The Cure UK Tour 2022

[sPiKi]

Saw The Cure in Belfast last night and it was a great show. I found it uncanny how RS's voice hasn't seemed to have aged much and he sounded fantastic.

 

Of course, of most interest was Simon Gallup's bass sound. It was huge...and for many songs, really grindy and dirty sounding. Like, really gnarly!

 

The sound quality was good and for some songs like Disintegration, by design. merged into a really powerful wall of sound.

 

The set was pretty uncompromising for the casual fan (i.e. the thousands who seemed to be there just for Friday, I'm...), with several classics from their back catalogue and a few new ones as well, some of which were more memorable than others. Too many highlights to list but At Night, Burn, A Strange Day, Push and of course, A Forest were superb.

 

If you get a chance, check them out.

 

 

[2elliot]

Still brilliant live. I went to see them in Berlin a couple of month ago, they sounded fantastic... t-shirts were only €20 aswell.

[sPiKi]

I noticed that the t shirts were reasonably priced. Didn't buy one but there were several merch stalls around the venue which were thriving.

[TheGreek]

I saw them when they headlined Glastonbury in '84(?).

 

They were excellent...till then I didn't realise how many great songs they'd recorded. 

[Lozz196]

I saw them around 85, had never really been a fan but it was a great gig, really lively & energetic which wasn’t what I expected.

[verb]

Mrs Verb and I are going to see them in Birmingham this week. One of my wife's favourite bands but see never got to see them. We both enjoyed their set at Glastonbury on the TV a couple of years ago. Great to hear they are on form.

[CJPJ]

Love this lot. I last saw them in Earls Court, must have been in the mid-90s but would love to see them again, ideally in a smaller venue.

[sPiKi]

You are in for a treat. Verb. Will say no more.

[SteveXFR]

I'd love to see them but I hate arena shows so I guess I never will. I was at Glastonbury when they last played but Pyramid stage sound is always terrible so I didn't go. 

I've seen video of them live in recent years and they don't seem to have lost anything 

[Drax]

Wandered past them a few times at Glastonbury long time ago but wanted to see them properly for years. Standing ticket for Wembley in a few wks, hoping train strike cancels.. 

[Maude]

I guess Robert Smiths voice is still good because he's not straining it all the time. I know there's plenty of songs, and parts in songs, where he is pushing it but there's also a hell of of a lot of softly sung parts. 

I'd love to have seen them on this tour but a combination of travel, costs and arena shows meant I let it slide. 

I last saw them at the long gone Cornwall Coliseum on the Wish tour in 92. They played for hours (that's a good thing before anyone starts 😉), even doing two encores, which were long enough for some bands full set, seven songs. 

I'd love to be able to see them in a smaller venue again but I can't see it ever happening. 

I'm jealous of all those going. 

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, Maude said:

I'd love to be able to see them in a smaller venue again but I can't see it ever happening. 

I'm jealous of all those going. 

 

Same thing here - but when a group gets to that size not much chance of seeing them in a decent venue again. Would love to see them, but not in a big place like that.

[Maude]

4 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Same thing here - but when a group gets to that size not much chance of seeing them in a decent venue again. Would love to see them, but not in a big place like that.

Not wanting to derail too much but that's the funny thing with saying "when a group gets to that size", and I'm not disagreeing with you. 

On the Wish tour they were possible at the very height of their career, just had their biggest album yet, Disintegration, and were touring the even bigger follow up album with the biggest hit Friday I'm In Love. 

So were they bigger then than now? They've certainly not had albums that sold like Disintegration and Wish since. But could they have filled arenas back then like now? Probably not. 

So why can they now? 

Or is it just that the way of doing things now seems to be more about five sell out arenas rather than thirty sell out smaller venues. 

Maybe it's just that going to a rock concert is more acceptable today, whereas years ago it was more rebellious. 

Who knows, I just know I long for big bands doing tours of lots of the small venues over a handful of arenas or stadiums. 

I shall now take my grumpy old man hat off. 😁

[Woodinblack]

12 minutes ago, Maude said:

On the Wish tour they were possible at the very height of their career, just had their biggest album yet, Disintegration, and were touring the even bigger follow up album with the biggest hit Friday I'm In Love. 

So were they bigger then than now? They've certainly not had albums that sold like Disintegration and Wish since. But could they have filled arenas back then like now? Probably not. 

So why can they now? 

 

Well, because their fans at that time weren't that well off. Now they have a lot of fans who are older with mortgages paid off and a lot of disposable income, so they can fill out a stadium.

 

12 minutes ago, Maude said:

Or is it just that the way of doing things now seems to be more about five sell out arenas rather than thirty sell out smaller venues. 

 

Probably that too - also they are older, probably don't want to play  all those little venues every night for a year.

[Maude]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Well, because their fans at that time weren't that well off. Now they have a lot of fans who are older with mortgages paid off and a lot of disposable income, so they can fill out a stadium.

 

 

Probably that too - also they are older, probably don't want to play  all those little venues every night for a year.

True on both counts. 

[BigRedX]

I'd really like to go and see The Cure, a band I've come to appreciate a lot more than I did when they were having "hits", but I simply don't do stadium gigs as punter so I'll be going them a miss. There are other bands I like more and even those wouldn't go to a the sort of stadium gig shown in the OP to see.

[Cato]

I saw them at Glasto in the 90s, I enjoyed the gig but wasn't huge into them until quite recently.

 

I've been really enjoying discovering their back catalogue, they're just one  of those special bands that have their own unique, instantly recognosable sound.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Cato

[grenadillabama]

They use a Bass VI and a separate bass guitar ? Or not ?

 

[2elliot]

2 minutes ago, grenadillabama said:

They use a Bass VI and a separate bass guitar ?

 

Gallup plays his bass all through the gig. Reeves does VI when required  

[Maude]

Yes, Smith uses a bass vi a lot for melodies while Simon Gallup plays the 'regular' bass lines.

 

[Ricky 4000]

Damn.

 

They're sold out in Cardiff.

 

And I could probably go on Thursday.

 

The Cure was probably my favourite band in 1979 or something.

 

Why are gigs I want to go to always sold out?

 

The last time this happened it was 5 Star playing in Gloucester.

 

I was gutted mind. 

[casapete]

20 hours ago, Maude said:

Not wanting to derail too much but that's the funny thing with saying "when a group gets to that size", and I'm not disagreeing with you. 

On the Wish tour they were possible at the very height of their career, just had their biggest album yet, Disintegration, and were touring the even bigger follow up album with the biggest hit Friday I'm In Love. 

So were they bigger then than now? They've certainly not had albums that sold like Disintegration and Wish since. But could they have filled arenas back then like now? Probably not. 

So why can they now? 

Or is it just that the way of doing things now seems to be more about five sell out arenas rather than thirty sell out smaller venues. 

Maybe it's just that going to a rock concert is more acceptable today, whereas years ago it was more rebellious. 

Who knows, I just know I long for big bands doing tours of lots of the small venues over a handful of arenas or stadiums. 

I shall now take my grumpy old man hat off. 😁

Totally agree regarding seeing bands in smaller more local venues rather than massive stadiums 

(stadia?!) you have to travel a long way to. But what really brasses me off is that the ticket price

doesn’t reflect this - you would think that playing to say 10,000 people at a time the price would

be less than to the people in 5 x 2000 seater venues spread out over the country. I know I’d feel

more inclined to pay more for the smaller gigs than getting ripped off in a large gig where you

can be miles from the stage and have to watch the gig on big screens to see anything. So long

as people are prepared to see their idols in this environment then crazy ticket prices will remain.

I refuse to buy into this now, and am disgusted by the way some bands treat their fans.

 

(Apologies, my grumpy old man hat is now off too.) 😁

[Maude]

39 minutes ago, casapete said:

Totally agree regarding seeing bands in smaller more local venues rather than massive stadiums 

(stadia?!) you have to travel a long way to. But what really brasses me off is that the ticket price

doesn’t reflect this - you would think that playing to say 10,000 people at a time the price would

be less than to the people in 5 x 2000 seater venues spread out over the country. I know I’d feel

more inclined to pay more for the smaller gigs than getting ripped off in a large gig where you

can be miles from the stage and have to watch the gig on big screens to see anything. So long

as people are prepared to see their idols in this environment then crazy ticket prices will remain.

I refuse to buy into this now, and am disgusted by the way some bands treat their fans.

 

(Apologies, my grumpy old man hat is now off too.) 😁

You don't want to know the extortionate fee they were charging on the Wish tour then!? 😂

 

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

I know I’d feel

more inclined to pay more for the smaller gigs than getting ripped off in a large gig where you can be miles from the stage and have to watch the gig on big screens to see anything.

 

If I can't be down at the front at a gig I might as well wait until it's available in format to watch at home on the TV.

[casapete]

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

If I can't be down at the front at a gig I might as well wait until it's available in format to watch at home on the TV.

Yup, me too.

After being nearly a lifelong fan of Bruce Springsteen, I’m disgusted with tickets for his UK dates

next year being sold via Ticketmaster using their ‘Dynamic pricing’ system. He’s getting flak

from fans in other countries too, but as long as the faithful don’t mind paying upwards of 

£500 a ticket then it will no doubt continue. Sheer madness.

 

Good on Paul Heaton and Jackie Abbot who pegged the prices on their tour dates to £35, and

Peter Kay who I believe is doing something similar.