The Cure, Edinburgh review: 'tailed off into doomy angst'
After a promising start, The Cure’s first Edinburgh show in more than two decades ran out of steam towards the end, writes Fiona Shepherd
The Cure, Royal Highland Showgrounds, Ingliston ★★★
The hottest ticket of this year's Edinburgh Summer Sessions were a band of ageing goths making their first appearance in the city since 1992. Yet The Cure boast cross-generational appeal with their stock only continuing to rise over the years. With the sun still setting as they took the stage, it was time to buckle up for one of their customary lengthy rides.
Frontman Robert Smith, cleaving admirably to the tousled clown look, surveyed the mammoth crowd with the hint of a smile as his comrades launched beatifically into the shimmering synth rock of Plainsong and the mid-paced yearning of Pictures of You. The samey soundscape was interrupted by the first gem of the set, Lovesong, an understated study in brooding adoration.
Burn, an unexpected choice, written for the soundtrack of 1994 film The Crow, stoked some fire in the collective belly, with sustained tribal drums, Reeves Gabrels’ stormy guitar and Smith on double recorder. There was an outpouring of glee to the more conventional pop nugget In Between Days, then it was straight into the complementary Just Like Heaven, before Smith signalled a change of pace for a rare airing of Trust, an early 90s album track which is musically measured but a desperate work of devotion all the same.
Another deep cut, A Night Like This, provided one of the highlights of the set, thanks to a cathartic saxophone break from Gabriel Cooper, teenage son of drummer Jason Cooper. Play For Today dovetailed smoothly into gothic blockbuster A Forest, which concluded with Simon Gallup sawing away at his bass guitar. The main set then tailed off into doomy angst and an underwhelming finale before the extended encore mopped up the biggest hits and early pearls, from the fidgety Close to Me to high-kicking Why Can’t I Be You?, the chiming Boys Don’t Cry to the buzzsaw funk of The Walk.
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