The Violent Femmes News

(9/22/03, 4 p.m. ET) -- Everything old was new again this past Saturday (September 20) at San Bernardino, California's Hyundai Pavilion, where Southern California alt-rock radio station KROQ 106.7 FM held its third annual Inland Invasion festival. An all-day event subtitled "Flashback To The Future," the concert featured such new wave staples from KROQ's '80s playlist as the Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Berlin, Violent Femmes, Dramarama, Bow Wow Wow, Marc Almond of Soft Cell, General Public, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the recently reunited Duran Duran--not to mention a vintage video game arcade equipped with Ms. Pac-Man, Burgertime, Dig-Dug, Frogger, Asteroids, and Donkey Kong machines.

Surprisingly, among the 60,000-plus fans in attendance were many teen rockers who weren't even alive when most of the aforementioned artists were in their prime; perhaps they were attracted by the younger acts on bill, like Fountains Of Wayne, Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, Dashboard Confessional, Kings Of Leon, and Jet. However, even those bands were so decidedly retro in sound, and the teenagers' new wave/punk mall fashions so decidedly retro in style, that it was still difficult to forget that this concert was taking place in 2003. The only clues to the actual decade were the '80s artists' few extra wrinkles and gray hairs, multiplied and exaggerated 500 times on the venue's giant video screens.

Among the newer bands on the bill, the highlights were Australia's Jet (this millennium's AC/DC), who rocked the side stage with their surprise cover of the Arthur Crudup/Elvis Presley classic "That's All Right Mama"; '90s comeback kids Fountains Of Wayne (the modern-day answer to the Cars), who befuddled the young crowd by playing riffs from '70s dinosaur-rock tunes like Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good," Kansas's "Carry On Wayward Son," Foreigner's "Double Vision," and even the Cars' "Let's Go"; Interpol (dead-ringer Joy Division soundalikes), who performed in their trademark black suits and ties despite the broiling desert heat; and Southern-fried rock 'n' rollers Kings Of Leon, aka the new Lynyrd Skynyrd. But the new-millennium standout of the Inland Invasion was without a doubt Canadian garage rock sensation Hot Hot Heat (currently the number-one band on KROQ), whose frontman Steve Bays was a crazy, rolling ball of energy, his wild mop of Sweathog-like curls flapping in the desert wind as he tottered about on his skinny pipe-cleaner legs, yelped like XTC's Andy Partridge, and pounded his vintage keyboard like Jerry Lee Lewis.

The older bands, however, were really the main attractions of the day. One of the best-received artists was the Psychedelic Furs, despite the fact that lead singer Richard Butler stumbled and fell while performing their second number, "Ghost In You" (Butler laughed off the gaffe, joking, "I'm one suave bastard!"). The Violent Femmes, still one of KROQ's most popular bands, wisely offered a crowd-pleasing selection of only their biggest and most beloved hits, including "Gone Daddy Gone," "Add It Up," "American Music," and perennial favorite "Blister In The Sun." Bow Wow Wow's revamped lineup featured special guest drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt, who gushingly wrote in the concert's program notes, "It's a dream come true to perform with a band I grew up idolizing. I feel like a kid back in the sandbox." And finally, Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch boasted, "We're the best f--king band in the world...we should have been on last tonight," and declared Echo's song "Killing Moon" to be "the greatest song of all time"--and no one in the roaring, delighted crowd even argued with him.

Still, the biggest draws of the Inland Invasion were undoubtedly Duran Duran, whose original five-member lineup recently began touring again for the first time in 17 years, and the Cure, who were returning to the stage for the first time since the 2000 Bloodflowers tour.

Unfortunately, Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon's voice was in disappointingly poor form (he kept scowling at the sound crew and gesturing that he couldn't hear himself on the monitors--scowls and gestures that were broadcast on the jumbo video screens for all the Pavilion to see), but no one seemed to mind; as long as he was singing Old Romantic hits like "Hungry Like The Wolf," "The Reflex," "Save A Prayer," "Wild Boys," "Friends Of Mine," "Rio," "Careless Memories," and "Girls On Film," the fans didn't care how many bad notes he hit. However, when Le Bon announced that Duran Duran were going to play a new song, "What Happens Tomorrow," impatient spectators in the crowd actually booed audibly and cried out, "Noooo!"

The Cure closed out the night with a stunning greatest-hits set that was hands-down the high point of the entire festival. Starting with "10:15 Saturday Night" from their 1979 debut album Three Imaginary Boys, they embarked on a chronological journey of their remarkable 25-year career, including "A Forest" (from 1980's Seventeen Seconds); "Primary" (from 1981's Faith); "One Hundred Years," "The Figurehead," and "A Strange Day" (all from 1982's Pornography); their 1984 breakthrough single "Let's Go To Bed"; "Shake Dog Shake" (from 1984's The Top); "Just Like Heaven," "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep," and "The Kiss" (from their 1987 double-album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me); "Pictures Of You," "Disintegration," "Fascination Street," "Love Song," and "Plainsong" (from their 1989 landmark Disintegration); "From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea" (from 1992's Wish); and two final songs off Bloodflowers, "Maybe Someday" and "39." The fantastic two-hour performance concluded with Smith crooning "Boys Don't Cry" while clutching a stuffed toy cat given to him by an adoring fan in the front row.

In the chorus of "39," band leader Robert Smith sang, "The fire is almost out, and there's nothing left to burn," but judging from this performance, the Cure have plenty of fire left in them. After thanking all the bands on the bill and rightfully declaring the Inland Invasion to have been a "f--king excellent day," Smith promised the audience, "See you next year!"--and at this rate, the Cure actually might be playing alongside Interpol and Hot Hot Heat at the Inland Invasion in 2023.

-- Lyndsey Parker, Los Angeles

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