19. Le Cure, Lakewood Bar & Grill, 7/15/11

19. Le Cure, at Lakewood Bar & Grill.

It is Day Fifty.  Like Hank Hill's posterior, this project is a little behind.  But we remain sanguine that we will finish in triumph.

We'll just say this up front: this was an evening of watching bands that were talented but not exactly our cup of tea.  So read the corresponding, brief, reviews with the caveat: they're great if you like that sort of thing.

The first band was Le Cure, a Cure cover band, at Lakewood Bar & Grill.  The cover was seven dollars, and that included a free bar's worth of fog from the fog machine.  About seventy-five people were there, and LBG isn't huge; it was a fairly crowded scene.  The atmosphere was mostly laid-back and happy, the ages skewed to the middle and up, and only a few goth-type costumes in sight.

Jumping someone else's train.

The band dresses the part; at least singer Mark Hernandez does, makeup and scraggly black hair in his face and sounding very much like Robert Smith.  The band is skilled; they sounded pretty much like we expected the Cure to sound.  Maybe they're even better than the original at this point.  Since neither of us has seen the Cure in concert, we're only going by the studio recordings, but to us they seemed to nail it.

The crowd was appreciative, responding to the more energetic numbers well; when Le Cure launched into the hit "Pictures Of You," the area in front of the stage instantly filled up with exuberant, gleeful dancers.  (At this point we noticed that a certain type of woman will dance to a Cure cover band shamelessly, if not entirely appealingly.) 

In sum: Le Cure is a fun night out.  The vocals are spot on, the band quite talented.  They use lights and fog to create a certain atmosphere that is undoubtedly appropriate for their audience.  The trouble is that neither R nor N are a part of that natural audience.  When Le Cure played songs we knew, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit; but they play a lot of material that is not familiar to anyone who is not a solid Cure fan.  We watched only the first half of their show; perhaps they loaded the second set with songs more recognizable to the casual listener.  In any case, Le Cure seems to know exactly how to play to their audience of fans, so more power to them.