The definitive band of the gothic rock genre – The Cure – swept through Midtown Manhattan this past week for a three-date residency at Madison Square Garden (MSG).
Selling out arena after arena on the North American leg of their Songs of a Lost World Tour, a 34-date affair that the band embarked on in New Orleans, Louisiana back on May 10, The Cure have long since secured their legacy due to being one of the first alternative bands to break into the mainstream well over four decades ago. And as luck would have it, I found myself fortunate to provide coverage of The Cure’s second show in The Big Apple this past Wednesday evening, June 21.
The only constant member throughout the band’s storied history that began in West Sussex, England in 1978, frontman Robert Smith has been teasing since March of last year that new material, the first since their 13th studio album (4:13 Dream) was released nearly fifteen years ago, is on its way. Although fans of The Cure are still waiting for a 14th release from their beloved post-punkers, they are certainly satisfied with the progress Smith has been forging on a different front. Outspoken against Ticketmaster and their dynamic pricing model that has ticket prices fluctuating based on demand, and often to exorbitant levels, Smith fought back and guaranteed that for The Cure’s tour, tickets were only allowed to be resold at face value. And in an unprecedented response to the good fight that Smith fought for his fans, Ticketmaster issued partial refunds in mid-March to ticket holders for shows by The Cure to lessen the burden of add-on fees. Even The Cure’s tour merch was affordable, with t-shirts selling for only $25!
Accompanying The Cure on all their US and Canadian dates are The Twilight Sad, a post-punk/indie rock quintet formed just outside of Glasgow, Scotland by vocalist James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane as high school friends in 2003. The Twilight Sad and The Cure are no strangers to one another, as Smith handpicked the Scottish outfit to support The Cure back in 2016, which also included three shows at Madison Square Garden. The Twilight Sad are rounded out by Johnny Docherty (bass), Grant Hutchison (drums) and Brendan Smith (keyboards).
The 40-minute set kicked-off sharply at 8:00 pm with intensely thumping bass, before giving way to driving guitar, and eventually Hutchison’s pounding drums that introduced “Kill It in the Morning,” taken from their third studio album (No One Can Ever Know, 2012). At the song’s conclusion, Graham genuinely thanked the audience for being there and explained how it was such an honor for a “small band from a small town in Scotland” to be playing The Garden in New York City.
With flashing strobes offering short glimpses of each band member in otherwise green, red and blue lighting, I was immediately taken aback by the intensity of their performance, particularly that of Graham. As the band delivered “Let’s Get Lost” and “VTr,” two tracks from their most recent studio album It Won’t Be Like This All the Time released in 2019, and fifth overall, I was transfixed by his stage persona. Particularly fascinated by Graham’s sharp gesticulating and bizarre mannerisms, as if he were possessed at times, I knew then what it must have been like to have witnessed Ian Curtis (Joy Division) perform live in the late-1970s.
The Twilight Sad’s emblematic depth and darkness, incorporating goth despair and 90s industrial with catchy synth and grinding guitar, was prevalent for the duration of their 8-song set. Although I was unfamiliar with The Twilight Sad before tonight, it was not very difficult to get swept up by the emotional highs and melancholic lows that songs like “That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy” – the band’s very first single from 2007 and a nod to the film Stand by Me – and 2014’s “There’s a Girl in the Corner” could transport a listener to. As their newest fan, I cannot wait to see what these Scottish lads have in store for us during the remainder of 2023, and beyond.
While only a recent fan of The Twilight Sad, I have been listening to The Cure since I was 14-year old boy growing up in coastal Connecticut. I do not remember exactly who introduced me to this band at the forefront of the new wave movement in 1986, but I still have a copy of one of the first compact discs that I ever bought, Staring at the Sea, a greatest hits compilation of singles that marked a decade since the band was founded, and a magnificent sampling of ‘The Cure sound’ that I continue to love 37 years later.
At approximately 9:15 pm, with the sound of rain and thunder playing over the house PA suddenly ceasing, the moment had arrived! One by one, the members of The Cure entered from stage left. The first was Jason Cooper who took to his stool behind the kit on an elevated riser at center stage. He was quickly followed by Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Roger O’Donnell (keyboards) and Perry Bamonte (guitar, keyboards) who assumed their respective positions as fans were going wild with excitement. Simon Gallup, a member of the band for all but three years of their history, strapped on his custom Schecter Ultra Spitfire bass as the entire arena held its collective breath until finally, Smith appeared from the dark shadows at the side of the stage.
Clad in all black and donning a t-shirt depicting the famous Marilyn Monroe scene from the 1955 Billy Wilder film The Seven Year Itch, Smith wore his signature smeared red lipstick and black eyeliner as he internalized the grand spectacle that lie in front of him. For several moments, as his bandmates commenced the instrumental introduction to “Alone,” a new song that will be included on their yet to be released Songs Of The Lost World, Smith slowly walked from one end of the stage to the other, and back again. With clasped hands, he frequently paused at the edge of the stage apron as he gazed longingly into the upper levels of The Garden, a grateful expression across his face for the outpouring of support raining down on him.
With everyone in the house standing, classic tune after classic tune would be the overriding theme of the evening. 1989’s Disintegration made a particularly strong showing with prodigious renderings of “Pictures of You,” “Lovesong” and “Fascination Street.” The live staple “Burn,” a contribution by The Cure to The Crow’s 1994 motion picture soundtrack, featured Smith playing the penny whistle during the song’s intro. The main set was bookended with another newly recorded song from Songs Of The Lost World titled “Endsong.”
Beginning at 10:45 pm, the first of two glorious encores comprised of five songs ensued. Masters of the melodic and atmospheric, especially during their extended, trademark instrumental intros, “A Forest” closed the first encore, procured from their second studio album Seventeen Seconds released in 1980. Renowned for a catalog of introspective alternative hits that always make it into The Cure’s live agenda, the whopping nine song second encore did not disappoint, to say the least! As midnight approached on the first day of summer in Gotham, the 29-song marathon gig came to an end with a triple threat of the choicest songs – “In Between Days” (The Head on the Door, 1985), “Just Like Heaven” (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987) and “Boys Don’t Cry,” the title track from their first compilation released in 1980.
Over the course of the following week, the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees’ trek across North America will continue through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia and Florida, with the tour finale slated for July 1 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. After a much needed respite for the duration of the summer, the English rockers will be back on the road beginning this fall, with a headlining appearance at Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois (September 17), followed by another headlining gig at Festival Corona Capital in Mexico City (November 19). Their calendar remains full with six additional shows slated for late-November and early-December that will take The Cure to Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Columbia. And hopefully, not before too long, fans of The Cure will be treated to their first new music since 2008 with the arrival of Songs Of The Lost World in the coming months.
The Twilight Sad Setlist: Kill It in the Morning > Let/s Get Lost > VTr > That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy > There’s a Girl in the Corner > I/m Not Here [missing face] > The Wrong Car > [10 Good Reasons for Modern Drugs]
The Cure Setlist: Alone > Pictures of You > A Fragile Thing > A Night Like This > Lovesong > And Nothing Is Forever > Like Cockatoos > Burn > If Only Tonight We Could Sleep > Charlotte Sometimes > Push > 39 > Fascination Street > From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea > Endsong > Encore 1: I Can Never Say Goodbye > Want > Shake Dog Shake > One Hundred Years > A Forest > Encore 2: Lullaby > The Walk > Friday I’m in Love > Doing the Unstuck > Close to Me > Why Can’t I Be You? > In Between Days > Just Like Heaven > Boys Don’t Cry
THE TWILIGHT SAD
THE CURE
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