Falling in love with The Cure and their 2016 North American tour

Geffen

The Cure. You’re such a strange band … I think you come from another world. And I think I’m falling in love with you. More and more each day, as I discover more of your complex, varied discography and the beautiful, poetic soul of your charismatic lead vocalist/songwriter Robert Smith. When I heard you were launching a new North American tour in 2016 (the first since 2008), I knew I wanted to be a part of it. And so I went to see you play in Chicago at the UIC Pavilion on Friday, June 10, because it was Friday and, well, I was in love. A fervent love that has grown by leaps and bounds in the months leading up to the concert and a love that will certainly become more intense after witnessing the brilliance of your live show for myself. (Hands down, it was one of the best I’ve ever attended.)

I first discovered The Cure when I was a teenager in high school in the late ’90s. I was instantly drawn to their unique sound and their fanciful lyrics, but I must confess that I remained only a casual fan until more recently. I was familiar with many of their greatest hits: “Lovesong,” “Just Like Heaven,” “The Lovecats,” “Close to Me,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Friday I’m In Love” … I’ve spent many years putting those familiar favorites on repeat until I’m sure I’d have driven another quite mad. But I’d never actually gone past those favorites and bothered to listen to an entire Cure album.

And then one day I came across “The Caterpillar” in a life-altering moment, for that’s when I became smitten and hungry for more songs that I’d missed from this band that is truly unlike any other. It’s the singularly most perfect song ever. Its lyrics are sweet and simple. From the moment that melody begins to play and Smith croons, “Flicka flicka flicka … Here you are. Cata cata cata … Caterpillar girl. Flowing in and filling up my hopeless heart … Oh never, never go,” one can’t help but fall in love with it. The reason I’m so drawn to The Cure is because their songs are primarily about love, and I love to be in love. Everything from the dizzying, elated highs one experiences (“Mint Car,” “The Only One”) to the feelings of lust and desire it stirs up (“Let’s Go to Bed”) to unabashed longing (“Want,” “One More Time”) to the pits of despair once that love is gone (“Pictures of You”) has been profoundly explored by The Cure. Every girl (or guy) should be so lucky as to be viewed through Robert Smith’s adoring eyes. Those lyrics.

With a song catalog as impressive and diverse as that of The Cure, one would think it’s probably impossible to please everyone on a tour, but this band sure does its damnedest anyway. In three hours, they manage to play many of their crowd-pleasing hits for the casual fans, as well as many songs for the die hards, including the rarely played track “Burn” from The Crow soundtrack. Thanks to my insatiable musical appetite this year, I could appreciate the inclusion of such songs as “Jupiter Crash,” “Want,” “The Perfect Girl” and “Kyoto Song” because I’m more familiar with their discography. My only complaint about my particular show was their failure to play “The Caterpillar,” “The Lovecats” or “A Forest.” I know they haven’t included this one on any of this tour’s set lists so far, but I’d have also loved to hear them do “Other Voices.” But hey, it was a Friday and we did get “Friday I’m In Love” and they don’t play that at every show either, so I do feel surrealistically happy about seeing them do that one live.

It was also wonderful to be able to see a band of The Cure’s caliber in a smaller stadium setting that sat less than 10,000, as opposed to a gigantic, intimidating one with horrible acoustics. Robert Smith’s vocals remain as perfect as ever, as does his signature unruly hair. I imagine this was as good as seeing them back in their heyday in the ’80s and ’90s because they act like they haven’t aged at all. It’s a very colorful show with sophisticated LED screens and lights of just about every color always flashing, always used to complement whatever song is being performed. It’s an overwhelming feast for the senses both visually and audibly. And although they play for three hours with four encores, it doesn’t feel like it at all. In fact, to quote one of their most popular songs, “it’s never enough.” I was still left wanting more. I guess that means I’ll have to go see them again on their next tour if they come close to me.

Opening for The Cure on this tour is The Twilight Sad, a band from Scotland I wasn’t familiar with before this show, but I think they’ve managed to convert me into at least a casual fan despite their short set list. Imagine if The Smiths opened for The Cure … how mind-blowing would something like that be? And yet that’s who The Twilight Sad reminded me and my boyfriend of – not just because of their adorable accents, but something about the lead singer’s mannerisms and his vocals. Okay, maybe it wasn’t as incredible as if it had actually been The Smiths, but I thought it was a nice choice, and with a name like The Twilight Sad, how could you not end up opening for The Cure?

The Cure still has quite a few North American tour dates left in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, NYC, Columbia (MD), Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami and Honolulu before heading to New Zealand, Australia and several European countries. I’d urge anyone to go see this band while you can, as it’s a phenomenal show not to be missed. Rarely do you get to see a band with so much enthusiasm that’s willing to play three hours and do four encores – and especially with enough material worthy enough to merit such an engaging marathon performance. It’s well worth the ticket cost! Tickets for select dates and venues can be purchased through our Ticketmaster affiliate link!