Zyla, Riah, Tim and Yvonne with Robert in Phoenix (August 25th, 2004)


All of this is so surreal, I have been almost incapable of sitting down for more than a few minutes.
But, I am going to force myself to document this experience right now.

A good friend of mine purchased season box seats for Cricket Pavilion. I paid a pretty penny to buy them just for this show. The box seats include access to the VIP club/bar. We thought they MIGHT come back their after the show. But, of course there is no guarantee. This good friend also used to
promote concerts in Phoenix for over 10 years, so he arranged for a meet and greet for us because he knows my fandom regarding the Cure. So, we were all prepared for a simple meet and greet.

Well, we got to the show, etc. and come to find out, the person that was to arrange the meet and greet didn't leave the passes at will call and was unable to reach via phone. So, we were all DEVASTATED. My girls cried before the show and fighting back my tears, I told them that no matter what, one day they will meet Robert, I would make sure of it. They still were very unhappy, but I told them to enjoy the show!

The concert, as all the majority of other reviews of this show say, was absolutely amazing. He played so many songs! I am totally biased because to me, The Cure can do no wrong. But, my boyfriend who had never seen them before said that he was so incredibly impressed. He was blown away by all the songs in the encores. He felt Robert was so cool to make sure the crowd was totally acknowledged and that his new fave Cure song is Plainsong. :)
Just the concert experience itself was truly amazing for me. I watched my daughters sing along with Robert to practically every song and I was so proud. It was beautiful! And, Robert looked like he was totally enjoying himself! We all died when he started dancing around the stage. I just can't say enough!

Okay, so after the show, we decided to test our luck at the VIP club. We got there and within minutes Roger came out and was hanging out with some of his friends. My girls waited a little while and then went over and asked him to sign their Cure hat. (He asked my daughter to hold his wine glass for him and not to drink it.) He also asked if the hat was official and we laughed. I told him I got it on eBay and he said he would have to confiscate it. It was funny!

While we were entranced that Roger was back there, Robert had come in and we didn't even notice. A friend of mine came over to me and said, "There's your boy," and pointed over at Robert sitting in front of the stereo. I just about died at that very moment. I motioned the girls over and we all
kind of stood around and watched him.

He had the crew set up a sound system for him. Big stereo and tall speakers. He started DJ'ing the party! He was playing so many good songs, all his favorite songs. He played Bowie, The Beatles, Dinosaur Jr., Smashing Pumpkins. I really don't remember all the songs. I just was trying to play it cool. His security guards just loved my girls and made it possible for us to come over for a few minutes. He got up and met us and signed some of our stuff and that was completely surreal. Then, he sat back down in front of the stereo and kept playing his favorite music. Robert Smith of The Cure, this music genius DJ'ed this party from around 12:30 until around 2:45AM. It was the most incredible experience ever.

One of the security guards kept bringing the girls mementos. They brought them the playlist and Curiosa VIP passes. And, Mike, the security guard in the pic was so cool to me. At one point in the experience, I went over and sat on the ground in front of the stereo with Robert and we just hung out. I held his hand and mouthed a few words of a Smashing Pumpkins song to him, (don't ask my why), and he shied away. It was the most adorable thing. I sat there, right next to him, looking down at his big, black boots in front of me and could not believe my eyes. I was sitting and hanging out with Robert Smith, my lifetime idol. I asked him who played one of the songs he had on and he said Dinosaur Jr.. I acknowledged that they covered Just Like Heaven and he confirmed. A little after 2AM, I believe it was his tour manager came over and told Robert that he needed to get going and that he could only play one more song. I believe he actually played a few more.
Sorry I don't remember which ones or the details. It is all running together in my mind. The security guard motioned for my daughters to come over and they got to talk to Robert for a bit. This is basically some of the things they talked about:

If you could be anything other than a rockstar, what would you be? An astronomer. And as he said astronomer, he did his little hand gesture with both hands and motioned towards the sky. He also told my daughter that maybe some day when she is famous, he will see her walking down the street
and he will say, hey, I think I know that girl.

My daughter told Robert that we have the episode of him in South Park on DVD and asked if it was really him. He said yes. He also told us that the show writers were in town. He said they asked him, "Can you be more like Robert Smith?" when taping the show.

My daughter told him that we have two cats named Robert and Mary Smith. He asked which one was the nicer one and we said Robert was. (Because the male one is totally nicer than the female one.) And, he said that sounds about right. We all totally laughed. She then asked him if he had any cats and
he said he used to have two and then he said in a low whisper coupled with making the cutest hand gesture by holding both hands together and bringing them up to his left eye, "But they died." She asked how and he said they got too old.

My daughter asked if Mary was with him. He said she was back at home. (He also mentioned how we went home recently.) My daughter said, "To Italy?" And we all laughed. Robert said, "I hope not. Did she tell you something I don't know?" It was so adorable.

I asked Robert if he wears cologne. I told him about the Chain of Flowers website and that a topic of conversation was what he smells like. My daughter told him that people say he smells like laundry detergent and sweet Mexican bread. He smiled and brought his shirt up over his nose to smell it. He then said, "But, I'm sweaty."

My boyfriend asked him if he is a big hockey fan because he notices in videos, etc. that he wears hockey jerseys. He said he is just fond of wearing hockey jerseys.

That is all I can remember right now. I know it sounds ludicrous that I don't remember every detail but it was the most incredible, surreal experience of my life and I am truly in a trance still. I know how rare it is for someone to meet their idol. And, not only did I get that, but I got to spend time with him and he was so kind to us. It just does not seem real.

He said he was going. And, he leaned over and hugged each of my daughters, and then myself. We were the only people he hugged goodbye. (There was only about 15 people back there at this point.)

And, that is it. I do want to mention that when I bought my box seats from my friend, I asked him for two extra tix. So, I had a total of 6. I wanted to bring TWO HUGE CURE FANS with me to share the experience. I sold them on Ebay to this girl named Heather who lives in Mesa, AZ. and she had the opportunity to watch all of this. She also got a pic with him and he told her he liked her outfit. I will ask her permission to post her pic. But, I want to send her special thanks because I had used up all my film on the concert because I didn't think I was going to get to meet him So, if she had not had extra pics, we would not have these wonderful, wonderful photos. Thanks, Heather!!!

And, my list of precious mementos from this are: Roger's wine glass, two autographed Cure hats (Robert and Roger's sigs), the official setlist/playlist of the concert, a signed tour book, (Robert's sig), and two Curiosa VIP passes. I am thanking God as I type!

And, thank you Robert and Roger if you ever read this for the best night of our lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am heading out to get my tattoo of Robert Smith now! Thank you, Craig!!!!"

- Yvonne Bondanza