The Cure: Classic or Dud?

I guess to Robert the lure of a Bowie guitarist was irresistible. I do like his work on Earthling altho it’s not remotely Cure-appropriate.

I am an actual big Tin Machine fan and have a lot of time for Reeves as creative foil for Bowie - but yeah not at all sure that his aesthetic really sits well with the Cure, to AKM's point, he seems to be fairly diligently playing away from his own style and thus starts to feel a bit like a session muso

He's pulled off less weird solos than I would have expected and that honestly is a plus. I was pretty impressed with the solo he did on "A Night Like This" when I last saw the band in 2016; I was expecting him to wave his dildo around but instead he did a really nice replacement of the sax solo part without replicating it.

Reeves’ wife spent a good amount of time chatting with me about him and the band on Twitter, it was very sweet

I think it’s obv that Robert and him get along well. They’ve been doing random collabs since the mid 90s. More puzzling to me is why he brought back Perry who doesn’t seem to be anything on stage and looks pretty miserable doing so.

My theory is he has major dirt on Robert

"he wears makeup, you know"

BRING BACK LOL

wow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXxiLwwmx4M

wow indeed. I hope the music is healing, it's amazing to see him so engaged and present in his work after such a long time.

I'm not sure I approve of this kind of bleakness being unleashed on fans of The Cure - I mean, if I was in a bad enough place, I'm not sure this couldn't be the push. And I'm not even gloomy or depressed, usually.

I had avoided all of the new songs until now and oh my god, this is legit the best thing I’ve heard from them since 1992

This new song has an extremely strong "Bloodflowers" vibe. Not saying that's a bad thing.

this guy knows what's up

Good band imo

It's been rumored.

got my Wish deluxe edition in the mail today!

quite Disintegration heavy tonight. apart from Burn nothing later than Wish except for 4 new songs all of which I liked. amazing gig, super glad I went

I've had the Wish deluxe CDs on repeat in the car for a couple of weeks now. Lots of interesting bonus tracks and alternate arrangements.

Last night’s THIRTY TWO song setlist from @thecure at Wembley last night (2 hours and 37 minutes of utter bliss) pic.twitter.com/fiAmiq2G7G

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) December 14, 2022

Loving this Wish reissue a lot, really worthwhile demo material imho.

Made a Lost Wishes Plus playlist that adds the other instrumental demos that never ended up as album tracks or B-sides, just to ride the vibe.

1. "Uyea Sound"
2. "Cloudberry"
3. "Off To Sleep..."
4. "The Three Sisters"
5. "A Wendy Band"
6. "T6"
7. "T7"
8. "T8"
9. "Now is the Time"
10. "Miss Van Gogh"
11. "Abetabw"
12. "Heart Attack"
13. "Swing Change"
14. "Frogfish"

might play around with the order, but was having fun with their naming convention for a few of the demos in that placement

So there's a big ol' photo book out and I had things to say

https://thequietus.com/articles/32523-pictures-of-you-the-cure-tom-sheehan-review

Okay, American tour dates:

MAY '23

10 NEW ORLEANS, LA SMOOTHIE KING CENTER
12 HOUSTON, TX TOYOTA CENTER
13 DALLAS, TX DOS EQUIS PAVILION
14 AUSTIN, TX MOODY CENTER
16 ALBUQUERQUE, NM ISLETA AMPHITHEATER
18 PHOENIX, AZ DESERT DIAMOND ARENA
20 SAN DIEGO, CA NICU AMPHITHEATRE
23 LOS ANGELES, CA HOLLYWOOD BOWL
24 LOS ANGELES, CA HOLLYWOOD BOWL
25 LOS ANGELES, CA HOLLYWOOD BOWL
27 SAN FRANCISCO, CA SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE

JUNE '23

01 SEATTLE, WA CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA
02 VANCOUVER, BC ROGERS ARENA
04 SALT LAKE CITY, UT VIVINT SMART HOME ARENA
06 DENVER, CO FIDDLER'S GREEN AMPHITHEATRE
08 MINNEAPOLIS ST. PAUL, MN XCEL ENERGY CENTER
10 CHICAGO, IL UNITED CENTER
11 CLEVELAND, OH BLOSSOM MUSIC CENTER
13 DETROIT, MI PINE KNOB MUSIC THEATRE
14 TORONTO, ON BUDWEISER STAGE
16 MONTREAL, QCBELL CENTRE
18 BOSTON, MA XFINITY CENTER
20 NEW YORK, NY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
21 NEW YORK, NY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
22 NEW YORK, NY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
24 PHILADELPHIA, PA WELLS FARGO CENTER
25 COLUMBIA, MD MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION
27 ATLANTA, GA STATE FARM ARENA
29 TAMPA, FL AMALIE ARENA

JULY '23

01 MIAMI, FL MIAMI-DADE ARENA

And per Bob's ALL CAPS ways:

THE CURE HAVE AGREED ALL TICKET PRICES, AND APART FROM A FEW HOLLYWOOD BOWL CHARITY SEATS, THERE WILL BE NO ‘PLATINUM’ OR ‘DYNAMICALLY PRICED’ TICKETS ON THIS TOUR

Pre-register link here:

https://verifiedfan.ticketmaster.com/thecure2023

THE CURE HAVE AGREED ALL TICKET PRICES, AND APART FROM A FEW HOLLYWOOD BOWL CHARITY SEATS, THERE WILL BE NO ‘PLATINUM’ OR ‘DYNAMICALLY PRICED’ TICKETS ON THIS TOUR

Who knows if it'll make a difference, but this is how you fucking do it.

A confirmation email is on its way. Registration does not guarantee tickets - we expect there will be more demand than there are tickets available. A lottery-style process will use random selection to determine which registered Verified Fans will receive a unique access code and which will be put on the waitlist.

You’ll receive an email on Tuesday, March 14 confirming next steps.

If you are verified and receive a unique access code, the Verified Fan Sale will begin on Wednesday, March 15.

wow, the sisters of mercy AND the cure are both playing in LA on may 23

Eldritch is certainly pissed off about that lol

And in the way back when they were labelmates (in the US at least)

and the monkey's paw curls

really too bad there aren't any joint shows with siouxsie thought that would probably make my head explode

New statement:

TICKET REGISTRATION OPEN NOW AT https://t.co/PkDGUv9w7c #ShowsOfALostWorld23 #TheCure #NorthAmerica pic.twitter.com/KgYQNu3S4F

— The Cure (@thecure) March 10, 2023

I got shut out and they are sold out in Hollywood, anyways ticketmasters fee are an issue:

I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY'S TICKETMASTER 'FEES' DEBACLE. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM. I HAVE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I GET ANYTHING COHERENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. X

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

Got Shoreline tickets, happily.

More (combining two tweets into one):

AFTER FURTHER CONVERSATION, TICKETMASTER HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT MANY OF THE FEES BEING CHARGED ARE UNDULY HIGH, AND AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL HAVE OFFERED A $10 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR LOWEST TICKET PRICE ('LTP’) TRANSACTIONS AND A $5 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR ALL OTHER TICKET PRICE TRANSACTIONS, FOR ALL CURE SHOWS AT ALL VENUES; IF YOU ALREADY BOUGHT A TICKET YOU WILL GET AN AUTOMATIC REFUND; ALL TICKETS ON SALE TOMORROW WILL INCUR LOWER FEES

... every time I see anything written in all caps I think it's him. On ILX too. (NBA FASHION , AL GREEN: CLASSIC OR DUD? ,...}

Smith was "sickened," and delivered the cure! Way to go

got shoreline tix as well; lawn, which kind of sucks and is where we were the last time (when I gave Ned a ride home!). Going better prepared for that this time.

Seeya there, in spirit at least! Like last time I got seats, handy. No need to worry about a ride, I'm going down with a group this time.

DUD
― Tom, lunes 26 de marzo de 2001 01:00 AM (twenty-one years ago)

I always flag this post

1 OF 2: AFTER FURTHER CONVERSATION, TICKETMASTER HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT MANY OF THE FEES BEING CHARGED ARE UNDULY HIGH, AND AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL HAVE OFFERED A $10 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR LOWEST TICKET PRICE ('LTP’) TRANSACTIONS...

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

Despite Smith saying Cure tickets can only be re-sold on special fan exchange site (for most US states), am seeing ticket scalping companies now advertising resale Cure tickets at high prices for the DC area gig . Ticketmaster direct link for DC area gig now says no more tickets available. My wife and I got 2 lawn seats from the public Ticketmaster sale

Meantime the first extract from Simon Price's forthcoming Cure book is up:

https://thequietus.com/articles/32729-the-cure-a-forest-simon-price

I love Robert Smith:

https://consequence.net/2023/03/robert-smith-the-cure-scalped-tickets/

Robert Smith's efforts to go after scalpers have resulted in the cancelation of 7,000 tickets to The Cure’s upcoming North American tour.

As a result, according to Smith, “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites.”

Smith also warned ticket buyers from attempting to circumvent ticket transfer rules. “OFFERING TO SELL/SEND ACCOUNT LOGIN DETAILS TO GET AROUND TM TRANSFER LIMITATIONS… ANY/ALL TICKETS OBTAINED IN THIS WAY WILL BE CANCELED, AND ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED,” Smith announced. “..ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS.”

I feel like this is something that happens every few years, and then out of nowhere people forget that you can do this.

Four new dates:

FOUR EXTRA SHOWS ADDED TO OUR ’SHOWS OF A LOST WORLD’ NORTH AMERICAN TOUR - THREE OF THEM ARE ‘EXTRA NIGHTS’ - 21ST MAY SAN DIEGO / 17TH JUNE MONTREAL / 28TH JUNE ATLANTA

EVERYONE WITH A PREVIOUSLY ISSUED BUT UNSUCCESSFUL TICKETMASTER VERIFIED FAN CODE FROM ANY MARKET WILL HAVE FIRST OPTION TO BUY TICKETS - SALES OPEN FRIDAY 7TH APRIL @ 10AM LOCAL TIME - LIMIT OF X4 TICKETS PER PERSON AND ALL TICKETS NON-TRANSFERRABLE. VF FANS WILL BE NOTIFIED ON THURSDAY 6TH APRIL

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON’T BUY TICKETS IF YOU DON’T INTEND GOING TO THE SHOW!!! IF THERE ARE STILL TICKETS LEFT THERE WILL BE A PUBLIC ONSALE FROM SATURDAY 8TH APRIL. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

THE FOURTH EXTRA SHOW WILL BE 31ST MAY PORTLAND MODA CENTER - AS AN ‘EXPERIMENT’ TO SEE WHETHER NON-TRANSFERABLE TICKETS ARE ENOUGH PROTECTION TICKET PURCHASE WILL NOT REQUIRE TM VF - PUBLIC ONSALE WILL OPEN FRIDAY 7TH APRIL @ 10AM LOCAL TIME - LIMIT OF X4 TICKETS PER PERSON AND ALL TICKETS NON-TRANSFERRABLE - AVAILABLE VIA THECURE.COM

THE NEW DATES ARE:

21 MAY SAN DIEGO, CA NICU AMPHITHEATRE
31 MAY PORTLAND, OR MODA CENTER
17 JUNE MONTREAL, QC BELL CENTRE
28 JUNE ATLANTA, GA STATE FARM ARENA

Great article:

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/the-cure-robert-smith-ticket-price-enforcement-officer-1235576125/

FWIW, the Cure's shows are probably too high in demand for this to work, but if tickets are still available, you can try buying them at the box office venue and avoid Ticketmaster fees that way.

For example, in NYC, MSG owns several venues including the Beacon Theater and Radio City Music Hall, so you don't necessarily need to go to MSG - you can go to the box office at those other venues and buy tickets there.

Is it wrong of me wishing that RS spend less time micromanaging ticketing issues and more on finishing the goddamn album?!

Portland show went from a ten-minute countdown to "Tickets are about to become available - sit tight!" for six minutes, then direct to "Tickets are sold out now. Check back soon."

So not much different from his album announcements.

Robert written up positively here

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/arts/music/concert-ticket-prices.html