Live: The Cure @ Blossom Music Center
It’s ironic that The Cure’s pre-show effect of choice was the ominous sound effect of thunder — and that they have a song called “Prayers for Rain,” when the crowd at the Blossom Music Center on June 11th wanted anything but. Unfortunately, though, the lightning and brief power outage which caused a half-hour storm delay were very much real, but at least by the time The Cure did take the stage, the rain had finally stopped.
And as though nothing was wrong, The Cure opened with new track “Alone” and went on to present the show that’s been earning them praise all summer as they’ve been on the road with Shows of a Lost World to a not-quite-sold-out crowd — while yes, the concert did indeed sell out, social-media posts indicated that some fans on the lawn were told by staff during the rain delay that the show was canceled entirely, while others just gave up and left. And what a show they missed, with a set that, in addition to other new material, included everything from the poppy hits still played on the radio, like “Lovesong,” “Just Like Heaven,” and “Friday I’m in Love,” to the darker, moodier tracks that have earned them their reputation as goth icons, like “Disintegration,” “If Only Tonight We Could Sleep,” and “Burn,” notable for its inclusion on the soundtrack to the film adaptation of The Crow. Understandably, songs from the beloved and critically acclaimed Disintegration dominated the set, followed closely by, somewhat surprisingly, The Head on the Door.
And although the hits were amazing to hear and sounded fantastic, it was other songs in the setlist that made the strongest impression. “Shake Dog Shake” was raucous and intense; “A Forest” translates wonderfully live, especially as bassist Simon Gallup gets a moment to shine. Blossom Music Center was also treated to a rare performance of “Kyoto Song.”
If the setlist was shortened at all due to the storm delay, it wasn’t by much —setlists for other shows indicate the band sometimes plays slightly longer and includes an additional new, unreleased song, as well as “10:15 Saturday Night” and “Killing an Arab,” appropriately reworded as “Killing Another,” as part of their second encore. The two encores combined were about as long as the first set, adding up a grand total of about 2 1/2 hours.
Smith’s voice sounds like he hasn’t aged at all, and his best moments as a performer came during the second encore, where he danced briefly around the stage, joked about making mistakes in his keyboard part during “Six Different Ways,” and generally seemed to be enjoying himself most.
The concert made me feel like a teenager again, in the best possible way. I believe a great concert can accomplish a few things, among them making you fall in love with the musician all over again. I never stopped listening to The Cure, never stopped loving them, but seeing them live was a reminder of what made me fall in love in the first place — and it was clear that I wasn’t alone. As we waited in line to get into the venue, I overheard a person nearby talking to others and saying the little stuffed bear they were holding was intended as a gift for Smith, and sure enough, just before he left the stage, I could see him graciously accept it.
