Sunday night, The Cure played a magnificent marathon of a set that was for a capacity crowd at Fiddler’s Green.
The band started the show early (coming on stage at 8 p.m. sharp following openers The Twilight Sad) and ended 32 songs later, butting right up against the Greenwood Village venue’s 11 p.m. curfew.
Formed in 1976, The Cure is still led by Robert Smith on guitar and vocals. They also feature founding member Simon Gallup on bass, long-time keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, drummer Jason Cooper and guitarist Reeves Gabriels. Backed by effective lighting and thematic videos for many songs, the band powered through a lengthy set list that hit highs from throughout their career.
Gallup was most impressive as he stalked the stage to lay down the four-string framework that anchors so much of The Cure’s material. Though he mentioned the altitude affecting his voice, Smith’s vocals were flawless. He was supported on many songs by a majority of the rapt audience. He garnered cheers each time he danced, perfectly puppet-like with a sly grin under his trademark fright wig and black eyeliner.
The group began the evening with an hour-and-a-half of music, highlighted by a number of tracks from the 1989 masterpiece “Disintegration,” including “Pictures of You,” “Closedown,” “Love Song” and the driving dance rhythms of “Fascination Street.” During the fan favorite “Push” (from 1985’s “The Head on the Door”) the band projected video shot from behind them, so that the crowd was featured on screen. Those tunes, along with pop gem “Just Like Heaven,” the eerie and beautiful “A Strange Day” and wistful “High” would have made for a fan’s dream set list. But there was more — much more.
After ending the first set with the mournful “Bloodflowers,” Smith and company quickly returned for what would be the first of four encores. He introduced the new song “It Can Never Be The Same,” which followed in the same plaintive tone before launching into “Want,” the manic “Shake Dog Shake,” and the rarity “Burn.”
A second encore highlighted by an extended take on “A Forest” was devoted entirely to the 1980 album “Seventeen Seconds.” Smith laughed as he introduced the songs as “so old the dinosaurs used to whistle to them.” Though they may be old, those songs as well as many others played this evening clearly stand the test of time. It’s a testament to the band and especially to Smith as a songwriter that bands to this day still try and sound like The Cure.
The third and fourth encores found the band in a playful mood as they offered up some of their most poppy material. Smith played through a minor guitar malfunction on “Hot Hot Hot!!!” to breeze right into “The Caterpillar” and dance floor favorite “The Walk.” “Lullaby,” with its pulsing bass line and hypnotic keyboards, led perfectly into the hyper-catchy combo of “Close To Me,” and “Why Can’t I Be You?” before the band ended the evening with one of their earliest and most famous singles, “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Setlist: The Cure, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, 06/05/16
- Out of this World
- Pictures of You
- Closedown
- High
- Love Song
- Just Like Heaven
- The Last Day of Summer
- Cold
- A Strange Day
- A Night Like This
- Push
- In Between Days
- Fascination Street
- The Hungry Ghost
- 39
- Bloodflowers
- Encore: It Can Never Be The Same
- Encore: Want
- Encore: Shake Dog Shake
- Encore: Burn
- Encore: At Night
- Encore: M
- Encore: Play for Today
- Encore: A Forest
- Encore: Hot Hot Hot!!!
- Encore: The Caterpillar
- Encore: The Walk
- Encore: Let’s Go To Bed
- Encore: Lullaby
- Encore: Close To Me
- Encore: Why Can’t I Be You?
- Encore: Boys Don’t Cry
