Here's some unexpected news...

Porl Thompson has re-joined THE CURE. Just when we thought ol' Robert was losing it by firing his guitarist and keyboard player last month, now it seems to make sense. Thompson is often considered the quintessential Cure guitarist, having put in two stints with the band, one of which was during the band's "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me"/"Disintegration" heyday. After leaving the band for the second time following the "Wish" album, Thompson has gone on to work with (among others) Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Cure fans on the net are, naturally, either (a) extremely excited, or (b) incredibly upset by the announcement.

Well, like he's prone to doing, Robert Smith has pink slipped three members of THE CURE. Longtime keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and guitarist Perry Bamonte were both handed walking papers this weekend. Bamonte's brother, Daryl, who served as the band's manager, was also let go. Extreme shake-ups like this are nothing new for The Cure, though Smith had kept a fairly steady line-up over the past several years without much change. Rumours are flying about that Steve Severin of Siouxsie & the Banshees may be called to task on guitar for the band's small slate of summer gigs, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Sacked keyboardist Roger O'Donnell has posted to his official website about the split, and plans to record a second solo record and continue in music. When contacted by Excellent Online, O'Donnell said he was sad about Smith's decision. "This line up has a place in people's hearts," he told us, "but I'm looking forward, not back."

In what has to be a historically unprecedented phenomena, Ticketmaster has dropped ticket prices and removed their service charges and 'convenience' fees. Before you get too excited, we can only see that they've done this for one show... the Curiosa Festival's date in suburban Chicago (Tinley Park to be precise). What does this mean? The Cure, Muse, Cooper Temple Clause, Interpol, The Rapture, Mogwai and more for $15. Not $21.89 with service charges, not $27.38 with 'convenience' fees but a flat $15.00. Don't believe that Ticketmaster could ever do something this cool? Check out the Lawn Ticket Special.

UPDATE: Sorry all... Ticketmaster have already taken the offer down.

The Cure, Duran Duran, Hot Hot Heat, Echo and the Bunnymen, Violent Femmes, Psychedelic Furs, Interpol, Marc Almond of Soft Cell, Fountains of Wayne, Berlin, Kings of Leon, and Dramarama
Hyundai Pavilion, San Bernardino, CA
September 20, 2003

The Hyundai (formerly Blockbuster) Pavilion is the probably the worst place to see a concert.... unless you're in the first ten rows. If you're in the lawn (like most people) then just forget about it. You might as well be watching it on TV because you're going to be spending the whole day staring at the jumbo-screens. Today's lineup is pretty impressive and it's the first time that I ever heard of the "nation's largest amphitheater" selling out.

It was reported that Trent Reznor and Flood would be co-producing the new

There's an interesting auction going on this week at Interactive Collector (http://www.icollector.com) It's called HITS UNDER THE HAMMER, and it's a charity auction of autographed/hand-written lyrics to benefit the Nordoff-Robbins Trust. Among the auctioned items, which are available for bids online, are the original working lyric sheets of "Wake Up Boo!", a lawn chair with the lyrics of "Sit Down" scrawled across it by Tim Booth, as well as lyric sheets from Supergrass, The Cure, and many others.

The Cure, Failure, Smashing Pumpkins, Meat Beat Manifesto, and the Deftones are just a few artists who have contributed to the upcoming Depeche Mode tribute album entitled, "For the Masses". 1500 Records is planning on releasing the compilation on August 4th.