Out of this world

I spent my life trying to fit in. I crumbled to peer group pressure and was your typical top 10 music fan. I never really tried to find the music that "I" truly liked - I just went with what was popular. I have memories of hearing The Cure in my teens, but not being brave enough to stand up and say "that is something I really like".

At 19, having split from my boyfriend of over two years I started finding different music - and I discovered "Thursday Night - Alternative Night" at Club Atlantis in Perth. My ears were starting to open. The Cure, The Smiths, Sisters of Mercy - all new sounds. I bought Standing On the Beach - and found I liked it. I then bought Disintegration - yes, I liked that too - but I didn't have anyone else around me to confirm that this was an OK thing to do (sad, I know).

I then met my now husband, who is not a music fan. To me, music makes the world make sense, but for him, he is happy to sit and enjoy silence. In the year that we were married, a colleague offered me two tickets to see the Cure in Perth - but I really couldn't afford it (and had no-one who would go with me), so I passed the offer up. To cheer myself up, I bought Wish, and dreamed myself into another world. Life got hectic in 1996, with my husband being diagnosed with lymphoma. I had no idea that Wild Mood Swings had been released, let alone that The Cure will still recording. My world was my husband and my focus was getting him well again.

Then came Bloodflowers. Out Of This World was my undoing - which life was real?? Soon after, The Cure came to town. A girlfriend agreed to come along with me. I warned her that according to a website that I had JUST found (Chain of Flowers) the band were playing their darker, more atmospheric stuff. The funny thing is, I thought that I KNEW The Cure - I mean, I owned Standing on A Beach, Disintegration, Wish and Bloodflowers, so I thought there would be no surprises.

10 October 2000 - The Cure played at the Perth Entertainment Centre.

Here is the setlist: Out Of This World, Watching Me Fall, Want, Fascination St., Open, Where the Birds Always Sing, Maybe Someday, Shake Dog Shake, Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, Inbetween Days, Sinking, The Kiss, Prayers for Rain, One Hundred Years, End, 39, Bloodflowers 1st encore: There Is No If, Trust, Plainsong, Disintegration 2nd encore: All Cats Are Grey, Faith 3rd encore: Just Like Heaven, A Forest

OH MY GOD!!! My ears exploded. I thought that I knew The Cure, how wrong I was. Whilst my girlfriend was whinging that they weren't playing their commercial hits, and that they did TOO many encores, I was in a world of my own - the band were playing only to me and they kept coming back because that is what I wanted. After that, I went on a journey through the back-catalogue. I bought everything I could get my hands on and I listened to NOTHING but The Cure for 12 months. Finally I found my world, my music. With the release of the self-titled album, my passion waned (slightly), it wasn't Bloodflowers. I still loved the band, but I was exploring worlds outside of the Cure. When the 4 tour was announced, I decided that I wasn't passionate enough to warrant following them around Oz, I would see them in Perth and that would be enough to keep me happy. How wrong I was. The passion re-ignited, and thanks to the "Craig to Jo" speech, I jumped on a plane and followed them to Adelaide.

After queuing for 2 hours before the show, the doors opened and I managed to jag a spot right at the front, in between Robert and Simon. I made friends with people who shared my passion and even met people who I knew through Chain of Flowers. The Cure IS a small world. Nothing will ever beat that experience - I absolutely loved it, and am now immersed in The Cure world again. The North American leg of the tour has been amazing - I seem to have moved away from my "real world" and am living in COF land - it is a true addiction. It is wonderful to share time with like-minded people.

If only I had met you all back when I needed a guiding light to REAL music.I am now hoping that there is ANOTHER tour next year - maybe for the 30th Anniversary. If there is, I will be there. I will travel and meet my friends to share in an experience that may even put my Adelaide memory to shame....... I hope so.

(From: Jo Westacott, Perth, Australia)