From Watertown to Texas: How I Saw The Cure at Austin City Limits

Growing up in Watertown, NY, I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. He was particularly fond of country western music and constantly played Patsy Cline or tuned into the Grand Ole Opry and Austin City Limits when I was visiting. I'm not sure if I liked the music much back then, but I realize now that I was seriously influenced. Although I once spurned country music as the only music I didn't like, I'm way interested now. What it took, apparently, was a big move to Texas.

Around the same time I claimed country to be the worst (high school probably), I was deep in love with a British band fronted by a man with dark hair, sometimes teased into a wild sculpture, red lip stains, and smudged black eye makeup. If you haven't figured it out: this is Robert Smith of The Cure, my biggest dreamboat. Robert Smith was my only high school boyfriend, really. I never was the dating type back then.

Why Can't I Be You, The Cure, 1987

Still my favorite band. 

By some magic I learned that we were going to be visiting friends in Austin during the Austin City Limits music festival, an outdoor festival not limited to country western, and that the headlining band was none other than The Cure (whom I've only ever seen once before in a serendipitous Hard Rock live taping at a closed studio in NYC, 1999. Thanks to my friend Jose from FIT!).

I'm in the front row somewhere, stage left (with a pierced lip, cat eyeglasses, and blondie hair).

I knew I had to try seeing them again. Forget about the fact that there were no $300 tickets available. In Austin the festive atmosphere was infectious. We had a bite to eat as the sun went down, grabbed some hot Vietnamese coffee to go, and set off for Zilker Park.

Zilker Park, Austin, TX

Luckily my wonderful group was totally into the adventure. About 20 minutes of walking in the desert chill and we started to hear the unmistakable sounds of Robert Smith. Excited, we propelled toward the final stretch: a hike through the nearly black wooded path leading into the park. Led by the enchanting soundtrack (which at times unfortunately crossed into Kings of Leon on the second stage), we made our way to the entrance of the festival and from there we could actually see the stage and the projection screens.

Victory! We stood in our happy spot listening to the wondrous music for while and at the last minute I made a quick dash past the guards and into the park! Running like a wild woman toward the stage, I felt an incredible rush of ecstasy that will last in memory for a long time. O Robert!

Post Cure morning bliss and breakfast at Bouldin Creek Cafe on S. 1st

Relics From My Unsupervised Youth.

Here are a number of serendipitous findings that propelled me outward bound in my younger days. As a teenager far from the metropolis (and before the internet) I somehow got my hands on various media that set me daydreaming, no looking back. The commercial below is today's inspiration.

Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi Dancing in the Windows. This is amazing!

1. Mondo New York: first seen at age 15.

My favorite. It's bad, who cares. At the time I adored this. I recently re-discovered it, only available on VHS, at the one video store in all of Cambridge. Luckily my wonderful neighbor was keen to play it on his VCR. The performances below, and many others, are featured in the film. I can't believe that this isn't on DVD. It's an outrage. There is no better documentation of this part of New York at that time. The artists highlighted are some of the most important in terms of the downtown performance scene. Criterion, come on!

Joey Arias, Fish Out of Water
(sorry for the lame commercials on the above, it's worth it though)

Dean and the Weenies, Fuck You

Karen Finley, I Hate Yellow

The Dictator's, New York, New York
 Billed as Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, this song is played briefly though the band is not shown.

2. Emergency Broadcast Network: first seen around age 15.

I have been trying to explain this to people for so long. It's the kind of thing where you're not sure if the memory is real or not. But thanks to my local video store I now know that it really happened and I can finally put a name to it. Viewing was often interspersed with USA's Up All Night and onetime, Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. That came on during a slumber party. I didn't have my contacts in so the imagery was hazy, but some parts are very clear in my memory!

I didn't know it back then, but these EBN collages were made by a group of RISD artists. 

Get Down, Get Down

Don't Back Down

3. Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I found one of their cassette tapes in a thrift store (downtown Watertown, right next door to Dino's Shoe Service). I had read an article in Sassy or Seventeen about a magical place called the East Village where the greater collective of this band was based. That page was torn out and added to the growing collection of "someday!". I was thrilled to find this old tape, since it wasn't something you could get easily at the mall. 

Stool Pigeon

Lifeboat Party

After living in New York for less than a year I managed to wiggle my way (underage) into the classy Bar d'O for a Joey Arias cabaret show and later I had a chance to see Kid Creole and the Coconuts perform in Central Park. Aha! Dreams do come true.