It`s been twenty-seven years since the Cure last played in Glasgow so it`s not surprising to see a crowd of over sixty thousand gathered in a muddy field on a cold and drizzly Friday evening in the southside of the city. I had been to Bellahouston once before in 2005 when Coldplay played there with Supergrass. It was a surprise for my then girlfriend now wife and I have to say although I wasn`t looking forward to it, they were both very good. Tonight, was part of the Glasgow Summer Sessions, the first of three nights of shows, held annually since 2013.
At about eight thirty the pa falls silent and the band appear on stage and unravel the show with the perfect opener `Plainsong`, a shower of synths and guitar and Smith`s laconic vocals on top. My favourite track ` Pictures Of You` follows along with ` High`, ` A Night Like This`, ` Just One Kiss` with it`s wonderful drumming from Jason Cooper and `Lovesong`
Reeves Gabrels guitar playing on `Burn`, a track from the film `The Crow`s soundtrack was stunning with Mr Smith opening the track on recorder. The show progresses with songs culled from their forty-year career with `Push` a real highlight for me and ` In Between Days` my wife`s favourite. There were curved balls along the way with ` From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea` before the set closed out with some older tracks including `Play For Today` , `A Forest` and `Primary` before the closing epic ` Disintegration` The charismatic front man gave the ecstatic crowd the thumbs up a respectful bow of his head and then was gone.
It wasn`t long before the guys were cheered back on stage and this really was where the fun started with over thirty minutes of a very danceable greatest hits set. `Lullaby`, `The Caterpillar`, `The Walk`, `Friday I`m In Love` on a Friday, the wonderful `Close To Me`, `Why Can`t I Be You? ` and `Boys Don`t Cry`. What`s not to like? Robert Smith is never the most talkative frontman but shares that he has been coming up to Scotland a few times a decade but just not to sing and promises that the band will return. He did indeed seem genuinely moved by the warmth of the welcome he received for this two-hour plus set. I hadn`t seen the Cure since the early eighties and I have to say it was as good as it was then, only with a bigger light show and I was much further away. The band rarely play the UK these days unless it`s a Teenage Cancer event at The Royal Albert Hall so if you want to see them, you have to travel, and Glasgow was the nearest of most of the shows they had planned. Mr Smith vowed he`d return to Glasgow and if he does and you could obtain a ticket, I’d encourage you to attend. An outstanding night.
