The Cure: Classic or Dud?

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Omar raised this question in the "Why are you here?" thread. I put it forth to you all. Were Robert Smith and his ever-changing band musical giants or giant whiners?

― Dan Perry, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

both

― , Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

DUD

― Tom, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Dan, thanks for taking the load of my back. ;) So yeah Dud of course. Classic case of crap voice. The music is nothing special. Occasional decent single like 'A Forrest' but for the rest, it's Fat Bob innit? But I'm interested in how Ned is going to explain to us the appeal of The Cure (no, really!).

― Omar, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Sorry Tom? I didn't quite hear that. Classic, anyway. I don't claim to be their biggest fan, but listening to things like the Boys Don't Cry and Disintegration albums, the good stuff outweighs the duller moments quite comfortably.

― Ally C, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Absolutely classic in almost every conceivable way. The effortless switches from pop-punk squalling to moody atmospherics to venomous pathos to synth-pop typified by their output from '79 through '83 are impressive enough, but the fact that they went on to create pop masterpieces like _The Head On The Door_, _Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me_ and _Wish_ while retaining enough of their darkness to produce _Disintegration_ and _Bloodflowers_ makes them an essential band of the 80's and 90's. Even their lesser efforts have worthy moments (ie, "Want", "Treasure", "Jupiter Crash", "Trap", and "Gone!" from _Wild Mood Swings_, "Shake Dog Shake", "Piggy In The Mirror", "The Top" from _The Top_). And their remix album is pure money.

Anything to add, Ned?

― Dan Perry, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Classic, I 'spose. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but _Disintegration_ is very close indeed (overblown rock histrionics done flawlessly; luckily Smith doesn't whine on it much). Funny how so many of the criticisms of the band you hear refer to the concept of "Fat Bob"; in fact I'd say a lot of the attitudes towards British bands and artists on ILM seem to be heavily influenced by the media's portrayal of them.

― Tim, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

The Cure represented the finest of what the Euro art rock had to offer during the 80s. They were more majestic than Depeche Mode and less metallic than the cult. Classic in my book

― Luptune Pitman, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Forgive me...as I'm relatively new to this forum, I have a hard time with these polar extremes: ('classic'versus'dud'). In the case of the Cure, I couldn't say either term applies (although one could certainly tag them to individual Cure albums). Like many bands cited around here, the Cure have changed styles in as many albums, playing everything from funereal dirges through spritely, radio-friendly pop ditties and much inbetween. I'm not saying they're a "something for eveyone" band, but musically, they've been hard to pin-down. The one strike against them, however (beyond their tonsorial problems) would be Robert's inimitably distinctive (is that a repetitious statement? like "luminous glow" or "alien outworlder") voice, which is so firmly rooted in their 80's heyday. Even if the band were to put out a radically avant-garde album of the most cutting-edge styles and sounds conceivable, the second Robert opened his mouth and let out his signature wobbly warble, it'd be the old "oh, it's the Cure again." And if you can't get beyond his voice, then there's no point in ever purchasing a Cure album, regardless of era and/or particular incarnation. That said, I think they're a marvellously diverse singles band, but I could certainly see why some would avoid them like the plauge (ho ho, pardon the pun, Camus fans). Sorry, I'll shut up now. - Alex in NYC

― Alex in NYC, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

classic. 'charlotte sometimes' is one of my favourite songs ever. each record up to and including disintegration is worth owning and even the one after disintegration is not horrible. i have no interest in them now but robert smith's guitar sound is far more influential than he gets credit for. without robert smith there would likely not be a roy montgomery, at least not in his current guise and that would be a devastating tragedy at least for myself.

― keith, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

What seems to predomine here is "I'm not actively into them NOW, but I spent the first half of my teens with the Cure on my walkman". At least I did. I believe this means classic.

― Simon, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Re: classic or dud polarisation.

The idea is to encourage people to be forthright in their opinion but it's not a vote or anything. It's a catchier way of saying "what do you think of this band?"

Cheers!

(PS: Dud. A couple of the singles are nice musically, even very good, but they have Smith's horrible smeared moan over the top of them. He sounds like a fourteen-year-old with a splinter in his toe: there's something wheedling about his voice which makes me want to smack him and tell him to get a grip rather than empathise with him.)

― Tom, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Classic. Part of my yoof, you see. I've whiled away many an unhappy evening in the company of 'Faith' and 'Seventeen Seconds'!

Seriously.. though it seems the norm to slag 'em off these days, it's amazing just how much good stuff they have done. 'Boy's Don't Cry'/'3 Imaginary Boys' is a great debut, whichever version you have. Scratchy wired glum-pop. In fact it's all classic up to 'The Top', their first major clunker.

'Head on the Door' is great pop. 'Kiss Me X3' is also great pop ('Just Like Heaven'), except where they try too hard to make great pop and fail ('Hot, Hot, Hot'). 'Disintegration' is their last great album. But not pop. No problem.

My last encounter with The Cure was 'Wild Mood Swings'. I swung my copy back from whence it came - Record and Tape Exchange. Still, 'Galore' sums up the later years nicely.

Anyway I like old Bob, a pop man at heart even in his gloomiest moments.

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I think I've been asked for at least twice in this thread already. ;-)

Classic. And if you disagree with me I'll shove all twenty or so CDRs of rare and odd stuff I have of theirs down your throat and kill you. *proceeds to light candles to huge _Disintegration_ poster in room*

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Classique. They have enough great tunes and came up with some pretty original sounds. I like how they continually evolve, even if some of their evolution has produced some crap music. I could still listen to "Jumping Someone Else's Train" repeatedly after all these years. I heard some of their last record and it was really bad though. And kill that "Friday I'm in Love" dung, boys! But for the most part, great stuff.

― Tim Baier, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Classic, though their most recent stuff sucks.

The Cure are a band who, like Depeche Mode and a number of others of that ilk, should have just hung it up on December 31, 1989. Their glory days were in the 1980s, Disintegration should have been their last album. It would have been a perfect ending. Instead, they chose to put out three subpar releases in the 1990s. While Bloodflowers was a definite improvement over Wild Mood Swings (did *anyone* like that album?) and Wish (which came out at the peak of my Cure fandom and still disappointed me), it still wasn't close to the material they released during the 1980s.

Yeah, some of their stuff is whiny and pretentious. But I think they manage to pull it off reasonably well, and I think the whininess and the pretentiousness will make them staples of every sad-sack high school kid for the next thirty years, whether they continue to release new albums or not. (And hopefully they won't, judging from the poor quality of their most recent albums--I think that the more bad stuff they release, the less "legendary" they'll become.)

By the way, I *was* a teenage goth girl. I was also an early-20s goth girl. I own a velvet and lace cape and little pointy boots and black lipstick. Heh.

― Nanette, Wednesday, 28 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Nanette, I'd argue that _Wish_ is a very underrated album. Its mood is radically different from _Disintegration_, which is one thing that I think threw people off when it came out. I, for one, really dig the snarlier tone of "Open", "Cut", "FTEOTDGS", and "End" and their juxtaposition with more contemplative "Apart", "Trust", and "To Wish Impossible Things". _Wish_ also has "High", which I consider to be the last truly great pop song that the Cure did.

_Wild Mood Swings_ is more problematic. It's a very erratic album and contains a couple of songs that never should have seen the light of day ("Mint Car", "Return"). However, it also contains the absolutely marvelous "The 13th", "Want", "Gone!" and "Jupiter Crash". Some judicious editing (and swapping some album tracks for b-sides) would make this a much better album.

For me, _Bloodflowers_ compares very well to their 80's output. It seems that the group got back into a good songwriting groove for this album, which is particularly evident on "Out Of This World", "The Loudest Sound", "The Last Day Of Summer", "Bloodflowers", and "Watching Me Fall" (Cure cliches and all). The album has a strong sense of flow and there are no embarrassing attempts to rewrite "Friday I'm In Love". It was a good ending for them, assuming that Robert's latest pronouncements about the band's demise are actually true this time.

There are individual songs I don't like, and _Wild Mood Swings_ is easily my least- favorite of their albums, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that I actively dislike any of the Cure's albums.

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 28 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

one month passes...

I'm in sympathy with the way that the 'classic' brigade have articulated that they love the band even though they can see their sillinesses, repetitions and limitations. Possibly a lot of pop love is of this kind.

― the pinefox, Saturday, 28 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

one year passes...

The Cure are damned by having so many annoying fans.

They have many good tunes. However, they have many bad ones, viz "Friday I'm In Love".

Still, at their best they show an impressive ability to make both poppy goth jumpathons and total doomfests.

― DV, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dud. Possibly something worthwhile beyond Smith's vocals, but I can't get past them.

― DeRayMi, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've had a love/hate relationship with The Cure that had long since given way to indifference. but recently I've listened again to Robert Smith's 1983 collaboration album with Steve Severin - The Glove is great! (probably like how I'd rather listen to the Andy Partridge solo album Take Away/Lure Of Salvage than most XTC.)

as with many Cure detractors, Bob's voice and self-pity usually get to me. still have fond memories of Seventeen Seconds and Faith but I also enjoy some later stuff where twisted humour, all of Pornography, or tenderness, "The Upstairs Room" and "Birdmadgirl", balance out the self-loathing and sappiness.

the Laurence Tolhurst abuse didn't help Robert Smith's case (and John McGeoch was a better Banshee).
― Paul, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

stop

― Paul, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Cure are fucking appalling. As someone else already keenly observed - a classic case of having a fucking awful voice. I mean I don't mind some of the musicianship but fatboy Smith is such a twat. Really.

I had a girlfriend once who was into these boys hard and she used to play is it 'Pictures of You' (?) over and over and over (a sort of pining for a lost love I think; not me, incidentally). Anyway, it used to bore the hell out of me, not to mention what felt like a large hole in my brain.

The thing is, with the Cure, it's like the Manic Street FUCKING Preachers syndrome - people who like 'em don't just like 'em, they fucking LOVE 'em, and think they're prophets or something. No, they are miserable, half-goths with absolutely nothing to say and even less charisma.

That said, I am admit that I am hardly familiar know their canon, since I can't bear exposure to it for protracated periods.

Still; DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUD

― Roger Fascist, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually, I think it's that the boring protestations of those who don't 'get' the music always have to be matched by those who emphatically do. One defines the other ..

― Dare, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Not at all, Paul. There's something about The Cure and The Preachers that triggers fervour of a disturbing religiosity in people's heads, well, in my experience anyway. And if you wanna put that to the test, gently question a more avid fan and watch them twist like they was shackled to the cross.

Hmm, having said that, I do get riled when someone fails to 'get' my favourite bands and indulges in the kind of mindless attack I have already posted against The Cure. Yet, I feel that certain bands are wont to attract a more dependent following, who hang the band's music like metaphorical rosaries. And I'm not sure that even among my most beloved artists, there are those which I could hold in such equally mindless esteem.

What say you?

― Roger fascist, Tuesday, 30 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

If i brooded around and had a aweful voice, would i be as good as the cure, which coincidently, isnt even good to begin with

DUD

― Hayward, Thursday, 3 October 2002 02:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Oddly enough, I've never really sought out their albums; I'm sure I'll get around to it, but I'm pretty sure they'll always be available... Pretty much all of their singles, though, are flat-out amazing - how could they not be classic?

― Clarke B., Thursday, 3 October 2002 04:37 (twenty-three years ago)

The albums are SO WORTH IT, Clarke.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 3 October 2002 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Quite.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 3 October 2002 23:38 (twenty-three years ago)

hmmmmmmm .............
dud

― donna (donna), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm exactly like Clarke. Always loved what I heard, but only own 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'... Last year I told a friend of mine that the reason for this is because I pretty much know that I'll like them and am just 'saving it'. Is this like some weird Cure phenomena?

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:39 (twenty-three years ago)

I LOVE THE CURE. They fill a niche that no other band does. From the acutely depresso Pornography stuff to the silly dance stuff to the haunting gothy Faith stuff to the blatant sunshine pop... they've done all this convincingly and well. Did they invent the drugged up goofy romantic miserable goth ecstatic giddy thing?

Yet I do wonder how much my own nosatlgia plays a role. I still think Wish is great, despite every. review. ever. written. Maybe if I hadn't listened to it for the 1st time as a teenager travelling thru Europe with schoomates I'd think differently.

― Aaron A., Friday, 4 October 2002 03:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Where to start, Ned and Dan? I'm thinking _Pornography_, but some of their _Disintegration_-era stuff kills me (esp. "Lovesong").

Also, I really really like the Wolfgang Press song on _Lonely is an Eyesore_, but I've heard their recordings are pretty patchy. Any recommendations there?

― Clarke B., Friday, 4 October 2002 05:30 (twenty-three years ago)

In your place I'd start with 17 Seconds, Clarke. It has their greatest song on it, "A Forest" and I find it the darkest and most powerful of their records. A lot of their stuff didn't age too well (even Disintegration), but this record definitely stood the test of time.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 4 October 2002 07:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I wouldn't go for _Pornography_ first; I think I'd get _Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me_ and the cassette version of _Standing On A Beach_ in order to get the b-sides.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 11:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic until "Stranding on a Beach" came out, after which they descended into the depths of self-parody.

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I kinda saved them also, Kim - owned the two singles compilations for years before actually buying my first proper album (Disintegration) just this year. Though I do like it, it hasn't swayed me into snatching up the others yet. Maybe in another four years I'll get another one.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:51 (twenty-three years ago)

They fill(ed?) a niche no one else did (which I usually characterize as "Harlequin romance rock") and they did a perfectly accomplished and unique job of it most of the time but it's not one I care to listen to much at all. I can play Pornography maybe a couple times per year and it's sometimes nice to hear the singles on the radio but overall there's not a big connection. And I couldn't imagine sitting through a whole album of stuff like "In Between Days" or "Let's Go to Bed". The singles comp (Staring At the Sea?) is probably as much as I'd need of that. I'd buy Disintegration if I thought I'd ever listen to it. Wish and Wild Mood Swings were awful.

― sundar subramanian, Friday, 4 October 2002 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I honestly cannot comprehend how _Wish_ is AWFUL.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:34 (twenty-three years ago)

the cure were/are one of the best bands for dancing to whilst only wearing underwear...hopefully not by yourself...

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Ok, I'm a liar. I totally forgot that I also had 'Standing on a Beach' on cassette - played it to death. I don't have it anymore though. I think my brother "borrowed" it and never gave it back! Ooooh...that little...

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

I like just like heaven, I'm going to get Kiss me times 3.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:43 (twenty-three years ago)

classic classic classic and why should you not dance to the cure in underwear by yourself! unless you are wearing the underwear out to the goth dance club, of course.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Have you ever been to a goth dance club? Underwear as outerwear is pretty much de rigeur.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Clarke, start with Disintegration first, and then try Seventeen Seconds and then Pornography. I've argued elsethread about this already so I won't go into the details here...just click the link, cause there's a lot of other good talk there anyhow.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Pretend that there's a smiley at the end of my last post. I sound like a meanie otherwise.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:57 (twenty-three years ago)

ten months pass...

"And yet Robert Smith - the Chatterton of Crawley - had created if not a wall of sound then a very high hedge of sound, over which he seemed to peer at the world like a boy who couldn't be bothered to ask for his ball back."

the "cure=suburbia" part of Michael Bracewell's England Is Mine is one of the best things ever!

― etc, Wednesday, 20 August 2003 08:54 (twenty-two years ago)

"Join the Dots" (B Sides and rarities) is out on October 21st. I presume it'll have the much talked about Cassette b sides from Standing on a Beach on it, but does anyone know that actual tracklisting is?

― flowersdie (flowersdie), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 09:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Hopefully it'll have the stuff off "curiosity", too. And that soundtrack they did.

Classic, BTW. Again, my mid-teens coincided with Disintegration and I was full-on obsessed for a couple of years. I bought a shedload of albums at Oxfam last year, and a friend and I drove our GF/wives insane by listening, back to back, to 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography and the Top. Divorce was on the horizon by the end of that evening.

― Jim Eaton-Terry (Jim E-T), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Hopefully it'll have the stuff off "curiosity", too. And that soundtrack they did.

Thing is, there are SO many B-sides and rarities which have officially surfaced that they'd have to put out a box set. As it is, if the remasters that are surfacing next year are going to include bonus discs for each with room for other oddities, then that will partially settle the problem.

― Thy Lethal Zen Ned (Ned), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 2358 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

song put "All Down the Line" in my head. saying Smith adds synth and backing vocals on "Never Wanna Lose You"

― nicky lo-fi, Friday, 26 June 2026 08:29 (one month ago)

They started with Plainsong in Cardiff (and didn't play Alone)

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2026/blackweir-fields-cardiff-wales-5b4ea354.html

― StanM, Friday, 26 June 2026 08:53 (one month ago)

Didn’t play a single song from Lost World! I wonder why.

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 26 June 2026 13:16 (one month ago)

~~They don't listen to it that much~~

― Mark G, Friday, 26 June 2026 13:32 (one month ago)

Cardiff show was immense. Other than the slight disappointment of nothing off the last album it was an amazing set. Came on at 8, finished at 10:30 and Rob seemed genuinely touched by the reception they'd got at the end. Hadn't seen any recent setlists so wasn't expecting Treasure or Wrong Number

We were about three rows from the front so didn't realise the sheer scale of the show until I saw the pictures afterwards

And kind of wild how they all look like they're in different types of bands now though lol

― groovypanda, Saturday, 27 June 2026 18:04 (one month ago)

Dublin, Friday: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2026/marlay-park-dublin-ireland-3411567.html

Tonight: Belfast, Belsonic Festival. No livestream, but BBC radio Ulster is broadcasting the whole set. Tough luck for us foreigners, I guess? Can't find anything BBC radio-related that works online anymore.

― StanM, Sunday, 28 June 2026 04:51 (one month ago)

i would be pretty sad if i went to one of these shows and didn’t get anything from the new LP

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Sunday, 28 June 2026 06:01 (one month ago)

Two songs from WMS, zero songs from Faith or Pornography

That would not be my choice but it’s not my band

― Whatwhawhawhaehawhahwawhawwww (DJP), Sunday, 28 June 2026 12:39 (one month ago)

They have 55 songs in rotation for this tour and are playing fewer than 30 a night, some of their albums are going to shift representation from day to day

and they’re playing festivals in about 26 countries and outdoor summer headliners in four, all of which they already played on the album’s tour* — it’ll be a very small proportion of the audience disappointed if they happen to be on a night that misses songs from any given LP. They played five songs from Lost World last time in Dublin!

*although three nights in Berlin this year vs seven cities last time, I’m sure a few people who travel to see 26 songs on the first night will be grumpy about missing some of the 29 songs played on the last night, which got added after they booked their train ticket. still a minority of the crowd would be safe bet.

― uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Sunday, 28 June 2026 19:32 (one month ago)

lol I just checked the setlist for the first time since the album came out, and the show I got a ticket for same-day had five Lost World songs, one from the unreleased 4:14 Dream, and one they played four times that week and never again. So I saw two fewer songs from Lost World than I thought… Hope this tale of missing out helps emsworth empathetically feel better.

― uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Sunday, 28 June 2026 19:44 (one month ago)

Cold! Never Enough! the two lost world songs, too!

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2026/ormeau-park-belfast-northern-ireland-13411565.html

― StanM, Monday, 29 June 2026 07:22 (four weeks ago)

A Strange Day (tour debut) at Roskilde

― StanM, Wednesday, 1 July 2026 22:43 (three weeks ago)

Simon started his set with Alone, the rest of the band started with Plainsong :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pre2rFq5moA

― StanM, Thursday, 2 July 2026 05:54 (three weeks ago)

Nick Cave mentions The Cure :-)

https://www.theredhandfiles.com/really-old-rockstar/

― StanM, Thursday, 2 July 2026 18:26 (three weeks ago)

Tonight's show at the Open'er Festival in Poland, starting at 9PM CEST (UTC+2) will be live on Polish TV but watching from abroad is probably restricted/VPN required? https://vod.tvp.pl
https://www-tvp-pl.translate.goog/rozrywka/aktualnosci/opener-festival-2026-gdzie-ogladac-koncerty-the-cure-zary-larsson-i-innych-gwiazd,94091516?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

(this stream seems to work: https://www.globalfreetv.com/channels/TVP1.pl )

---

And the streaming of Sunday's Rock Werchter show (at 10:30PM until 00:45AM, also CEST, UTC+2) hasn't officially been confirmed yet but if it is, it will be here: (check the link today/during the weekend to see if it will work for you?)
https://www.vrt.be/vrtmax/livestream/video/main-stage-rock-werchter/

(I don't know if that one is geofenced as I am in Belgium myself)

― StanM, Friday, 3 July 2026 10:26 (three weeks ago)

much better quality stream for tonight's Open'er festival : https://polonia.tvp.pl/44562671/tvp-polonia-stream

― StanM, Friday, 3 July 2026 15:42 (three weeks ago)

here we go!

― StanM, Friday, 3 July 2026 19:00 (three weeks ago)

This is the best looking & sounding multi cam livestream of this tour yet imho - and we've had Treasure and Want already

― StanM, Friday, 3 July 2026 19:35 (three weeks ago)

Statistics alert: after 11 shows, they have played 45 different songs - so if they really rehearsed 55, there's 10 potential tour debuts left

2 Late
A Forest
A Fragile Thing
A Night Like This
A Strange Day
Alone
alt.end
Boys Don't Cry
Burn
Charlotte Sometimes
Close to Me
Cold
Disintegration
Endsong
Fascination Street
Friday I'm in Love
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
High
Hot Hot Hot!!!
In Between Days
In Your House
Just Like Heaven
Let's Go to Bed
Lovesong
Lullaby
M
Mint Car
Never Enough
One Hundred Years
Pictures of You
Plainsong
Play for Today
Prayers for Rain
Push
Secrets
Shake Dog Shake
The Last Day of Summer
The Lovecats
The Walk
Three Imaginary Boys
Treasure
Trust
Want
Why Can't I Be You?
Wrong Number

― StanM, Saturday, 4 July 2026 12:59 (three weeks ago)

yesterday's show, cut short because of the heavy rain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCpMYKdGgKk

― StanM, Saturday, 4 July 2026 17:46 (three weeks ago)

Great show!

― completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 5 July 2026 16:45 (three weeks ago)

tonight's stream at Rock Werchter is confirmed, starts in about 3 hours (10:30 PM Brussels time) - https://www.vrt.be/vrtmax/livestream/video/main-stage-rock-werchter/

― StanM, Sunday, 5 July 2026 17:24 (three weeks ago)

Slovakia's Pohoda festival is having an extra day today just for the Cure (and the bands they bring along/chose/package deal/you know how "curated" works) and there's going to be a livestream!

https://www.pohodafestival.sk/en/livestream

― StanM, Wednesday, 8 July 2026 04:30 (two weeks ago)

^ starting in half an hour

radio/audio stream: https://fm.stvr.sk/player

video stream ("network error" right now but maybe that's because it hasn't started yet?) https://www.pohodafestival.sk/en/livestream/the-cure-day

meanwhile: a silent webcam of the crowd & main stage: https://www.pohodafestival.sk/en/livestream/panorama-2

― StanM, Wednesday, 8 July 2026 19:04 (two weeks ago)

forget it - they're on youtube after all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otwquhpmSNU - starting NOW

― StanM, Wednesday, 8 July 2026 19:28 (two weeks ago)

Fantastic to see them so invigorated on these shows, they look happier and even healthier, great that they're still a vital force. Incendiary version of Endsong there.

― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 8 July 2026 22:15 (two weeks ago)

the more of these shows I see (each one a triumph), the more I'm impressed with Jason - it's almost like his drumming is so good that you don't notice it

― StanM, Wednesday, 8 July 2026 22:59 (two weeks ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSFRhEyOY5Y

This is the other song with Robert Smith on vocals and synthesizer but I couldn't spot it on my first go around.

― Bee OK, Saturday, 11 July 2026 01:55 (two weeks ago)

I think he's principal of the backing choir on the chorus

― assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 11 July 2026 02:56 (two weeks ago)

This thread is getting jam band vibes. What’s the Cure lot scene like?

― Cow_Art, Saturday, 11 July 2026 03:42 (two weeks ago)

Song sounded like Undercover of the Night which isn't a bad thing and sort of liked it.

― Bee OK, Saturday, 11 July 2026 03:59 (two weeks ago)

Simon is sick, Eden filled in, Primary (tour debut) - first night of the three in Berlin:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2026/parkbuhne-wuhlheide-berlin-germany-43414327.html

― StanM, Saturday, 11 July 2026 05:29 (two weeks ago)

https://www.instagram.com/thecure/p/DaqC88gIbKC/

― StanM, Saturday, 11 July 2026 16:45 (two weeks ago)

260711 - SHORTLY BEFORE THE FIRST OF OUR THREE BERLIN WUHLHEIDE CONCERTS YESTERDAY, SIMON WAS TAKEN ILL - HIS SON EDEN SHIFTED SIDEWAYS TO SAVE THE SHOW - UNFORTUNATELY SIMON IS STILL NOT WELL ENOUGH TO PLAY, SO EDEN WILL BE FILLING THE BASS BREACH AGAIN TONIGHT - WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US IN WISHING SIMON THE SPEEDIEST OF RECOVERIES - AND EDEN THANKS! - ONWARDS - RSX

― StanM, Saturday, 11 July 2026 16:45 (two weeks ago)

Was about to ask, is Robert's singing ever in ragged or poor form? It's an unconventional voice, I wonder how it will fare in the not so distant future.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 11 July 2026 17:26 (two weeks ago)

I think after 40 years we can grant him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to vocal longevity

― Whatwhawhawhaehawhahwawhawwww (DJP), Sunday, 12 July 2026 00:15 (two weeks ago)

Wait I forgot what year it is now

FIFTY years

― Whatwhawhawhaehawhahwawhawwww (DJP), Sunday, 12 July 2026 00:15 (two weeks ago)

maybe we'll never find out - does he still plan on retiring in 2029?

https://consequence.net/2024/10/the-cure-retire-50th-anniversary/

― StanM, Sunday, 12 July 2026 07:21 (two weeks ago)

Knowing this nerd, once he hits that anniversary the band will start releasing two albums a year.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 July 2026 12:42 (two weeks ago)

Berlin, show 3 : https://www.facebook.com/thecure/posts/pfbid02nzVWEvcY72dPuJppQUqwfnZ536c8FG5udiyoUyHDYdo7TxbuMzpqJ2NtV6EapwVfl

THANK YOU AGAIN BERLIN - WÚNDERBAR
SIMON STILL RECOVERING
SO NIGHT 3 WILL BE ANOTHER 5 SHOW
ONWARDS X

― StanM, Sunday, 12 July 2026 16:27 (two weeks ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGmNiArR8Es

This is the second night - just reiterating how Eden just casually replaced Simon on bass for these 26-29 song sets. I know he filled in for a couple of shows 7 years ago, but either bass is ridiculously easy or he must have been preparing for this for longer.
And if he has - does this mean Simon has more than just a slight illness? / anyway - it's none of our business but this Eden dude is doing a mighty fine job.

― StanM, Monday, 13 July 2026 15:23 (two weeks ago)

also: "Watch from 2:01:25 they start into Friday, PA breaks down, audience is singing until PA comes back again"

― StanM, Monday, 13 July 2026 15:25 (two weeks ago)

Robert has thoughts about the FIFA world cup final half time show

first https://www.instagram.com/thecure/p/Da3GKWPzl69/

and then https://www.instagram.com/thecure/p/Da3x-T1Izbg/

― StanM, Friday, 17 July 2026 15:29 (one week ago)

3 days in Nimes: they played Faith, A Letter To Elise, Jason's son played the saxophone on A Night Like This, and:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJM6rGfgZHY

― StanM, Sunday, 26 July 2026 12:53 (two days ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4pQc5gJPCM

― StanM, Sunday, 26 July 2026 12:57 (two days ago)

Aw nice

― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 26 July 2026 13:35 (two days ago)

Robert has thoughts about the FIFA world cup final half time show

what are they?

― uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Sunday, 26 July 2026 14:48 (two days ago)

I guess you're not on Instagram or didn't want to click the above Robert Smith IG links-

He did 2 posts on IG before the match and halftime show happened and second one said -

FOR THOSE OF US NOT QUITE GETTING IT: THE POINT IS NOT R E A L L Y ABOUT W H O IS CURATING OR PERFORMING, IT IS ABOUT THE #MUGWANK I D E A OF A FOOTBALL WORLD CUP FINAL HALF TIME SHOW... IF YOU NOW UNDERSTAND MY ‘AAAAAAAGH!’ A BIT BETTER, BUT STILL DON’T AGREE, PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RED CAP, YOUR ‘I 🖤 JANNY + DONNY + $$$’ TSHIRT AND… KNOCK YOURSELF OUT? ONWARDS... RSX PS. “Infantosser has said he and US president Trumpton will small hand over trophy on Sunday”. SADLY, THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH A’S LEFT FOR THE ‘ARGH’ THAT SHOULD FOLLOW… #breadandcircuses #pleasejustfuckoff #fuckfifa #justlookup lostworld

― curmudgeon, Monday, 27 July 2026 22:23 (yesterday)

I guess you're not on Instagram

yes, you can’t read the posts if not

― uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Monday, 27 July 2026 23:19 (yesterday)

I'm not on Instagram and I can read those links btw

― StanM, Tuesday, 28 July 2026 06:12 (one hour ago)

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