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Curiosa Festival was organized to showcase current bands that the Cure were currently listening to. Like Edgewall, the A=B=C formula was applied for the fan in hopes of providing a backdrop for the headliner. Although Cursive and Muse were originally slated for the Dallas show, we were left with only six performances on two stages at the Smirnoff Center. Much Tim's dismay we missed Cooper Temple Clause and what we saw of Head Automatica was a little too much like everything else on alt.radio right now.

The Rapture show on the main stage was really our first delightful taste of Curiosa. Punked out in Adidas gear, the band put on a kinetic show highlighted by fast drum beats, heavy guitars and an occasional cow bell. All songs except "Out of the Races..." were from the Echoes album, with energy reaching the highest levels during their hit "House of Jealous Lovers" and "Olio" whose sound gives tribute to the host band.

We hurried to the second stage to watch Auf Der Maur , cognizant only of her resume with Hole and the Pumpkins and fans of her hit "Followed the Waves". We were pleasantly surprised by the incredible musical ability and heavy sound of the band, and most notably the stunning performance by Melissa who gasped, grunted and cooed each lyric with the same intensity, innocently flirting with the crowd while parading around the stage flinging her bass like a weapon. She had complete control of the crowd from the opening snippet from "Lightning is my Girl" to her final promise to "shuffle his deck clean". I became an instant fan, and purchased her CD when I returned home.

Interpol took the stage next and opened with "Obstacle 1" which we enjoyed from the shadows of the Edgewall. The rest of the show was crisp, but lacked the intensity of the prior two bands. Sadly, not one song stands out as a highlight. We mostly just sat back and enjoyed their melodies while watching a few diehard fans trying to outduel one another with their dance abilities. Mogwai played for only a few minutes during which we purchased a shirt and prepared for the Cure.

The Cure opened with "Lost" and took a pleasant rotation between the new album and favorites from Disintegration and Wish before jumping into crowd favorites "Just Like Heaven", "Inbetween Days" and "One Hundred Years". My favorite parts of the show were the slightly altered version by Perry on "Fascination Street" and the lyrical mastery on "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" and "Disintegration" the title song which I had never before witnessed in person. We sat among a host of die-hard fans who screamed the lyrics with us in the same passionate spirit as Robert crying from "the depths of his heart", while others found solace in the place that The Cure takes you in bitter memories or unexpectant endings. The new songs sounded so much better live, especially on "The End of the World" parts of which Robert just stood and gazed at the crowd.

Much like their Bloodflowers tour where they paid tribute in each encore to Disintegration and Pornography, this tour's encores showcased Seventeen Seconds with "M", "Play for Today" and "A Forest" and Boys Don't Cry with "10:15 Saturday Night" (drip, drip, drip) and closing with the title song, another first for me. All that was left to play in this "rewind" mode was "Killing An Arab", but alas Robert waved farewell, thanked us for an "incredible day" and promised to "see us again soon" which I will hold him to.