Satisfy your curiosa-ity
Went to the Curiosa Festival 2004 last night. It was OK. Interpol was excellent, and I thought The Rapture sounded pretty good too. The Cure was good. Yup that’s it, just good, not great. Robert Smith and crew played an uninspiring set in an uninspired manner. The best part of the show was the paying public. All the geeks, castoffs, nerds, and 10,000 other people that want to be unique were there, all wearing black. Some accessorized with highlights of shocking pink, shocking red, shocking aqua, or shocking lime green. Each with various sizes and numbers of piercings, tattoos, and unconventional hairstyles. They could have caught direct flights from Masquerade and The Castle to this show. The crowd was really fun, and all were have a wonderful time. Most in the seats were swaying, and most in the yard were dancing. I didn’t see Carrie, but she was there. Here’s her review.
The festival was at the new Ford Ampitheatre. The sound was clear and loud, and the sightlines are great. The seats are comfortable, if nothing spectacular. But man was it hot out there. The “Festival Lawn” area (I immediately began calling this “the yard” – I have no idea why, but I’ll stick with that) is not covered by the giant tarp over the seats, so the sun will bake you at the daytime concerts. As the sun set, mosquitoes and other bugs were a slight problem. I did not notice the smell of cow shit others mentioned, but perhaps it was masked by all the pot, not to mention the body odor of the sweaty black-clad congregation. Truthfully, there was a nice breeze, with no malevolent odors.
Other items not related to the entertainment aspect: The bathroom facilities are plenty, but not air-conditioned. They are better than port-o-lets (for now). They had a couple of walk-up liquor bars and frozen drink bars, as well as tents selling hippie stuff (might have been this show only). Miller Lite is a sponser, so you’ll have to drink their beer. If you are a Coke drinker, you’ll order $3 or $5 lemonade, since they only have Pepsi products. And in case you forgot to bring your newspaper, it seems the St. Pete Times has exclusivity there as well. Cameras were allowed in (for this show), and there was a big written warning that moshing could be dangerous, so if you were going to the mosh orchestra pit, you were forewarned (I saw no crowd surfing at all). In short, I think it would be a terrific place to enjoy a concert in the late fall or winter, and not so fine for the summertime events.
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