Deutsch Bahn is Germany's official railway. They have an extensive network of routes serving most of the country. They are known for being on time, the trains are quite comfortable and some are quite fast.
I left my hotel and jumped on Heidelberg's Strassenbahn (street car) number 4 and headed over to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station). I bought a ticket for Stuttgart. They had two lines running, one at 17:53, one at 18:06 (Germany uses a 24 hour clock, very sensible). The earlier one was a mega express, blistering along to Stuttgart in 37 minutes(!) but was DM12 more than the 18:06 run, which took 42 minutes. I chose the latter one. The return train left Stuttgart at 23:02 and arrived in Heidelberg around midnight. Total price was DM72.00.
After a quick bite at a station snack stand, I boarded my train. Very modern looking streamliner type, with pointy ends and rounded roofs on the cars. The non-express commuter trains are blunter looking and more workmanlike. Spacious, with airliner type seats. I pulled out a copy of "Independence Day: the ID4 Invasion" and began to read. The conductor stamped my tickets and we were off. The train did leave late, but I arrived in plenty of time.
I met a friend at the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, and he gave me a ticket and directions for the U11 line, a Subway/Strassenbahn trolley that runs partly under and partly over the streets of Stuttgart. in 20 minutes, I was at the Schleyer Halle, a good sized concert and sports amphitheatre. It is similar in size to an average college basketball arena, with a floor area (standing room only, where I was, called the Stehplatz Innenraum, for those of you brushing up on your German) surrounded by enough seats for several thousand.
The doors opened at 19:00, and the show was supposed to start at 20:00 I got there around 19:30, and the place was starting to fill. The walkways outside of the arena proper but within the building had a single t-shirt vendor (shirts were DM40) and numerous standup bars and food places.
Within the Innenraum, there was a decent crowd. I placed myself about 50m from the stage, and centered. The crowd was very dense in front of me, but was thinner behind. We listened to some light house and dance music while we waited.
There was no opening act, and the Cure came on around 20:45.
Their current lineup looks like this:
The band opened with two numbers I hadn't heard and which I presume to be off of their new album. They then launched into a nice melange of songs which covered a significant part of their career. Not all of them were hits (Prayers for Rain, for example) but were an interesting cross section.
I am amazingly bad at remembering song titles, but here is what I think the set list was:
Songs marked with an * represent tunes where the band used a special
instrument that holds a very dear place in my heart, the Fender Bass VI.
I currently have a HEMBROOK equivalent model, which I refer to as a Baritone Guitar, which I am trying to teach myself to play on. I completed it just before I left for Europe, and had it shipped to me here (Thanks, Dave& Allison!)
Notable Instruments
Notably, Robert WASN'T playing a Gibson product, but instead had a
cherry red Reissue Gretsch. He alternated between that, a 12 string
acoustic, and his vintage Bass VI. I think he is a highly underrated
player, he played much of the leads, and almost all of the solos
during the show. Very smooth, effortless player.
Perry Bamonte formerly The Cure's Guitar tech, elevated to third guitarist during the Wish years, now was the second player with the absence of Robert's brother in law, Porl Thompson. He played (left handed) a nice black ES Gibson (hollow body)and a deluxe Les Paul (also black) and, a vintage, left handed (rare!) Bass VI.
Simon Gallup surprised me by eschewing his hollow body Gibson basses in favor of a pair of reissue Thunderbirds. He was the only non-shoegazer, running about and jumping around and grooving with the drummer.
A nice touch was that all of their amps (5 stacks worth) had matching pattern grill cloth installed in a tasteful way.
As far as drums and keyboards go, I am clueless. They sounded very nice, though.
Enough geek guitar talk
I would have to say I was mightily impressed with the show: I had heard The Cure were a great live band, but they surprised me. There was much guitar switching to pull of the sounds they wanted, but the show flowed very well.
Other than his trademark hair and eyeliner, Robert looked like an average bloke, with a blue & white plaid flannel over a white henley, bluejeans and his Chuck Taylors. The rest of the band was variable, with the rhythm section looking like they could be in any rock and roll band, Perry in black, and the keyboardist in a sport coat.
The crowd response was very good. The folks generally were polite, not crowding or pushing. EVERYBODY seemed to be smoking, a few marijuana, most Marlboros. The crowd was much like the band, with a percentage of warmed-over-death wannabees, the rest just average folks. Lots of black, plenty of leather. Lots of tall people, too.
Security was good, with many more bouncers than most American shows. Only one shoe was thrown, no stage diving, no mosh pit. Some pogoing mofos in the middle of the crowd. One gushing fan got up on stage and fawned over Robert, which made him giggle, and was escorted off by two thick neck guys named Gunther.
The show ran for close to two hours, before the encore started. I had a 23:02 train to catch, so I allowed myself 30 minutes to get back to the Hauptbahnhof. So I bailed at 10:30 to the final strains of Why Can't I Be You?, and headed off to the trolley stand. I was in luck! There were two trolleys waiting on the rails! I ran up hoping not to miss one, only to see that their crews were off, smoking and joking near the gate. They informed me that they were waiting for the rush that was to come at the end of the show, and would pull out at 23:00. Unless a U11 has warp drive, there was no way to make it back in time.
I asked if there was another way. I was told to go 5 minutes walk down the street to a bridge, catch either the U1 or U2 (Achtung, baby!) to another stop, then the U9 or U14 back to the Hauptbahnhof. Could I do it before 23:02? Maybe? No Way. I didn't get back until 23:15, and my train was long gone. I did beat the U11 by over 15 minutes, though.
I asked for a ticket for the next ride, which I knew wasn't until 01:56 am! Deutsche Bahn has a nice Web page that helps you query the train schedule. You plug in your place of departure and arrival, and the time you want to either leave or arrive, and it gives you a complete schedule (including trolleys and bus lines, very efficient.)
So I got myself a bratwurst and sat down for several hours of
Independence Day . While I waited, I got some passport photos
made at one of those little booths. this is what I got for my DM6:
I eventually boarded my train and headed home. This train was also
an express, with sleeper cars. It did make one stop, but I arrived
at Heidelberg around 3:00. The trolleys were shut down by then, so I
settled for a cab ride (DM10) and was in bed by 3:30.
All in all, I would have to say it was a great time. Great concert, and in interesting (and frustrating) experience on the train system. I was always one who said that I was the reason mass transit didn't work, because I was so impulsive and always in a hurry. Now I am a believer, and wish we had it more in the states.