The Cure at Cardiff: Hot! Hot! Hot!

On the hottest June day and night ever recorded in Cardiff, The Cure enthralled a crowd of over 30,000 with a stunning set spanning the band’s 40-year-plus career.

“Diolch,” said frontman Robert Smith before the band launched into a ferocious set of brooding goth and sparkling pop, with highlights including Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, A Forest, Disintegration, Friday I’m In Love and Boys Don’t’ Cry (see full set list below.).

[Walking up to the park]

On the urban75 forum, Voley posted his review:

That was great. 🙂

They really dug deep into the back catalogue last night – nothing from ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ at all.

I was expecting ‘Alone’ and ‘Endsong’ at least but instead we got a decent chunk of ‘Seventeen Seconds’ and loads of ‘Disintegration.’

Bloody boiling day so the crowd was a bit subdued up until the end but it was 30 degrees+ with no breeze and most of us were wilting. It got to Robert too.

He fumbled the words in ‘Just Like Heaven’ and said it was partly the heat but “.. sometimes when I really get into it, I forget I’m the one meant to be singing,” bless him.

He’s clearly really enjoying this bit of the band’s career and it’s a joy to watch.

Nearly 70 and doing the pure pop encore with the sort of glee you’d expect from someone 50 years younger.

I watched the main set from quite near the front, but it was like a furnace in there at times and my sister and niece had to stay back to avoid keeling over. I found them for the pop encore and we all jumped about like kids for 10 songs or so.

‘Wrong Number’ is a fucking banger live – not a song I know that well, really, but it’s deffo one of their great pop songs in my head now.

Other highlights for me were a truly epic ‘From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea’ going straight into ‘Prayers For Rain’ where Robert did well to hit the Great Big Long Note when it was still 30 degrees or so.

I was genuinely imploring all the deities for a deluge at that point too.

Then they did ‘Disintegration’ and that totally floored me.

Elsewhere I don’t think I’ve ever seen them doing ‘Secrets’ or ‘In Your House’ from ‘Seventeen Seconds’ before.

I haven’t seen them play the beautiful ‘Last Day Of Summer’ before (ironic, under the circumstances) or ‘Hot Hot Hot !!!’ (spot on) either. So there were loads of great surprises in there.

I’d love to be going to a few more dates, they really change it up every night on this tour so you’re bound to get something unexpected.

I love The Cure. I’ve never seen them do a bad gig and I’ve been watching them since I was 16.

Gig photos

I didn’t get a photo pass for the show, so they’re all mobile phone shots taken miles from the stage. But hopefully they’ll give you a flavour of the gig!