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| The Cure - Festival 2005 | 
 enlarge | Actor: The Cure
Studio: Geffen Records
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $8.54
You Save: $6.45 (43%)
New (40) Used (16) Collectible (1) from $7.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 12019
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Live, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 155
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: B000809409
UPC: 602517143951
EAN: 0602517143951
ASIN: B000JU7NCE
Theatrical Release Date: December 5, 2006
Release Date: December 5, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW Factory Sealed - Ready to be shipped within 24 hrs from California - Average 5 workdays delivery time - Excellent customer service - Buy with confidence!
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Product Description
One of modern rock's most enduring acts the Cure proves it's still able to put on a great live show in THE CURE FESTIVAL 2005. Former guitarist Porl Thompson returned to The Cure's fold in 2005 and he takes a cross-continental tour with the three other band members (Robert Smith Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper). The band played nine different festivals from Spain to Turkey and this title combines the best footage from the shows. Songs include "Never Enough" "Just Like Heaven" "Inbetween Days" and "Disintegration."Format: DVD AUDIO Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS UPC: 602517143951 Manufacturer No: B000809409
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 I wish I knew of more DVDs like this! December 8, 2006
35 out of 41 found this review helpful
I'm a stichler and cynic with live concert dvds, and I assure you that this one shines. I am always looking to find the dvd that really wows me, but most are only good for a few songs here and there and then they collect dust. Ironically, I bought this one ASSUMING it was going to be just another gimmick (like "Trilogy"), but I was wrong. This DVD is what concert DVDs are SUPPOSED to be all about. It's a friggin EXPERIENCE.
Let's get the "negatives" out of the way. Much of the shots are smoky looking and hazy, and just about all of the shots are done with less-than-state-of-the-art cameras. So, if this bugs you, you don't get to enjoy one of the best concert dvds money can buy. That's your punishment for being too focused on stuff that is not important! :) The reason I put "negatives" in quotation marks is that the unique camera work really adds to the experience of the concert (or combination of concerts).
The biggest plus to the dvd, and quite possibly the main reason I am in love with it, is the fact that the video wasn't spliced and edited by an idiot, which is unfortunately the case with many recent live dvds (examples: Depeche Mode, R.E.M., Devo). You actually get to enjoy each of the shots for more than a couple of seconds. With one song, the camera just stays in one spot in the center. It works!
A good concert DVD shows you what was at the show. A great concert DVD sorta leaves you feeling like you saw the show. THIS beautiful gem makes you feel like you are at shows from all different time periods and exotic concert locations, floating around in your chair, like a ghost - sort of like ebenezer scrooge going to visit his past, present, and future. I can't really describe it. I am embarassed to say, watching this dvd kind of makes me emotional...
The setting for many of the shows is dazzling, most notably Sicily, and there is one venue where there were actually carnival rides set up! (Maybe it's just me, but many Cure songs remind me of carnivals...)
And the song list! Oh, the glorious song list! You can feel the energy when "M" is playing. I think, for once, the BAND was even a little surprised at the positive reaction of the crowd. It is worth the price of the dvd just to see people crowd surfing to this song - and Robert Smith SMILING as the crowd cheers during the first chords. The people at the show are going nuts, and for good reason. What a sweet live tune. "The Drowning Man" is another rather sweet one, and EVERYTHING from "The Head on the Door" sparkles, shimmers, and gives me goose bumps. Really, REALLY good stuff.
This was a much-needed refresher on why I love the Cure.
P.S. I didn't even notice until three quarters of the way through that they didn't have synthesizers. You won't miss them.
 A Wonderful Setlist Overwhelmed by Bad Presentation December 22, 2006
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
The "Festival 2005" DVD is a live compilation of performances taken from their string of performances before huge European crowds that Summer. The shows are the first recorded glimpse of their current lineup, which features the return of Porl Thompson on guitar but also the departure of multi-instrumentalist Perry Bamonte and keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. The resulting DVD is sadly limited by both this pared-down lineup and also the frighteningly bad videography/editing. Still worthwhile for Cure completists, it will nonetheless leave both them and more casual fans frustrated by poor presentation.
PERFORMANCE - 3.5 stars
Despite an ever-changing lineup, The Cure has always been one of the most cohesive live acts in popular music. Their shows faithfully recreate their studio material, displaying the members' prowess with instruments while also leaving the bulk of the energy and interpretation to Smith's unmistakable voice.
However, this decision to scrap all keyboards from the live act is a blatant mistake. Smith's aim is clearly to project a more muscular tone onto familiar material and in some cases it works well ("The Kiss", "alt.end", "Shiver and Shake"). But in reality, those tracks were the ones that never had much keyboard anyway. The unfortunate tracks that rely on keyboards are dreadfully incomplete. "Just Like Heaven" sounds like a bad cover of itself. "Fascination Street" and "A Forest" are missing critical melodies. But worst of all, the majestic lead melody of "Plainsong" performed on guitar makes it sound like a parody of the instrumental closing theme to "Top Gun". The lack of keyboards truly ruins a number of these tracks to the ear of any longtime fan.
Smith's vocals sound as good as ever, although by the time he reaches the tracks at the end of the nightly setlists, he seems genuinely fatigued. For instance, the first half of "End" is basically mumbled rather than sang. The reintroduction of Thompson's guitar style is a big plus - as always, he mixes walls of fuzzed-out feedback with nimble virtuosity (the solo for "The Blood" is a highlight for him). I've never been a fan of Jason Cooper's hyperactive style of "the more drum fills, the better", but he is finally settling into a decent impression of Boris Williams' rhythms. Simon Gallup continues to be one of the most rock-solid bass players to ever grace the stage; also, he particularly seems at home with the more aggressive, minimalist lineup.
VIDEO - 1 star
Remember how bad the "Mixed Up?!?" album was? Well, this DVD is to your eyes what that remix collection was to your ears. And by the closing credits, it's apparent why: both are Robert Smith vanity projects. In a classic example of overstepping one's capabilities, Smith co-directed and -edited the piece, and the result is utterly maddening.
From the first track, you notice that in some shots the colors are so grossly oversaturated that it degrades the picture quality to roughly that of a VHS tape. Every other amateurish video trick gets thrown in as well: posterization, chroma keying, digital black-and-white, etc. But the most infuriating of all is the use of motion trails - think of how really bad movies depict "drunk vision". Ugh. All of this overblown video trickery might still be cool for the midnight showing of "The Song Remains the Same", but here, it's wholly unnecessary.
The camerawork is also spotty. First, there is too much reliance on two static angles. First, a wide shot of the entire stage taken from a good distance back into the crowd. Second, an overhead shot from the behind the drum kit looking down on the band and into the crowd - this one has all of the visual allure of a convenience store security camera. The manual cameras also try too many cheesy tricks which distract from the power of the performance. There's enough emotional punch in the opening lines of "The Kiss" that it wasn't necessary to choose a shot where the camera jerks and spins in faux mosh-pit fury.
AUDIO - 3 stars
The disc offers both a 5.1 and a DTS mix. Both sound very good, with fine separation. The DTS mix could be regarded as unnecessary since so much of the music is bathed in distortion, reverb and/or feedback.
EXTRAS - 1 star
Simply put, there are none.
CONCLUSION
For the price, the "Festival" DVD does deliver a lot of solid Cure content. The consolidated setlist is nearly perfect - by the time the encores wrap, even the most jaded longtime fan will be pleased. Unfortunately, the videography is so engrossed in its own cheap trickery that it becomes a continual distraction from the performance. Also, the current synth-free lineup shows its limitations on many of the staple tracks. Ultimately, it just made me wonder why neither of their prior live videos, "The Cure in Orange" (their definitive live show) or "Show/Paris", have been put on DVD yet.
Fat Bob and the old boys play out December 6, 2006
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
Okay, in case you're not a fan, this is the most recent version of the Cure, just Robert Smith, his long-time running mate Simon Gallup on bass, and Jason Cooper on drums, a 12 year veteran. Joining them for the moment (and maybe longer it seems) is Porl Thompson on guitar, who hasn't been around since the 90's. Because these guys know each other and the music so well, there are no rough spots here, this is very familar territory. Personally I don't think Porl adds that much, his guitar is accomplished, but it lacks a distinctive voice to my ears. And I really think a keyboard is necessary to fill out the Cure sound. As a result I think this feels a little spare (they do "Plainsong" and it sounds okay, but . . . odd). It does force Bob to play guitar a lot, and that's a good thing, he was handing off a lot to Perry in concert when I saw them last.
Other than that, it's just a pure concert piece, very familiar camera angles, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just want to see them play anyway. But the recording is a little grainy in places, like it was trying for a pixelated special effect look (see the opening frames) and some other silly effects like in "Heaven", which also make Bob look like a vampire who just lifted something heavy. It even gets black and white in places. Compared to the sparkling look of "Trilogy", this is a real letdown in quality.
My final comment is that the setlist is very . . . settled. I sure would like to see them play something absolutely new some day, why not a Join the Dots concert? Something like that. I mean, how many times can you watch Bob do "A Forest"? Okay, lots, me too, but a fresh set would be nice (an exception is "Push", which I've never seen them play).
So, I'll give it a 4, because it is the Cure, and there's never enough material as far as I'm concerned, and there's 30 songs here, very generous. And because this is priced remarkably low, like Trilogy. That makes up for the $20+ prices on the "enhanced" CD's, so the ledger's square again. Thanks Bob.
 snore.... January 1, 2007
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
As a musician I hate to see it when one of my all time favorite bands is up their just going through the motions, unfortunalty this is one of those moments and this DVD does an admirable job of capturing the train wreck. Smith rarely if ever pushes his voice during these performances, fat finger stumbles over notes during the intro of If Only Tonight We Could Sleep as well as playing half heartedly through some of their greatest songs. Drummer Jason Cooper has to count off the beginning of almost every song as well as count off the breaks during the middle sections which is annoying and manages to fall a whole beat behind coming out of drum rolls and transitions not to mention how dead his kit sounds, hey change the heads and tune that thing!!! I won't even talk about how bad Simon Gallops bass tone is. Former band member Perry Bamonte complained that on the last tour the band sounded like a horrible Cure cover band, I couldn't agree more! Every song on this is played too slowly, tempos drag and limp along like a wounded buffalo, it's embarassing!!! The mix is horrible and both Robert and Porl's guitar tones are way too thin and wimpy. Don't waste your money on this travesty, buy the Trilogy DVD or a nice used VHS copy of Show and
pretend this release didn't happen, it's a stain.
Could have been much better December 7, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Well, I'm not one to normally complain about anything The Cure puts out but this DVD could have been much better. The song selection is overall very good, mixing songs from every studio release except for TIB and WMS, I believe. They play heavy on material from the era when Porl was previously in the band. As a four-piece, the songs that normally require keyboards are unique here with Porl filling in the keyboard parts on guitar and there has been no other "official" live releases for more than a few songs on this DVD such as "Shiver and Shake", "M", "The Baby Screams" or "Signal to Noise." I can't complain about the sound quality, although the packaging did not indicate that that the 5.1 surround was DTS only and not Dolby. I prefer DD over DTS but the stereo surround mix was fine. The fact that the press release and the packaging do warn you that the video is essentially of the guerilla/audience/amateur quality still does not prepare you for the actual picture quality. My God, I just could not continue to watch the DVD. It hurt my eyes. Going for the crappy camera/grainy out of focus quality angle was a poor choice. The cheesy blurring and double images nonense was worse than watching an old Black Sabbath video on VH1 Classic. I've got better quality (even today after multiple viewings) of a VHS recording of The Cure I made 15 years ago from a concert from Germany that MTV aired! This DVD is just plain unwatchable. I will simply turn off the video and listen to the audio. This only makes the absolute need for re-releasing "In Orange" and "Show" onto DVD sooner rather than later. Too bad. This could have been a much better release for Cure fans.
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