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Today post is about my thrilling experience attending the concert of one of the greatest band of all time UK iconic and legendary “The Cure”. Their music amazed millions of fans worldwide during last forty years and I am one of them. This concert is one of the most beautiful experience I had.

On Monday May 23, 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles best known as a historical venue where great music names of all time has performed.  I was lucky to be able to have a ticket on the second day of the three “Sold Out” shows. The Cure  also performed on Sunday 22 and Tuesday 24 as part of their North America Tour 2016 the first US full-fledged tour in eight years with 33 Shows in US and in Autumn they will be touring in Europe with 26 Shows.

“The Cure Tour 2016” will present Robert Smith (voice/guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (keys) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar).

This amazing tour also features another of my favorite band that I discovered quite a while back that I follow and love.  Their music is unique and intense with great sounds and dark atmospheres, it is a magical combination with the beautiful voice of charismatic and intense singer James Graham, front man of Scottish post-punk band “The Twilight Sad”.   They are  the “Special Guests” supporting The Cure on almost all the dates of this 2016 Tour. The Cure couldn’t make a better choice on bringing The Twilight Sad out in the light for an exposure very well deserved, they are an awesome band rising up in our contemporary music.

The Twilight Sad band is based in Glasgow Scotland and was formed in 2003. Since then they released four studio albums, the latest is “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave“.  The band members are James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), and Mark Devine (drums). Touring members include Johnny Docherty (bass guitar) and Brendan Smith (keyboards).

The Twilight Sad will also be performing some headline shows during the tour, one was scheduled in  Los Angeles at the “Teragram Ballroom” on Wednesday May 25. Sadly, I couldn’t attend this one. I really wanted to go to see them perform in their own element in the darkness of an intimate place where you can feel their music shock you deep inside your soul. I won’t miss them next time they come back to L.A. that for sure!

I couldn’t be more happy to attend this lifetime wish come true concert and to be able to see two of my loved bands  live in one day! This is truly amazing!

Finally time has arrived…
On May 23, after months of waiting, my day started pretty early getting ready to go to the Hollywood Bowl a 50 minutes drive from where I live.  Exciting feelings were anticipating the concert that I have been waiting for all my life. This day was a very special day for me, it was filled with intense emotions and a “Surreal Surprise”. I am so happy that I was able to attend, I never wanted to miss this. The weather was sunny most of the day and later on turned a little gloomy with an appealing breeze.

When we arrived to the Hollywood Bowl was great to see the big sign saying  “The Cure – The Twilight Sad – Tonight 7:pm – Sold Out” another great concert was about to be written in the history album of this venue. Things were getting real now!
We decided to pass the Hollywood Bowl to find an alternative parking area since the Bowl parking is known to be very crowded. So we drove down the main street at a decent walking distance from the Bowl.

There is a church with parking that I knew would let people park for events at the Bowl. We drove in looking for someone to ask if was possible to park early since the time was around 3.30pm and the gates of the Hollywood Bowl didn’t open til 5pm. Right at that exact moment when I turned my face toward the street I was stunned! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  Walking passed us in the street I see The Twilight Sad singer “James Graham” and the band manager John-Paul Mason, just at that precise moment! They appeared to me out of the blue! Oh Wow!!! That moment was so surreal! How could this be possible??? Instinctively I said, “That’s James!!!” He heard his name because he turned his face looking around trying to figure out who was calling him lol…I couldn’t believe what was happening, everything happened so fast like magic! That was one in a million chances. I kept calling James name and quickly got out to the car so that he could see me. They stopped, turned around and approached me by the fence.  James came close smiling and surprised. I told him that I am a fan.  Then they kindly came around the fence into the parking lot where I was. We started to talk and laugh, we hugged surprised from this amazing moment, it was fantastic like meeting old friends that you haven’t seen in a long time. James was super cool and very friendly, and so was John Paul. While talking we took some photos that I will cherish forever. Here is James! The impressive and intense soul of The Twilight Sad! I love this photo!

It was definitely one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever had! I couldn’t believe what just happened, this “encounter” alone made my day before it even started. I felt so great and happy!

One of The Twilight Sad beautiful songs that I love is “There’s a Girl in the Corner,” track from 2014 latest album “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave” awesome album! This song is also offered as
Exclusive Free Tour Download you can get it here.

I guess today “I was the girl in the corner” 😉 I can only say that it was a fantastic experience to meet James and John Paul, the best things happen when you don’t expect them. Thank you for stopping your walk and taking your time with me. Going to the concert, of course, I was hoping to be able to catch James and the band after the gig at the merchandise booth, but I knew that in L.A. wouldn’t be any easy in a sold out venue like this concert.

So my wish got fully granted with an amazing  unexpected surprise that I will never forget. Thank You for your kindness James!

After of all this we had a little time before the Bowl opened the gates. There were so many people everything was  well-organized and went smooth. While waiting I could hear The Twilight Sad doing their sound check and James voice resonate in between the Hollywood hills very beautiful. It was getting really exciting!

Around 5.30pm we were able to get inside the arena of the Bowl and had some time to kill after we got our seats. We went around the venue and  to the merchandise booths to buy my  The Cure Tour T-Shirt lots of people and I haven’t seen The Twilight Sad T-shirt that I wanted too!

Around 7pm was still natural sunlight, the arena wasn’t full yet but people were coming in. The concert started with The  Twilight Sad opening with the  beautiful notes of “There’s a Girl in the Corner” another great surprise for me! This song did bring together The Cure with The Twilight Sad for their collaboration. Robert Smith, recently recorded a beautiful cover for this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1mA45Bm948%20%20

The Twilight Sad delivered a great  performance with  7 songs on their Setlist, James Graham always deliver exceptional intensity and passion while singing becoming one with the music and dominating the stage with a distinctive, impressive presence. The 7 songs performed were: 1) There is a Girl in the Corner –  2) Last January – 3) That Summer at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy – 4) It Never Was The Same – 5) Seven Years of Letters – 6) Reflection of The Television – 7) And She Would Darken the Memory.

The sun was almost down by 8pm. The arena of the Hollywood Bowl was full and exciting.  Clouds were invading the sky creating the perfect shade of darkness and gray atmosphere for The Cure to take the stage. The show opened with the beautiful and distinct sound of the guitars and Robert voice singing  “Open” the first song of a long beautiful and insane Setlist featuring 33 amazing songs, 4 encores and two new songs performed “Step into the Light“ and “It can never be the same“ . The Cure gifted us with 3 hours of an amazing and spectacular show.

After playing 19 uninterrupted songs, the band left the stage for the first time.  Watching The Cure live is stunning!
They are better than ever. Robert Smith has amazing stamina, he can sing and play his guitar forever. In between songs Robert gave us few kind and cheerful words. Roberts voice is as fresh and powerful like time hasn’t passed, the same for  his unique look, the only difference is that he is letting his hair color natural. Besides that, his black eye-lined eyes, lipstick, black dressed and heavy boots all still there. He is “The Cure” the founder and heart of this amazing band and it’s so great to see that unity as band that make them amazing like their music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZMF8zm2mCI

After 23 songs and at the end of the encore 2 my favorite song  “A Forest” blown away  the Hollywood Bowl! There are not enough words to describe how this song effected me and everyone else there.  This song has been with me almost all my life. No matter what has changed growing up, or going through life experiences and I think when this happens that’s what great music is all about, you become one with it, and will never leave you. Was an incredible experience to hear it live!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD2RU9cD6FQ

After this great moment, we had encore 3 and encore 4 more beautiful songs were played.  The Cure wanted to give us everything they could in 3 hours time and still a lot more of amazing music from their discography were left un played. Robert & Co.  enjoyed play their music with us very much it was like they never wanted to stop until the grand final with the song “Boys Don’t Cry”. This concert was outstanding and fantastic for so many reasons.  I have seen two amazing loved bands and I would love to see them again and again and again…

A special thanks to The Cure and to The Twilight Sad for this unforgettable concert and for their timeless great music!

• For more check their websites
  thecure.com
  thetwilightsad.com

Late in October 2016 I have created a watercolor ink painting dedicated to The Twilight Sad
1st Release Collectors Limited Edition Fine Art Print are available on pre-order Here 

Featured Photos by Photographer  ©Mauro Melis
Thank you Mauro for let me use them!

(Videos Source YouTube)

©Copyright 2018 Carolina Russo – yesterdayafter.com