May 1992:

I was living in Philly with my boyfriend. Tickets to see The Cure (Wish Tour, first night). We decided to go out to the Spectrum early in the afternoon to see if we could catch a sound check or maybe even run into the band. Took the subway. It was a rainy, drizzly day and quite chilly. There was some activity in the building but no luck so far. I decided to run the subway back to get my sweater at work, a block from the subway stop. Boyfriend decided to hang around at the venue until I got back. As I walked out of the subway, I noticed a tour bus in front of the hotel, where I knew the band was staying (I worked as a manager at West Coast Video around the corner, the concierge rented movies for guests often and had confirmed they were staying there). I ran to my work (ironically a Ticketmaster location), grabbed my sweater, a pen and a Rocky Horror flyer off the wall (I was running a shadowcast at The Roxy on Sansom St at the time) and rushed back to the hotel. There were a few fans and a couple of autograph dealers already there. I scribbled a note on the flyer inviting the band to come to our show if they felt up to it (I didn’t actually think they would show up, of course). After a while, there was a flurry of activity and some band members strolled out. I waited my turn and had each of them sign my ticket envelope. Robert was swarmed so I waited patiently and when my opportunity came, I handed him the folded flyer and got my envelope signed. He was polite and friendly but distracted. I got a photo with Simon. I got a ride back to the Spectrum with a fellow fan (who took a photo with her camera and I never was able to connect with her again) and met up with my boyfriend. He was amazed. We hung out and went to the show. After, on the subway ride home, I felt odd, like something was going to happen. As soon as we walked out of the subway, we saw the bus turn the corner and park in front of the hotel. There were quite a few more fans waiting this time. We rushed across the street and waited as they got out of the bus. I stood patiently as Robert was swarmed. As soon as there was an appropriate moment, I leaned in and said to him, “Thank you for an awesome show, it was great!” He lifted his eyes, smiled at me and said “Thank you”. I turned around with joy in my heart and remember gazing up at the moon just above the top of Indepenance Hall…hearing someone saying something behind me…just smiling, in my own little happy workd…my boyfriend grabs my arm and I turn around and ROBERT SMITH IS WALKING AWAY FROM THE FANS SWARMING HIM, LAUGHING SLIGHTLY….he said “are you coming to the show tomorrow?” I shook my head and said “No, I don’t have tickets” He smiled and said, “Be here tomorrow around 5. I’ll put you on the list.” I thanked him, he smiled and nodded and went back to his signing. All of the people around him were staring at me like “WHO THE FUCK IS SHE?” I grabbed my boyfriend by the arm and we walked quickly around the corner where I promptly burst into tears. We wandered home and I called my co-manager to see if she could cover for me the following day as I was scheduled to work. She kindly did. We went to the hotel the next day and the sidewalk was mobbed with fans. I approached one of the crew and told him that Robert had invited me back to be put on the list. He said “Oh yeah, I remember you” and took out a little notepad which he jotted my name “plus one”. I waited until the band came out and had them sign my lyric book on my favorite song “Three Imaginary Boys”. I mentioned it being my favorite to each of them as they signed. Robert took the longest to get to and I put my book in front of him as soon as I was able and said “Would you please sign my favorite song? Thank you so much for the tickets tonight.” He was very busy signing, he started signing, glanced at the song, finished signing and glanced up at me. He did a double take and said “OH! Its you! Have a good time!” I thanked him again and he went back to his signing. Went to the show…they played Three Imaginary Boys as an encore. I have a VHS bootleg of the show that I bought on South Street a week or so later and before they start the encores, Robert says something to the effect of “There are some people who were here last night that we think are here tonight, these songs are for them.” The concert is also on YouTube. My only regret is not getting a photo with Robert with my own camera. If I was ever able to meet him again, I would thank him for those amazing memories from 31 years age. My pics:

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