the cure - halloween 97 - dahl's diary

25th oct 97 - after 6 days rehearsals in london, the feeling is good as the cure fly to los angeles for the promo trip for the release of 'galore'...
it's a balmy evening (or is that barmy?) as we check into a beverley hills hotel, and simon and perry head straight for the open-air pool on the roof... they strip down to their undershorts and draw a lot of attention... perry has the foresight to bring a towel - simon doesn't care...
the band are hastily gathered up and we make our way to sir rehearsal studios where the crew have already set-up, and the band run through
the set... then it's back to the hotel for an early night... until some bright spark suggests a 'quick' trip to 'the house of blues' which is spitting distance from the hotel...

26th oct 97 - hmmm... jet lag is a terrible thing... thank god the clocks went back last night... back to sir for more rehearsals, and then a trip to modern rock live to perform "lovesong" kind-of-acoustically and to answer callers questions... then back to the hotel for another early night, except it's 5 to midnight and 'simon says' that we have to see my birthday in...

27th oct 97 - oh dear... today i'm 34... i feel 104... down to the pool for 'a few lagers' and some hastily put together presents - saucy playing cards from jason, a couple of new wave cd's from french fan club impresario harry toto, a ginger spice card from simon with the message 'you love her don't you?'... the cure do some pool-side interviews, then it's over to kroq to hijack the station and take over jed the fish's show... then onto a thai restaurant for a 'press dinner'... and finally onto the virgin megastore for a never-ending instore signing... the lapd describe it as a 'riot'... it was, in fact, 5,000 people trying to get an autograph, which is why the band stayed until 4.30am to sign as many as possible...

28th oct 97 - the la fire marshall decides that due to last night's 'riot' he is going to limit the capacity for tonight's club show at the american legion hall in hollywood... the band meanwhile take a trip to westwood one radio for more interviews... then onto 'the house of blues' again for online chat... then the american legion hall for soundcheck... a trip to the guitar centre... back to hotel... then back again to the venue for a 'meet and greet'! the band finally hit the stage at around 10.15pm... they play an eclectic mixture of hits and obscure album tracks, but the 900 (or so...) southern californians crammed into this old dance hall seem to know every song... the band get through 2 dozen litres of water (and a few beers) as it gets hotter and hotter... wayne hussey joins them for"inbetween days" (???), and then reeves gabrels appears onstage for a 'dubstyle' "close to me" and a 'rockout' "wrong number"... aftershow, the cure and onstage guests are joined in their toilet (sorry, dressing room!) by marilyn manson and billy zane...

29th oct 97 - jet lag is now starting to really take it's toll... 9.30am wake-up calls and the bleary-eyed cures make their way to nbc studios to record 'the jay leno tonight show'... this takes up the whole day... and during the endless waiting we are introduced to a new series - 'south park'... robert has been asked to do a voice-over... later that night we take the 'red-eye' to new york... (err... daryl; what about my birthday? love roger!!!)

30th oct 97 - a very early landing at jfk and the first hiccup - the band van fails to show... our heroic production manager lee takes the crew off in taxis, leaving their van for us... sean, our security man, guides everyone into the van, where they continue sleeping... and the driver takes us to the crew hotel... aaaghhhh! i decide to do a 'througher' and start to work rather than sleep... i get a fax from "the rolling stones tour manager", and i dutifully put them on the guest list for the halloween show... then i smell a rat and take them off again! a man is arrested the following week for impersonating the rolling stones tour manager... by the time interviews start at 1pm i am hallucinating... we manage to grab a quick coffee in the bar with dave gahan... evening comes, and perry and jason go to see janes addiction... simon and i finally get to eat indian food and drink kingfisher lager...

31st oct 97 - over to mtv for 'the matt pinfield show'... then to a cafe for an M2 interview... then over to k-roq for an acoustic performance of "friday i'm in love" (it is friday after all!)... then over to irving plaza for soundcheck and more interviews... then onto tower records for another instore... finally back to irving plaza, and we have to hit the stage at 10.37pm precisely, as the show is broadcast live on 90 radio stations across america... due to an 11.30pm commercial break, robert performs a 2 minute version of "jumping someone elses train"... after the show mark plati comes back to say hi, as well as various elektra people and others...

1st nov 97 - robert takes the first flight back to london... perry goes to florida... jason stays in nyc for a holiday... and me and simon go to the pub before meeting roger and going to the airport for the flight to blighty... just to convince myself i'm not hallucinating, i have a 3-way conversation on the plane with richard branson and the rev ian paisley... i want to go home...