MOG

It took me a lot of back and forth debates with myself about who would take the runner-up and number one spots on this top 10 list, but after some serious pen biting and head scratching I've decided that the number two spot goes to the legendary members of the Cure. This was my third time seeing them (the first was when I was in the fifth grade on their Bloodflowers tour, and the second was at Curiosa when I was a sophomore in high school) and it was nothing short of magical. I stayed in the pit after Death Cab and by the time the Cure came on, I was so close to the stage that I could see Robert Smith in all his caked-on-make-up-glory. I'll have to admit that I don't know every Cure song in existence, but I doubt the majority of the people there did unless they were over the age of maybe 40; with (close to) thirteen albums released, It's hard to keep up with the entire collection considering the first release dropped in 1979, 11 years before I was born.

However, when classics like Pictures of You, Fascination Street, Just Like Heaven, A Letter to Elise, Lovesong, Lullaby, Never Enough, Wrong Number, Hot Hot Hot, and Boys Don't Cry (amongst others that I can't recall right now) came on, you can best believe I was going ape shit with the rest of the venue and dancing and singing along like a total idiot. I'm glad that the Cure inspired not only me, but other kids and adults alike to just let loose and get completely lost in the music.

The highlight of the show was during Lullaby when Robert Smith did a little jig -- yes, a jig -- and even let a chuckle or two slip out. He didn't talk much throughout the set, and when he did, not surprisingly only about 2% of the audience could figure out what he was saying, but he's fucking Robert Smith; he could've been mumbling "you're all a bunch of twats" and we would have still smiled and reflected our love back at him. Porl Thompson and Jason Cooper were also definitely an integral part of the show, but I'll have to say that Simon Gallup annihilated his bass to shreds, which was not only a wonder musically, but also physically; I've never seen anyone wear black leather pants as tight as his and do what he did on stage that night.

I was on the barricade by the first encore, and all I could think to myself was how lucky I was to be so close to these legends whose music has been in rotation in my life since I was in the third grade. All in all, a completely earth-shattering performance lasting from 10:10 to around 12:40-fricken-5 that will go down in the books.