My mom was totally hoping I'd outgrow this

But I just don't think I'll ever really outgrow the Cure. I've loved them since I was 14 and heard Pictures of You, and that was the beginning. I don't play them non-stop anymore, it's true, but I'd still list them as my favorite band of all time.

Saturday night I got to go to my sixth Cure concert (thanks, Jenn!), this one at the Hollywood Bowl. And it was incredible. I have to say, I think the best way to hear the Cure is outdoors while the sun is setting. The weather was perfect, warm but not hot, and it was a nice clear evening. The setlist was really good. I wouldn't say it's the best I've ever heard (that was the Greek in 2000), but it was cool. They played a lot of stuff that radio-Cure fans would like: Inbetween Days, Lovecats, Just Like Heaven, Boys Don't Cry, A Forest, Close to Me, Lullaby, Why Can't I Be You?, Friday I'm in Love, and stuff like that. But there were a couple little gems. They played To Wish Impossible Things, one of my favorites and one I've never heard live, and Prayers for Rain, and From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea. And Pictures of You, a standard, but still beautiful and somehow different every time they play it. There are a lot of songs I wanted to hear, but their library is so huge that that'll always be the case. They played for three solid hours, and did three encores. As they were walking off the stage at the end of the third one the roadies began to unplug the guitars, but then the band paused at the very edge of the stage, talked for a few seconds, and turned around and came back one more time to play Boys Don't Cry.

Here's the view from our seats. They won't let you take your camera in, but everyone has camera phones now, so what's the point? We were in section D, which is really really good. It was such a good concert!! I loved all the new stuff they played, too, especially the song they opened with, which I think is called Under the Stars, but that's really anyone's guess since the album's not out yet.

So, I guess that's it. They only really come around every four years or so, so I'll be there again in 2012, black eyeliner in hand.