Hong Kong Ham

Was alright.

There were a number of factors that made the show less cool than it could have been:

AsiaWorld-Arena is just too damn big

It was if the band were playing at the front of a large indoor football field, with the standing area half-empty and only half the grandstands occupied. There were a lot of people at the concert but this extra-roominess made it seem under-attended, consequently making it difficult to get enveloped by the sound and carried away with the atmosphere.

The band lacked spark

A searing performance of ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ notwithstanding, from what I saw of the show the band members were lacklustre in their movements on stage and refrained from any interaction with the crowd. The music was polished, sometimes brilliant, but as a friend remarked, it was a bit much like watching a TV show at times. I’m sure it would have been more of an experience for the folks standing near the stage, though.

Three hours is too long for a show

I find it tough to sit in one place for three hours, regardless of what’s going on. The Cure certainly has the material to sustain a show of such length, but I’d prefer they put on an intense and engrossing performance of shorter length that leaves you begging for more. Mind you, I had to leave the show 45 mins early because of work stuff, so I missed the crescendo and the two encores.

Blowhard ushers

I don’t know if they were ushers, per se, or security people, but the cocks with the torches wouldn’t let us change our (crappy, but free) seats, despite a preponderance of  utterly empty ones in much better position below us. And it wasn’t just us. These guys seemed intent on sucking the fun out of the show for as many people as possible.

Having said all that…

The band was tight, the songs were solid and Smith still sounded great, despite his advancing years. The Cure mixed the big hits with some lesser known (well, I didn’t know them) numbers. They were suitably brooding, haunting, upbeat, and dancey by turns, and a great number of Cure fans were seen to be having a most excellent time.