the cure - radio festivals 1997 - dahl's diary
28th nov 1997 - another week of rehearsals... and it's time to cross the atlantic again... perry and roger go early and spend a couple of nights in nyc... robert and simon will fly out to philadelphia tomorrow... jason and me and the crew fly into jfk and take a minbus down to philly... i get will smith's autograph in the hotel bar...
29th nov 1997 - philadelphia - a sunny morning... perfect weather for a walk around philly... jason tries to re-enact the scene from 'rocky' and runs up 'that' flight of concrete steps... except he's much slower, and nobody throws an apple to him... perry and roger arrive from nyc... over to the tower theatre for soundcheck... nick plays bass... nobody sings... back to the hotel, the band are finally together... in the bar (nah!) along with reeves gabrels, publicists, record company, friends & fans... the show is really well received... and the cure are happy...
30th nov 1997 - fairfax, virginia - a rare journey by train... through the snowy plains of baltimore... and the cure find themselves at central station, washington dc... another journey by minibus... through the slushy streets of virginia... and the cure find themselves at the patriot center in fairfax... 12,000 people, packed to the rafters... everything running smoothly(?!)... and another great show...
1st dec 1997 - boston - an early night always means a smooth departure... but a quick call to the airline and we find out boston is snow bound; our plane is cancelled and the next one is several hours away... so we go to the bar!.. simon discovers a new beer - 'foggy bottom'... and the barman "loves his accent"... on to the airport and the rudest airline staff in the world... perry's seat has been sold to someone else; i query this and i'm thrown off the plane! luckily someone at the back decides to fly from dulles airport instead, so me and perry are back on and we're all off to boston...
2nd dec 1997 - boston - at last a soundcheck... all the snow's gone and the crowd give a typically loud and enthusiastic boston response... aftershow we go to see 'the specials' in concert... we are doing another 'througher'... robert and i meet stephen fry in the hotel lobby at 6am... robert thinks i know him because i call out 'alright steve' (as you do)... he's very friendly... robert and simon go to the airport and fly back to england...
3rd dec 1997 - new york - the cure split up again... robert and simon are half-way home... perry flies down to the sunshine state... jason and roger and me go to nyc for the break...
4th/5th - ummmm....
6th dec 1997 - dallas - 3 days (and nights) in nyc has taken it's toll... roger went to see a different band each night... and sorted jason and i with some free clothes... jason and i climbed to the top of the statue of liberty... in our free clothes... it's now saturday and it's time to head west... roger and i feel ok... jason only slept for 40 mins... it's a nice evening in dallas and we manage to drag jason to a 'business' dinner... he chews about half an ounce of his 32 ounce steak before falling into his plate...
7th dec 1997 - dallas - robert and simon and perry and 'security sean' arrive from various destinations... jason and roger soundcheck and it rains and rains and rains... back together (again)... in the bar (again)... and off to the bronco bowl and a 'texan welcome'... we pass the cowboys stadium on the way... fond memories... robert cries... the beginning of 6 shows in 6 days...
8th dec 1997 - san jose - we hit the west coast... jump in the van driven by sunny... who gets lost trying to get out of the airport... but this is the cure, so nobody minds... roger tells her to turn the map up the right way... sunny smiles nervously... and we get to the event center... sunny can't find the backstage door... his is all a bit spinal tap... reeves gabrels returns (again)... the cure play for ages and the crowd scream for more... aftershow, sunny takes us to a bar... after another sight-seeing tour of san francisco...
9th dec 1997 - portland, oregon - we arrive in portland... no hotel as we're 'doing a runner' aftershow... the dressing room is full of bags... and people... we play blackjack on the dressing room floor, using pretzels as chips... robert wins (of course!)... jason eats all his 'chips'... harry toto doesn't understand (no change there?!)... "vingt et un! vingt et un!"... after another great show it's onto the bus... the house union have gone mad... pizza's aren't allowed into the building, beer isn't allowed out of the building... and the bus is late... and it's raining... so i have 5 band, 7 cold, soggy pizzas, no bus... and no beer!!!! aaaagh! we finally arrive, and it's late, and the hotel lifts are busted... the hotel staff offer me a fruit plate as compensation... now that is almost funny... still... 3 down and 3 to go... and the shows ARE excellent...
10th dec 1997 - seattle - at last; a soundcheck... and another goodshow... and another late night... things are starting to blur...
11th dec 1997 - chicago - it's a very early start... it's a four hour flight and we cross a couple of time zones and lose 2 hours... we arrive in the windy city and it's seriously cold... but we are met by the warmest minibus crew in the world; thanks keith and his friend... we check into the hotel... then onto the united center... simon le bon bursts into the cure dressing room... "hi robert!"... we all run and hide and leave robert to it... until the cure go onstage and play to 18,000 loud fans... it's late when we come off and it is definitely time to sleep...
12th dec 1997 - detroit - it's another early start... this time to a radio station to play a short acoustic set to 100 lucky winners... the cure play "friday"... because... it's friday... the show will broadcast on a tuesday; but no-one cares... then to the airport and a flight to detroit... quickly to the hotel for check-in, and down to the bar for one last drink... then to the familiar palace at auburn hills for a suitably rowdy ending... aftershow we go to a club for an end of tour party... but the police raid it because it's after hours! so we run to the hotel... ummm....
13th dec 1997 - england - bar... minibus... check-in... airport bar... aeroplane... taxi... home... i think...
