The Cure give more in an encore than most bands play in a complete set. Imagine a four part 16-song encore that isn’t even half the show.
The Cure are a marathon band. In the past decade they have evolved from Classic Rock to Legacy after initially being at the left end of Alternative when Alternative actually meant different and innovative.
This was my first Cure concert in about a decade so it was interesting to see just how far this band has come positioning themselves as one of the great live bands of the rock era. Think about the next 20 years, there won’t be anymore Stones, McCartney, Dylan or AC/DC concerts but Robert Smith will still be around in his late 70s and The Cure could very well become The Stones of the next ‘30s.
The currency is in the catalogue. When you pile The Cure’s body of work from start to finish you start to appreciate the enormous musical contribution Robert Smith has made over the last 40 years (yes they have been around that long).
The proof of the probability of longevity was in the audience. There were people aged from their 20s to their 70s there tonight, all equally devouring a sound that only comes from The Cure. Think about it. No-one else sounds like this band.
While there hasn’t been a new Cure album since 2008 Smith did tease what is to come with the new song ‘It Can Never Be The Same’ and it sounds like vintage Cure.
No-one wants this band to ever do a covers record or a country album. They aren’t Bon Jovi who can just cash in on the latest probable revenue stream like turning on a tap. The Cure have and always will sound like The Cure and Robert Smith will always sound and look like Robert Smith.
Three hours and 35 songs flies by with this band. Sure they could do a 90 minute set of greatest hits and piss off the core fans who bought every album and know every song. Instead, Smith drills deep with the setlist. The die-hards go home happy hearing songs live they thought only they knew and the fan who only knows the radio songs goes home happy because they had a great singalong as well.
The Cure is a band everyone needs to see because if you don’t one day you will wonder why.
The Cure, Melbourne, 29 July 2016
Plainsong (from Disintegration, 1989)
Pictures of You (from Disintegration, 1989)
Closedown (from Disintegration, 1989)
A Night Like This (from The Head On The Door, 1985)
The Walk (from Japanese Whispers, 1983)
In Between Days (from The Head On The Door, 1985)
Doing the Unstuck (from Wish, 1992)
Friday I’m in Love (from Wish, 1992)
Bananafishbones (from The Top, 1984)
High (from Wish, 1992)
The End of the World (from The Cure, 2004)
Lovesong (from Disintegration, 1989)
Just Like Heaven (from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, 1987)
Jupiter Crash (from Wild Mood Swings, 1996)
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (from Wish, 1992)
Want (from Wild Mood Swings, 1996)
Prayers for Rain (from Disintegration, 1989)
Disintegration (from Disintegration, 1989)
Encore:
It Can Never Be the Same (new, unreleased)
Burn (from The Crow soundtrack, 1994)
One Hundred Years (from Pornography, 1982)
A Forest (from Seventeen Seconds, 1980)
Encore 2:
Shake Dog Shake (from The Top, 1984)
Fascination Street (from Disintegration, 1989)
Never Enough (from Galore, 1997)
Wrong Number (single, 1997)
Encore 3:
Lullaby (from Disintegration, 1989)
Hot Hot Hot!!! (from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, 1987)
Let’s Go to Bed (from Japanese Whispers, 1983)
Close To Me (from The Head On The Door, 1985)
Encore 4:
The Lovecats (from Japanese Whispers, 1983)
The Caterpillar (from The Top, 1984)
Why Can’t I Be You (from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, 1987)
Boys Don’t Cry (single, 1979)
The Cure remaining Australian dates
July 29, Adelaide, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
July 31, Perth, Perth Arena
The Cure are touring Australia for Live Nation.
