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Nov 04, 2024 By Dom Gourlay Photography by Tom Pallant Web Exclusive

What is there left to say about The Cure that hasn’t been said already? It’s difficult to put into words just how important, significant and influential they’ve been and still are. Nearly fifty years on from their formation and forty-six years after the release of first single “Killing An Arab”, The Cure are still one of the most relevant musical ensembles on the planet. Not only have they survived without ever really conforming to any specific norm, style or genre. They’ve actually reshaped the notion of post-punk, redefined how a pop single can sound, and reimagined the directions other genres (metal being one) can take. I’ve never met anyone in any walk of life that doesn’t own at least one Cure record which speaks volumes for the cultural impact Robert Smith and co. have made over the past four-and-a-half decades.

So, it’s quite appropriate that The Cure chose the same day as they’ve released their first album of new material in 16 years to play in one of London’s most intimate and ornate theatres. The Troxy has played host to all kinds of events from musical concerts and theatre to performance art and rock shows since being built in the early 1930s. With its beautiful interior decor, red velvet seats on the second floor and two tiered stalls beneath, its probably the closest many of those present will ever get to a stage The Cure find themselves standing on these days. Their status as an arena band having been cemented for quite some time - indeed, this writer’s first experience of a Cure show was at Birmingham NEC as part of the Disintegration tour back in 1989 - making tonight’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity feel even more special.

Even outside the Troxy people are queuing over an hour before doors open despite the band not being onstage fo a further two hours after, such is the wave of anticipation around tonight’s show. On entry, Under the Radar are greeted with more queues as fans clamber to get their hands on the limited edition merchandise being sold to commemorate tonight’s special event. While the “interval music” is literally a series of thunder storms as lights flash intermittently across the stage and sides of the venue. A few musicians from other bands are spotted around the venue - Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite and The Twilight Sad’s James Graham being two - which again highlights how The Cure have inspired the next generation of musicians and no doubt more in the future.

With over half of Songs Of A Lost World having featured in the band’s live set for the past two years, the likes of “Alone” and “I Can Never Say Goodbye” in this setting are already familiar to some. But that doesn’t make their impact any less dramatic or poignant. Playing in front of an ever changing backdrop that represents each of the eight songs on the album, the six members seem as comfortable and at ease playing these songs as they’ve ever done. Robert Smith an obvious focal figure centre stage, flanked by guitarist Reeves Gabrels and keyboard/guitar player Perry Bamonte to his right, with fellow keyboard player Roger O’Donnell and charismatic bassist Simon Gallup to his left. Gallup’s “BADWOLF” adorned amp standing out in the background as drummer Jason Cooper sits above the various speakers and amps at the back. Each member focused on their own individual part which is then delivered impeccably and exquisitely as a whole.

There’s an eerie but observed silence bar the standard rounds of applause and cheers that greets each song. Every audience member clearly in awe of who stands before them and what they’re hearing. “And Nothing Is Forever” is even more reminiscent of Sigur Ros than it is on record, aided by the visual element that accompanies it. The industrial sounding “Warsong” and alt-pop vignette “Drone: Nodrone” - both played live for the very first time this evening - have the propensity to become regular features in The Cure’s live sets going forwards, the latter in particular. While the reflective “All I Ever Am” pulls on the emotional heartstrings in more ways than one, leading to the epic “Endsong” which closes the opening set.

After a brief intermission, the next two hours showcase The Cure’s irrepressible back catalogue. Hit singles rub shoulders with deep cuts and album favourites. 1989’s Disintegration features heavily, as “Plainsong” introduces the second set before giving way to a joyous “Pictures Of You”.. “Lovesong” and “Fascination Street” follow suit at various points during the set, while the title track acts as a grand finale for act two. In between, “High” off 1992’s ninth album Wish proves as whimsical now as it were thirty-two years ago while a joyous trilogy of “A Night Like This”, “Push” and “In Between Days” off 1985’s Head On The Door finds the whole theatre rising to its feet for a communal dance and singalong. Elsewhere, “Just Like Heaven” is exactly that - heavenly pop at its finest. While fellow Wish number “From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea” takes the band on a more spacious journey into territories that would be adopted by post-rock royalty in later years.

As the band’s second album is about Seventeen Seconds is about to celebrate its 45th anniversary in April, the first encore is made up entirely of songs from that record. Both “At Night” and “M” have returned to The Cure’s live sets in recent months, and both prove welcome additions this evening. “Secrets” on the other hand is a totally unexpected surprise and one that’s greeted admirably by the adoring throng, many of whom have never heard this in the flesh before. “Play For Today” and “A Forest” bring the first encore to a close, the latter arguably receiving the loudest and most joyous reception of any song played tonight, such is the reverence its still held in four-and-a-half decades on.

It might be late and two-and-a-half hours into the show, but there’s still time for one last encore and another six songs, which sees The Cure reel out some of their biggest and best known songs. “Lullaby”, played against a backdrop of multi-coloured spider webs finds the audience bellowing back every word in gleeful harmony, while “The Walk” sounds as fresh and invigorating as it first did in the long, hot summer of 1983. Robert Smith may have forgotten some of the words to “Friday I’m In Love”, but that didn’t make the song any less ebullient or celebratory. As “Close To Me” and “Why Can’t I Be You?” are delivered with insatiable aplomb, each resulting in a mess of shapes and contorted limbs out front and around the Troxy, its left to an exuberant rendition of “Boys Don’t Cry” to bring tonight’s proceedings to a fitting climax.

With talk of possibly one more album on the way in 2025, who’s to say we won’t be back here at the same time next year?

We live in hope, because on that form The Cure are simply sensational.

What a band!