunate to have so many audience members graciously asking us to do an encore. So we went into the early catalogue of Cure material and played "Jumping Someone Elses' Train" segueing immediately into "Grinding Halt" & ending the night with The Cure's very first single from 1979 "Killing An Arab".
I was exhausted but lovingly the audience request "One more song, one more song". So I asked the audience to come just a bit closer to the stage. They obliged & we then played “Close to Me,” as the finale. Andy. Robert & I were so moved by the audience we all three jumped into the crowd and performed the song from there. I know Ramon & Gow would've joined us but you can't really bring the keyboards & drums into the audience. Such a fun and interactive ending to a crazy and unforgetable night. We, never want it to end & would love to play all night.
At the end of our tribute show I was especially honored when they asked me to take selfies with them. So I asked "Do you want me to smile or frown"? and most fans say please do both. :) I then enjoyed talking to the audience about their favorite Cure songs & them sharing their personal Cure stories with me. Then it was time to pack my gear and get off the stage.
We are not The Cure but we do our best to replicate the fun, honor the music & the aesthetic, because we too are major fans. We are so lucky have a "built in" strong emotional relationship with the audience. People who LOVE The Cure are truly special... Their hearts are big & their passion for the music & lyrics is deep.
Thank you to The Mixx for having us! A huge Thank You to The Cure for writing the music and for sharing such wonderful fans, thank you all for coming to see us.
Cheers,
Dirk (playing the part of Robert Smith)
SET LIST
In-between Days
Just Like Heaven
Boys Don't Cry
Charlotte Sometimes
The Walk
Let's go to Bed
Push
A Night Like This
Sinking
Play for Today
Primary
Plainsong
Pictures
Lovesong
Lullaby
Fascination Street
A Forest
Jumping Someone Else's Train
Grinding Halt
Killing an Arab