The Cure Album: “Festival 2005”

The "Festival 2005" DVD is a live compilation of performances taken from their string of performances before huge European crowds that Summer. The shows are the first recorded glimpse of their current lineup, which features the return of Porl Thompson on guitar but also the departure of multi-instrumentalist Perry Bamonte and keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. The resulting DVD is sadly limited by both this pared-down lineup and also the frighteningly bad videography/editing. Still worthwhile for Cure completists, it will nonetheless leave both them and more casual fans frustrated by poor presentation.

PERFORMANCE - 3.5 stars

Despite an ever-changing lineup, The Cure has always been one of the most cohesive live acts in popular music. Their shows faithfully recreate their studio material, displaying the members' prowess with instruments while also leaving the bulk of the energy and interpretation to Smith's unmistakable voice.

However, this decision to scrap all keyboards from the live act is a blatant mistake. Smith's aim is clearly to project a more muscular tone onto familiar material and in some cases it works well ("The Kiss", "alt.end", "Shiver and Shake"). But in reality, those tracks were the ones that never had much keyboard anyway. The unfortunate tracks that rely on keyboards are dreadfully incomplete. "Just Like Heaven" sounds like a bad cover of itself. "Fascination Street" and "A Forest" are missing critical melodies. But worst of all, the majestic lead melody of "Plainsong" performed on guitar makes it sound like a parody of the instrumental closing theme to "Top Gun". The lack of keyboards truly ruins a number of these tracks to the ear of any longtime fan.

Smith's vocals sound as good as ever, although by the time he reaches the tracks at the end of the nightly setlists, he seems genuinely fatigued. For instance, the first half of "End" is basically mumbled rather than sang. The reintroduction of Thompson's guitar style is a big plus - as always, he mixes walls of fuzzed-out feedback with nimble virtuosity (the solo for "The Blood" is a highlight for him). I've never been a fan of Jason Cooper's hyperactive style of "the more drum fills, the better", but he is finally settling into a decent impression of Boris Williams' rhythms. Simon Gallup continues to be one of the most rock-solid bass players to ever grace the stage; also, he particularly seems at home with the more aggressive, minimalist lineup.

VIDEO - 1 star

Remember how bad the "Mixed Up?!?" album was? Well, this DVD is to your eyes what that remix collection was to your ears. And by the closing credits, it's apparent why: both are Robert Smith vanity projects. In a classic example of overstepping one's capabilities, Smith co-directed and -edited the piece, and the result is utterly maddening.

From the first track, you notice that in some shots the colors are so grossly oversaturated that it degrades the picture quality to roughly that of a VHS tape. Every other amateurish video trick gets thrown in as well: posterization, chroma keying, digital black-and-white, etc. But the most infuriating of all is the use of motion trails - think of how really bad movies depict "drunk vision". Ugh. All of this overblown video trickery might still be cool for the midnight showing of "The Song Remains the Same", but here, it's wholly unnecessary.

The camerawork is also spotty. First, there is too much reliance on two static angles. First, a wide shot of the entire stage taken from a good distance back into the crowd. Second, an overhead shot from the behind the drum kit looking down on the band and into the crowd - this one has all of the visual allure of a convenience store security camera. The manual cameras also try too many cheesy tricks which distract from the power of the performance. There's enough emotional punch in the opening lines of "The Kiss" that it wasn't necessary to choose a shot where the camera jerks and spins in faux mosh-pit fury.

AUDIO - 3 stars

The disc offers both a 5.1 and a DTS mix. Both sound very good, with fine separation. The DTS mix could be regarded as unnecessary since so much of the music is bathed in distortion, reverb and/or feedback.

EXTRAS - 1 star

Simply put, there are none.

CONCLUSION

For the price, the "Festival" DVD does deliver a lot of solid Cure content. The consolidated setlist is nearly perfect - by the time the encores wrap, even the most jaded longtime fan will be pleased. Unfortunately, the videography is so engrossed in its own cheap trickery that it becomes a continual distraction from the performance. Also, the current synth-free lineup shows its limitations on many of the staple tracks. Ultimately, it just made me wonder why neither of their prior live videos, "The Cure in Orange" (their definitive live show) or "Show/Paris", have been put on DVD yet.

The Cure have only two live DVD's - both recorded post 2000; 20 years after they began and at least 5 years since their prime. "Trilogy" - a three hour set which includes Pornography, Disintregration, and Bloodflowers in their entireties; and this DVD - "The Cure: Festival 2005".

Released in late 2006, it was shot during the band's headlining shows at 9 European music festivals in the summer of 2005. The video features a variety of angles "captured by a mix of fans, crew and 'on-the-night-big-screen cameras'. It is noted by the return of former guitarist Porl Thompson. Festival has 30 songs taken from most of their albums so it provides a much wider range of material than Trilogy. It is also heavily waited towards the material that Porl Thompson was involved in - from 'The Top' to 'Wish'.

"Open" (from Wish)

"Fascination Street" (from Disintegration)

"alt.end" (from The Cure)

"The Blood" (from The Head on the Door)

"A Night Like This" (from The Head on the Door)

"The End of the World" (from The Cure)

"If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)

"The Kiss" (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)

"Shake Dog Shake" (from The Top)

"Us or Them" (from The Cure)

"Never Enough" (from Mixed Up)

"The Figurehead" (from Pornography)

"A Strange Day" (from Pornography)

"Push" (from The Head on the Door)

"Just Like Heaven" (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)

"In Between Days" (from The Head on the Door)

"From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" (from Wish)

"The Drowning Man" (from Faith)

"Signal to Noise" (B-side to "Cut Here")

"The Baby Screams" (from The Head on the Door)

"One Hundred Years" (from Pornography)

"Shiver and Shake" (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)

"End" (from Wish)

"At Night" (from Seventeen Seconds)

"M" (from Seventeen Seconds)

"Play for Today" (from Seventeen Seconds)

"A Forest" (from Seventeen Seconds)

"Plainsong" (from Disintegration)

"Disintegration" (from Disintegration)

"Faith" (from Faith)

Although it is an excellent collection of songs, there isn't much variety in terms of the visual experience - a byproduct of festival touring. I don't mind the different camera techniques but I don't think the sound mix is very good for this day and age.

It seems a little strange that The Cure's best live video - the full concert "Live in Orange" has not made it to DVD, yet an average live DVD that is no better than some Cure bootlegs gets an official release.

I've been a Cure fan since 1987. The Cure is best interpreted live. This concert sees the return of Porl Thompson, one of the architects of the Cure sound from 85's Head On The Door to 92's Wish. With guitar driven soundscapes this concert delivers a fresh new live experience. Performing 30 songs over 9 different venues, Festival 2005 has a song for every Cure fan. Good flow of songs and excellent production make this one of the best Cure concerts available on DVD.

This DVD is far inferior to The Cure's "Trilogy" DVD. This DVD is poorly filmed, and the special effects graphics on some of the songs are annoying. Still, if you're a true Cure fan, this DVD is worth owning.

Well I have to admit when i found this new dvd here on amazon I was overjoyed and thrilled with the anticipation of a new Cure live Dvd.. After growing up with The Cure In orange and more recentley TRILOGY I have been in awe of there ability to capture there lush atmospheric textures and guitar ballads.. I felt a little let down with this one..as it says its shot by fans and crew and various people over a bunch of shows thru france/belgium/sicily/ switzerland. and more. the sound quality is good but the overall feel is a little cheap and a bit roughly handed but that does seem to be what they wanted.. a bare paired back rock and roll show.. and they never let you down on that.. its guitars andf feedback and simple lights and no special effects.... the last thing i would have expected from this band, But Obviously a lean towards where there maybe getting back to.. the list of songs is great but not each song is given over to its full effect, this mainly being to the bands lineup now being a keyboard-less one.. altho the audience singing the keyboard lines in one song really did lift make me smile.

I'm a lifetime Cure fan so any live dvd is a great one but this does seem to be the " By the fans for the fans.." if you were to want to show someone a Slick polished live cure DVd then stick to Trilogy.. keep this for yourself when your turining the lights down and kneeling infront of the tv screen and wishing you were in the front row..Its still worth every cent to any cure fan.. lord knows they don;t release enough to film.. i.e. wheres the Cure in orange DVD?? Buy this, just be prepared. Its a world away from TRILOGY.. they both stand in there own right.