Off The Bucket List

If you’re like me, you might have a playlist of music to save your life. At the very top of mine you can find “Disintegration” by The Cure. Oh, that song. It has always screamed so many things of my life. All my hurts, the feelings of not being good enough, the loud never-ending thoughts during sleepless nights, the exhaustion of being ME.

Anyways, as I got older I learned more about the HOW and WHY that song and album came to be. I kept realizing just how much I connected to The Cure whether I liked it or not! Robert Smith was this “give zero f*cks” kind of artist I wished I could be. He showed me that even though I felt like shit, the bad stuff wasn’t going to last forever. I could still find beauty in the sadness and make something from it. It was okay to not be what everyone else expected from me without burning down the world around me. So I’d do little things that were inspired by him, but were subtle enough that no one would call me out on it. Like I’d wear reddish lipstick, but I’d keep it clean and pretty because god forbid I look messy. My eyeliner kept getting darker and bolder little by little. Just teeny tiny things that would make me feel a connection to the awesomeness that helped calm my nerves while I was too concerned with being a good girl.

So a few years later, I decided screw all the noise. I was determined to go see this band live. I needed it for me! I guess the idea of breathing the same air as these people would somehow bring me some kind of catharsis. Who knows.

Eventually The Cure was announced to headline Lollapalooza in Chicago. I was counting my pennies because I was determined to go. The week before tickets went on sale, I found out I was pregnant. I was like, “Oh well, next time.”

The next year after I gave birth to my beautiful perfect child, Austin City Limits announced the great return of The Cure. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave my baby girl – and I was broke. So that didn’t happen. After that, they didn’t come back to the U.S. for 7 years.

Earlier this year, I started seeing rumors online that The Cure would be doing their own tour and it included lots of U.S. dates. I kept an eye on everything hoping there would be a Texas date on there. Even if there wasn’t a Texas date, I was determined to go anywhere in the nation. When the schedule came out, there were 3 Texas dates. BUT, much to my surprise there was also an Albuquerque date. One of my brothers lives there, and my brother-in-law has a great appreciation for great bands of the 80’s. I called them and told them I’d travel to Albuquerque for the concert if they would go with me. They agreed.

So on the day the tickets went on sale, all three of us got on our computers and phones. We made a plan, whoever would get in first would be the one in charge of getting the best seats possible. Luckily, my brother-in-law got number 65 in line! I had never been to the venue, so I was trusting him to get good seats. And man did he get greats seats!

When we walked into the venue, our first stop was at the merch booth. I was crazy shocked with how the merch was so not expensive! I bought the city poster (more on this one below) for $30, a T-shirt for $25, and a tote for $15. I’ve been to concerts where the shirt alone was $50! So to spend $70 on 3 tour items was amazing!

We got to our seats and I was ecstatic! Not only did we have an amazing view of the stage, we were sort of in our own little section that was blocked off. There were only 6 seats in the area and we had bought 4 of the seats. We had so much space to ourselves. I almost felt guilty because this was a sold out concert, but I totally appreciated not having people shoving me.

The concert got started right on time as was promised. The Twilight Sad opened the show. Honestly, I had never heard of this band before. They were so good! This weekend I’ll be hunting for their music!

The 30-minute wait before The Cure came on stage was the longest ever! It started getting windy and cold. My dumbass didn’t take my jacket even though my Mom nagged me to take it (listen to your Mom, kids!). Lucky for me, my brother had a spare jacket in the car.

When The Cure finally went on, oh man, I jumped out of my seat and couldn’t contain my excitement! There they were, my bucket list band. The creators who unknowingly inspired me and saved me from my own head more times than I’d like to admit.

And the wait was so worth it! They all still rock so hard! Robert Smith is still as cool as ever. The show itself was magic! The music and the stage production was so well put together. Someone really thought this through very well. Everything was beautiful and the music gave me all the feels. Seriously, this whole experience was magic!

Even though they didn’t play my favorite “Disintegration,” I was so happy! The only thing that would’ve made my experience better is if they would’ve had a meet & greet, but they didn’t. So I didn’t miss out on that.

Now, let’s talk about this poster. Before the concert, I knew every city had an exclusive “city” poster. I figured it was just a unique design on traditional glossy poster paper. I was determined to get one as a souvenir of my memorable trip to cross off my bucket list. When I was at the merch booth, the poster had a price tag of $30, which is what I’d expect to pay for a poster at a concert. I rolled it up, placed it in my bag, and went about enjoying the concert.

Well when I got home, I realized the poster wasn’t just a poster. It’s actually a numbered and sealed art print! This is were I had a “Holy shit!” moment. Prints like this at other concerts will sell for $50, $75, $100 or more. I got mine for $30! I’ll definitely be framing and hanging this in my casa. I’m so proud of it!

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see this amazing band in person! The almost 6-hour drive to Albuquerque was dreadful, but so worth it! My little heart has been pitter-pattering with happiness ever since. I would so love to see The Cure live again, but if it’s not in my future, at least I got to experience them once and cross it off my bucket list.

Do you have someone that has inspired you so much?