Itโs probably a couple of decades too late, but Robert Smith is finding that his deepest fears are coming true. Now aged 65, he recently fretted about whether heโd make it to 70 โ and still be around to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Cure. Certainly, the coal-black angst and existential melancholia that has become the bandโs stock-in-trade has taken on an additional potency in the last few years: health scares proliferated, loved ones have died. We have become used to venerable artists like Dylan, Neil Young and Springsteen ruminating on ageing and mortality, now it seems that itโs Smithโs turn to manage the problematic business of growing old.
Itโs probably a couple of decades too late, but Robert Smith is finding that his deepest fears are coming true. Now aged 65, he recently fretted about whether heโd make it to 70 โ and still be around to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Cure. Certainly, the coal-black angst and existential melancholia that has become the bandโs stock-in-trade has taken on an additional potency in the last few years: health scares proliferated, loved ones have died. We have become used to venerable artists like Dylan, Neil Young and Springsteen ruminating on ageing and mortality, now it seems that itโs Smithโs turn to manage the problematic business of growing old.
When Seventeen Seconds came out in 1980, it gave The Cure their unique voice, setting them on a path that took them from tortured post-punk doomsayers to alt-goth superstars with 1989โs Disintegration โ an album which included some of the bandโs sweetest songs (โPictures Of Youโ, โLovesongโ) and their most fraught (โDisintegrationโ, โFascination Streetโ). On the title track, Smith was already predicting โhow the end always isโ; he was just 30.
Songs from both Seventeen Seconds and Disintegration feature significantly in tonightโs show โ as if Smith is deliberately showing us his workings, tracing a specific throughline that leads to their new album, Songs Of A Lost World. The โlost worldโ is the promise and optimism the Apollo 11 Moon landing represented to the 10-year-old Smith. In โEndsongโ, one of Smithโs most straightforwardly autobiographical songs, he is โoutside in the dark staring at the blood red moon / Remembering the hopes and dreams I had and all I had to do / And wondering what became of that boy and the world he called his own / Iโm outside in the dark wondering how I got so oldโ.
Powered by Jason Cooperโs hypnotic drum tattoo, โEndsongโ is a highlight of the bandโs first set โ Songs Of A Lost World played in full. This allows us to take stock of The Cure in 2024, a band partly changed by the events of the last few years, but coming back together to usher in their latest milestone, their first album of new music for 16 years. There are other reasons to celebrate, too. Smith takes a moment to reveal that he and Simon Gallup are celebrating 45 years of performing live together. Essentially Smithโs consigliere, Gallup, dressed tonight in a leopard-skin overcoat, offers a more dynamic and dramatic stage presence than his capo, prowling the stage, delivering low-slung basslines that run from teeth-rattling heaviosity to alienated funk. Elsewhere, Roger OโDonnell returns to keyboards following his battle with lymphoma while another old face, multi-instrumentalist Perry Bamonte, has been back in the band since 2022. As much as it is a celebration of music, tonight also feels like a testament to enduring friendships. Of the โjuniorโ members, Reeves Gabrels (now a mere decade into his tenure with the band) is more naturally inclined to stretch out in the songs โ no doubt his expansive solos on โA Night Like Thisโ and โFrom The Edge Of The Deep Green Seaโ dovetail with Smithโs unabated love for Hendrixian flourish.
When the band reach the Seventeen Seconds section โ โAt Nightโ, โMโ, โSecretsโ, โPlay For Todayโ and โA Forestโ โ they build on the wintry minimalism of the original album, underscoring the keen melodies that power Smithโs songwriting. A triumphant, hit-laden home stretch โ โLullabyโ, โThe Walkโ, โFriday Iโm In Loveโ, โClose To Meโ, โWhy Canโt I Be You?โ, โBoys Donโt Cryโ โ reinforces both the celebratory nature of tonightโs show and the unspoken camaraderie that exists between Smith and his bandmates. The resilience of these songs and the resilience of The Cure are there for us to marvel at.
The Cure setlist:
Alone
And Nothing Is Forever
A Fragile Thing
Warsong
Drone:Nodrone
I Can Never Say Goodbye
All I Ever Am
Endsong
Plainsong
Pictures Of You
High
Lovesong
Burn
Fascination Street
A Night Like This
Push
Inbetween Days
Just Like Heaven
From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
Disintegration
At Night
M
Secrets
Play For Today
A Forest
Lullaby
The Walk
Friday Iโm In Love
Close To Me
Why Canโt I Be You? Boys Donโt Cry