This was my fourth time seeing The Cure, and my first time since moving to Germany. I missed their 2022 show but decided I couldn’t dare miss another opportunity, even though all three nights sold out before I even caught wind of it. Thankfully I managed to get a ticket from the approved reseller with only a slight upcharge!
I biked the whole 19 kilometers to the venue and arrived just as the first band, Just Mustard, was wrapping up. I liked what I could hear, but based on reports from friends, I didn’t miss much. I did catch The Twilight Sad’s set. They’d also opened the last time I saw the Cure in 2016. Unfortunately, they were a bit drowned out by the crowd. The snare was just loud enough that I needed earplugs, but that rendered them quiet and indistinct. I liked the style of noisy rock but couldn’t quite get into it. I enjoyed seeing them last time around more, but it seemed like it wasn’t their fault.
The Cure appeared without bassist Simon Gallup, who was ill. In his stead was his son, Eden Gallup. If you didn’t look too closely, you wouldn’t have known the difference. He might not have had his father’s exuberance, but he could play all the riffs with finesse! They started strong with the wondrous “Plainsong” and then just started charging through the hits. I was surprised that they didn’t play a single song from their last album, Songs of a Lost World (2024), which I really enjoyed. I was looking forward to seeing how it would translate to the stage and disappointed that they didn’t even try.
I biked the whole 19 kilometers to the venue and arrived just as the first band, Just Mustard, was wrapping up. I liked what I could hear, but based on reports from friends, I didn’t miss much. I did catch The Twilight Sad’s set. They’d also opened the last time I saw the Cure in 2016. Unfortunately, they were a bit drowned out by the crowd. The snare was just loud enough that I needed earplugs, but that rendered them quiet and indistinct. I liked the style of noisy rock but couldn’t quite get into it. I enjoyed seeing them last time around more, but it seemed like it wasn’t their fault.
The Cure appeared without bassist Simon Gallup, who was ill. In his stead was his son, Eden Gallup. If you didn’t look too closely, you wouldn’t have known the difference. He might not have had his father’s exuberance, but he could play all the riffs with finesse! They started strong with the wondrous “Plainsong” and then just started charging through the hits. I was surprised that they didn’t play a single song from their last album, Songs of a Lost World (2024), which I really enjoyed. I was looking forward to seeing how it would translate to the stage and disappointed that they didn’t even try.
[The Cure, with Eden Gallup on bass.]
They did play “The Last Day of Summer” from Bloodflowers (2000), which was a welcome deep cut, but otherwise there weren’t a lot of surprises. I mean, they did give us a trio from Pornography (1982), but that was never my favorite album. “Play for Today” with the traditional audience singalong (to the keyboard part!) was fun to finally participate in. There are always plenty of minor setlist variations, but it generally felt like the same show I saw ten years ago, but more predictable. That time around I got two new (still unreleased!) songs and two great b-sides.
While the mix was generally quite good, Reeves Gabrels was oddly low in the mix when he wasn’t playing his annoyingly flashy solos. I still don’t really like his style, so I wasn’t particularly upset, but I felt like some of the songs were missing something. “High”, “Never Enough”, and “Just Like Heaven” in particular were conspicuously missing riffs that really help to make those songs. “High” and “Heaven” were superb anyway, but at some point I realized that the band has arranged their material for six musicians, and they were making do with just five. Perry Bamonte had rejoined the band in 2022, making the band a six-piece for the first time since 1989, but he sadly died last year. Eden had actually joined to fill his position, and he can be seen on the video of their performance at Primavera Barcelona and others. Impressive that he can fill two very different roles, but unfortunate that one was left unfilled for this night!
Regardless, most of the songs fared just fine. Everything recorded before The Top (1984) was performed with just three or four members, so on some songs, I wasn’t even sure how much all the members were really contributing. And as far as the set goes, it’s hard to complain about two and a quarter hours of 27 bangers. They didn’t play a bad song. They might not be the most exciting band, but they’re still a lot of fun, and I’m glad they’re not done.
[The Cure, with green lighting for “A Forest”.]
The Twilight Sad’s setlist (thanks to here):
1. Dead Flowers
2. Designed to Lose
3. VTr
4. Attempt a Crash Landing – Theme
5. Last January
6. There’s a Girl in the Corner
7. And She Would Darken the Memory
8. Waiting for the Phone Call
The Cure’s setlist:
01. Plainsong
02. Pictures of You
03. High
04. Lovesong
05. Burn
06. Fascination Street
07. Never Enough
08. Push
09. In Between Days
10. Just Like Heaven
11. The Last Day of Summer
12. A Strange Day
13. One Hundred Years
14. Cold
15. A Night Like This
16. Play for Today
17. A Forest
18. Shake Dog Shake
19. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
20. Disintegration
Encore 1:
21. Lullaby
22. The Walk
23. The Lovecats
24. Friday I’m in Love
25. Close to Me
26. Why Can’t I Be You?
27. Boys Don’t Cry
Scores:
The Twilight Sad: C
The Cure: B
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