GIG REVIEW: The Cure
- Posted on March 26, 2008 10:08 AM
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The Cure
Wembley Arena
20th March 2008
Review by Bryce Lowry
For me the Cure have always been a curiosity. That’s why I went. Not necessarily as a fan, but to pay homage to legendary band whose songs have just kind of always been there, on the fringes of my life. For sure there were plenty of others like me but for the majority, the black clad minions representing three generations of dark romance (the contrast between them and the bright white and neon soulless interior of Wembley Arena verged on comical) it was clearly a pilgrimage of devotion; a heart to heart with Robert Smith, the goth king himself.
I’d read reports of three hour sets on this tour so when the show started at 8 o’clock against an enchanting backdrop of hundreds of sparkling stars I settled in for a long journey. The first hour consisted mainly of the darker dreamier numbers from Wish and Disintegration. Lullaby was the best of these, sounding as lush and hypnotic as the day I first spun the 6 inch vinyl on my parent’s record player. This first act was interspersed with one or two classics, notably Just Like Heaven which I only managed only to hear from a queue at the bar outside. It was unusually difficult to be too bummed at missing such a key song when you know there’s still two hours and so much more to come. I imagine the same probably couldn’t be said for the throngs who were still pouring in at 9 o’clock, obviously unaware of the early start.
The high points for from there on were frequent. However they were not due to any notable performance (Why Can’t I Be You was particularly disappointing on that front it must be said) or particular crowd reaction which for most of the time was characteristically nonchalant; well from my vantage point up in the bleachers any way. I suspect that the hard core element of this crowd prefer to express themselves on the inside. Rather the highlights were Smith’s sincere delivery and the memories and emotions evoked in me by the signature Cure tunes of the late 80’s, not coincidentally when I was a confused teenager nursing my first broken heart: Close To Me, Love Song and Let’s Go To Bed. The emo’s on hand must realise their plight is not altogether new. Smith’s vocals were surprisingly decent too. And I was floored when we got Love Cats; notoriously the one he hates and vowed to never to play live. Although now I think I understand why; it’s just a bit twee against everything else.
The final act took us back to the beginning. A Forest was definitely the most memorable number here, the stage backdrop becoming the dark woods of your best nightmare, the crowd awash in brooding sweeps of yellow and red from the one of the most impressive lighting rigs I’ve seen. I’d forgotten just how good that song is and it sounds as contemporary as ever, more than 25 years on. Boys Don’t Cry and Killing an Arab closed off the three and a half hour marathon, by which time rather than being exhausted the crowd were actually dancing. I’ve sated my curiosity and now I know - mood swings can be strangely gratifying.
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