Hello all,

I just got some updated information about on-sale dates for the summer TFF tour. The new information is in BOLD. Note that the Santa Rosa tickets will go on sale this Friday; all times are PDT.

July 10, Chateau Ste. Michelle: on-sale April 25 at 10am
July 11, Portland: on-sale April 25 (tentative)
July 14, Santa Rosa: on-sale April 17 at noon
July 15, Saratoga: on-sale April 26 at 10am
July 17, Costa Mesa: went on-sale March 28
July 18, Las Vegas: on-sale April 25 at 10am (although Green Valley Ranch is already offering room-and-ticket packages)
July 20, San Diego: went on-sale April 4

And a reminder for those of you who are (or will be) in the L.A. area on May 16: tickets for my solo show at McCabe's are now available from their website.

An especially good day for me today as Manchester United are through to the semi-finals!

Papa S.
EZEZ

Some exciting news (at least it is for me): I'm doing a full-set show at the world-famous McCabe's in Santa Monica, CA on Saturday, May 16 at 8pm.

Tickets have just gone on sale at the McCabe's website. You can also get them by calling McCabe's at (310) 828-4497, or in person at McCabe's.

The room seats 150, and (for those of you following the discussion on my site about GA vs assigned seating) the seats are General Admission. All tickets are held at the door, unless you go to McCabe's to pick them up in person beforehand. So get 'em while they're hot, and I'll hope to see you next month in Santa Monica.

Papa S.
EZEZ

PS: As I recently tweeted, my friend Harlan Coben's new book "Long Lost" has just been published. I got to read an advance copy, and recommend it. You can find a link to it in the Amazon shop on the Store page of my website.

Hard to believe that my eight weeks of residency at The Standard Hollywood have already drawn to a close. I certainly enjoyed it, and believe the audience felt likewise (especially KOOKs Eileen and Kim, who I believe came to every show, with Hermest, Sheila and Rob running a close second). We'll soon be posting more pictures from the various shows (and if the recordings came out ok, maybe a few songs as well).

There certainly seemed to be some demand for more Cactus shows last night, maybe we'll give it another go later in the year once the Tears tour and summer holidays are out of the way.

Speaking of the Tears tour, I have updated on-sale information for you:

July 10, Chateau Ste. Michelle: on-sale April 25 at 10am
July 11, Portland: on-sale TBD, late April
July 14, Santa Rosa: on-sale TBD
July 15, Saratoga: on-sale April 26 at 10am
July 17, Costa Mesa: on-sale March 28 (this Saturday!) at 10am
July 18, Las Vegas: on-sale April 18 at 10am (although I understand Green Valley Ranch is already offering room-and-ticket packages)
July 20, San Diego: on-sale April 4 at 10am

As always, this is what's been reported to us, but your mileage may vary, so please confirm directly with the venues and/or their ticketing agencies.

If you've been following the photos on my website, you'll know that our dog Bella has been growing by leaps and bounds. She's taken well to her obedience training, and is as fun and well-behaved a pup as we could have hoped to have. She's now had all the necessary shots to be allowed out into the world, so I've been able to take her on some long walks which we both enjoy immensely. I'm looking forward to the end of the year when she'll be able to join me on some runs (once she's finished growing enough for that to be safe for her).

Those of you not yet following me on Twitter missed an amusing exchange the other day involving someone (with all good intentions) claiming that I was an impostor and not really me, because I answered his question about Graduate by saying "who are Graduate?:)" He felt, since the "real" Curt Smith would clearly know about a band he'd been in, that I was therefore not actually me. I pondered the ramifications of this in tweets throughout the day, and considered whether that meant I didn't have to do the final show at the Standard, not being me and all. In the end said Twitterer was reassured of my me-ness (thanks to @valebrity, a site which validates celebrity authenticity on Twitter) and I did in fact make it to the last show.

If you want to join in on the fun, and learn fascinating tidbits such as what I made the kids for breakfast, you can follow me by going to http://twitter.com/curtsmith. [Note: Please don't take offense if I don't follow you back. I already have over 1,000 followers - many more than I could possibly ever keep up with. I do, however, try to reply to questions whether I follow you or not.]

I'm looking forward to spending a relaxing few weeks of Spring Break with Frances and the girls, so blogging will be at its usual intermittent pace, but I'll be on Twitter and my peeps will make sure that any news of note gets posted here for you.

Wishing you a happy Easter, Passover, spring break or whatever it is you might be celebrating in the upcoming days.

Papa S.
EZEZ

These Tears for Fears summer shows are now confirmed subject to contract (which is normally a formality):

July 10: Chateau Ste. Michelle, Woodinville, WA
July 11: Oregon Zoo Amphitheater, Portland, OR
July 14: Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa, CA
July 15: The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA
July 17: Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA
July 18: Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa, Henderson, NV
July 20: Humphrey's, San Diego, CA

Please check with the individual venues for on-sale dates and any restrictions on age etc. The Green Valley Ranch website, for example, says that the Las Vegas show is 21 and over only.

That's all the news for now!

Papa S.
EZEZ

The Standard Hollywood has asked me to extend my Wednesday night residency thru March, I've agreed. So for those of you who couldn't make any of the February dates (and even those of you who could), you've got four more chances to see me at The Cactus Lounge.

The details:

February 18 and 25 and now also March 4, 11, 18, 25

7 - 10pm (my first set begins at about 8, but it's best to turn up by 7 to claim your seats if you've booked)

There's no admission charge, but seating is limited and reservations strongly recommended. The Standard is located at 8300 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollwyood, telephone (323) 650-9090, x2921. You can also email for a reservation to hollywoodrsvp@standardhotel.com.

See you there!

Papa S.
EZEZ

As promised, just because I'm now twittering doesn't mean I'll stop blogging. Twittering = fewer words more often; blogging = more words less often. It's all good, as they say. If you want to follow me on twitter, start here: http://twitter.com/curtsmith.

So, the first two shows at The Standard Hollywood are now behind me, I hope those who have been there (hello Eileen, Sheila, Hermest, Justine, to name a few) will agree a good time has been had by all. Some Twitterers (tweeple?) came all the way from Las Vegas to see the show last night - that would be Mike and Danny - and there was even somone there who had been at the NOTP show in Cologne! Anyway, if you took pictures and want to share, you can send them to us at csow (at) curtsmithofficial (dot) com and we'll put them up at my website. We prefer 800x600 (or 600x800) and 72dpi (in other words, web resolution).

There are two shows left, on the 18th and 25th. The room tends to fill up so do call The Standard to book seats if you haven't already. The number is (323) 650-9090 x2921. If they tell you the Cactus Lounge is all booked, that's okay, ask for a seat on the deck which is lovely and you can see and hear just fine from there. And sometimes people cancel at the last minute so you're able to move to a seat in the Lounge after all.

The set list last night was the same as the one Arlene posted for the first week, although I did add Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" (thank you for the suggestion Yara) to the beginning of the second set. We had literally only rehearsed it moments before, during the break between sets, but as it was fresh in our minds I was prevailed upon by Charlton and Doug to give it a try. It went rather well, if I do say so, and may be a keeper. We got a request for "Snow Hill," but both a shortage of time and the fact we hadn't rehearsed it meant we weren't able to work it in. Maybe next week...

There seems to be quite a buzz about the planned TFF West Coast tour this summer. This is NOT an official announcement, as contracts haven't been signed yet so far as I know and therefore things are subject to change. So with those caveats in mind, here are the likely dates:

July 10 - Seattle, WA
July 11 - Portland, OR
July 14 - Santa Rosa, CA
July 15 - Saratoga, CA
July 17 - Costa Mesa, CA
July 18 - Las Vegas, NV
July 20 - San Diego, CA

We'll probably also play in Vancouver either July 9 OR 12 - not clear yet. When everything is confirmed I'll post the news here. Before you ask - I don't know when the on-sale dates will be, you'll need to contact the respective venues/ticket agencies for information about when and how to get them.

In other news: those of you who frequented my previous website may remember that along with the lyrics, I included short stories about "Perfect Day" and "Halfway Pleased" as well as explanations of the lyrics. They're now rightfully restored to place in the Music section of my site, along with the previously unpublished story / explanation for "Coming Out." Just go the pages for those tracks (in the "Music" section), the stories and such are beneath the lyrics if you scroll down.

Bella has been gone at puppy boot camp and will return shortly, more pictures of her once she's back. The house has been very quiet without her, but she was allowed a "home leave" visit the other night and the skills and control she's attained in a very short time away are remarkable.

I'm thrilled as you can imagine that Manchester United are atop the Premier League. I'll be glued to the screen as usual when they play Fulham next Wednesday (luckily, it won't conflict with my show). Hm, perhaps a good reason to rehearse "Snow Hill"...

Until next time.

EZEZ
Papa S.

Having reviewed your dozens of your suggestions for cover songs (which, may I say, certainly ranged from the sublime to the absurd!), I've chosen five I'd consider taking on.

So I invite you to make your way to the Fans page of my website and vote in the lastest poll. Please rank each song from your 1st to 5th choice, as it will be helpful to me to know the consensus on the order of preference. Whatever the result, thanks go out to all of you who participated! On a side note - please don't be shocked if it doesn't happen at the first show as time is a little tight for rehearsing right now.

I hope by now that those of you who can attend have booked your seats for my February residency at The Cactus Lounge at The Standard Hollywood. It begins next Wednesday February 4th and will continue on each Wednesday evening though the month. If you haven't already reserved your seats, you can do so by calling The Standard at (323) 650-9090 x2921. As those of you who were there in October know, the available tables book up quickly. Even if they tell you all the tables are booked, come on down anyway. There's lots of space on the deck just outside the Lounge, and even the occasional no-show inside whose seat you can fill.

Whether you can be there or not, please help spread the word by re-posting my promotional graphic on your own website, blog or Facebook/MySpace page.

Bella is doing great and growing quickly, I'll continue with the photo updates as she turns into a little adult. Man.Utd. are top of the premiership where they belong. Barack Obama is now our president and my kids are doing well at school. All in all a positive start to the New Year.

See you next week,

Papa S.

I haven't cross-posted my NOTP blog in a few weeks... here's the entry for days 20/21:

As mentioned in yesterday's blog, the day started with my family leaving, so not so well. I then joined up with the other NOTP peeps for the flight to Bremen. Roland had decided to take the 6 hour drive instead, he's a bad flier and prefers to drive if possible. I would have joined him except flying gave me the opportunity to see the family off at the airport.

It was dark by the time we arrived and a bus whisked us all off to the hotel (my first and last bus journey of the tour I'm happy to say). After checking in it was time to catch up with e-mails and revisit the daily blog which has been feeling a little lonely of late. After completing my chores for the day I received a phone call from Graham (10cc) asking if I was interested in joining them for dinner. It turns out that Aleksey from Ingudesman and Joo used to live in Bremen and knows a nice restaurant for us to go to. I send a text message to Roland with the details and meet everyone in the lobby around 7.30pm.

We take two taxis to Katzen Cafe in an area of Bremen called Schnoor. To be more precise we take the taxis as close as they can get as Schnoor is a pedestrian only area of very narrow cobbled streets and small (I'm guessing Tudor) houses. It's quite magical and I feel like I've been transported back in time.

The restaurant consisted of 5 or 6 different small rooms linked by narrow staircases and an outdoor patio. The dinner party consisted of us, Ingudesman and Joo and 10cc. The food was good and the company highly entertaining. The 10cc guys are very amusing and I'm reminded of the one and only thing I miss about England - the humor (or to be more accurate - humour), not that I'm moving back any time soon. At the end of dinner we decide to take the 20 minute walk back to the hotel as it's a cold but pleasant evening.

I stop in the bar for a short while to say hi to the choir and others before calling it a night and retiring to my room. After a few more e-mails and checking on the family's flight status I hang my breakfast order on the door and collapse into bed.

My breakfast arrives promptly at 9.30 so I take my coffee and Bircher Muesli (my favorite new food) over to the computer to make sure my family returned safely. Apparently their flight was fine and they were home by 8.45pm LA time. Diva and Wilder were asleep by 10.30pm and are very excited to go back to school to share their stories.

After letting my food settle I stretch and go off in search of the fitness room. I eventually find it hiding in a corner of the spa complex, one running machine and one bike in a 90 degree room. Undeterred I decide to jump on and sweat as the weather outside doesn't look very inviting. I must have lost a few pounds in sweat alone by the end of 5 miles, who needs the sauna?

I drip my way back to my room, shower and grab my hat, scarf and gloves before heading out to see the city. You've all seen the photos by now so you pretty much know the story of my day in Bremen, the highlight being the throat singers, one guy could sing two notes at the same time - the sound was unbelievable. I spend a couple of hours looking around before winding my way back to the hotel for my morning iChat session.

At 6.30pm it's time to meet Mr.O for dinner downstairs before walking over to the gig. The venue is actually attached to the hotel so we don't even need coats and the walk is all of two minutes.

The show was OK, I felt the audience was a little subdued in comparison to Munich but we did our best. I'm left with the feeling that it would have been nice to end the tour in Munich as it was such a high, and that this last week feels a little too much like going through the motions, maybe that will change in Hannover - we'll see.

It doesn't help that I'm feeling a cold coming on again courtesy of my little Petri dishes Diva and Wilder, so Dr.O doses me up with more medicine and I limit my time with cast and crew in the bar before retiring early (ish) for the night.

5 more shows and home.

EZEZ

Papa S.

PS There's a new recording of "Silent Night" up on my website. It streams so anyone can listen, and it's also available for free download to all those registered on the site. My holiday gift to you as it was your choice from the last poll. New poll coming soon (when I've figured out a topic).

In case you haven't been keeping up with the blog over on my website, thought I'd cross-post a sample here... this is from Day 8 of the "Night of the Proms" leg in Germany:

Woke up, had breakfast, went back to sleep - bad move. The reason I decide to take a morning nap is that there is no gym in this hotel and it's pouring with rain outside, not a good start to the day. I awake feeling groggy and disoriented. I try to shake myself out of it by stretching and writing yesterday's blog, trying the wake the body and mind sometimes is not as easy at it sounds, especially when the weather is so uninspiring. It's slow going and by the time I've finished it's already noon, time to shower and pack as we are driving to Frankfurt today. It's only an hour's drive and I pass the time doing a NY Times crossword.

We arrive in Frankfurt around 2pm, it's still raining and grey outside. I check into my room and decide there's only one thing to do, so I quickly change and go in search of the gym. I find it on the top floor of the hotel with running machines facing the window offering a view of Frankfurt. 15 minutes into my run the rain turns into snow, it's amazing how a change in the form of water can turn a miserable day into a joyous one, unfortunately it only lasts for 10 minutes before the rain returns. After 6 miles I return to the room for my daily iChat with the family.

Chat over I spend a while going through photographs for the often requested 2009 calendar and have come up with the following:

Curt Smith 2009 Calendar

I spend a little more time answering questions on the Fans page as I didn't realize there were so many, maybe I'll get through them all by tour's end. I also received the following link from a friend which lightened my mood somewhat:

Prop 8 - The Musical

After my daily vocal warm up it's time to meet Roland for dinner. We meet at the Japanese restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel as we've heard that it's good. It turns out that this was an understatement as my Miso Soup w/Pork and the Sashimi Box w/Sushi Rice was phenomenal. At the alloted hour we meet Jurgen and the security people in the hotel lobby for the walk around the corner to the gig (it would take three times as long to drive).

Today's venue is an old concert hall next to the hotel. It has an amazing domed ceiling and great acoustics. It's a standing audience on the ground floor so the atmosphere is exciting and contagious, which thankfully takes my mind of the large ball of raw fish that is slowly being digested in my stomach (TMI?).

The show goes incredibly well again so maybe I'll stop reporting on the actual show unless something out of the ordinary happens. With this set up (everyone playing to charts and computerized sound desks) there's very little room for drastic changes on any given night.

After the show we stop by the VIP party for the sponsors guests, but it's so not our thing that we only last ten minutes before heading back to the hotel.

Throwing caution to the wind I stop by the bar with Roland for an orange juice (easy now). It turns out to be quite a surreal experience, the bar was decorated as an ice grotto with piped in snow falling from the ceiling every few minutes. There's a salsa singer doing bad versions of La Bamba and Dancing Queen and a whole bunch of drunk people attempting to dance. If purgatory exists then this would be my vision of it. Although, much like a car crash, we can't take our eyes of it and stay for half an hour before retiring to the relative calm and sanity of our generic hotel rooms (or maybe this is purgatory?).

Tomorrow I hope to be back on planet earth.

EZEZ

Papa S.

... while I'm on the "Night of the Proms" tour in Germany for the next month, I'll be blogging regularly and posting photos I've taken along the way. Right now we're in Koln (Cologne), and my first batch of pictures is already up. Please stop by my site and have a look.

My Blog

My NOTP Photos

EZEZ
Curt

PS A safe and happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the day!