Earlier this year, goth rock icons the Cure announced a 40th anniversary concert in London’s Hyde Park, billed as their only European show of 2018. The second part turned out not quite true—frontman Robert Smith curated the lineup and performed with members of the Cure at Meltdown Festival, also in London, last month. But it’s hard to complain about seeing too much of a band known for playing two-hour-plus headlining shows, and as Rolling Stone reports, the 40th anniversary concert this past Saturday (July 7) featured a 19-song set followed by a 10-song encore, modest only by Cure standards.
“Forty years ago this weekend, it was the first time we played as the Cure,” Smith said, introducing “Boys Don’t Cry” midway through the encore set. “If you had asked me then—if any of you had been alive, some of you–what d’you think you’ll be doing in 40 years, I think I would’ve been wrong with my answer. But thanks to everyone around me, I’m still here—and to you as well, thank you very much.”
Back in April, Smith hinted the Cure were returning to the studio. “It’s the 40th anniversary of the first album in 2019,” he said at the time. “I thought, if I don’t have something out new that year, that’s it for me.” Enjoy a taste of this Saturday’s concert with fan-shot video of “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Jumping Someone Else’s Train,” and “Grinding Halt” from the encore, as well as footage of the entire two-hour-plus concert, below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hCwSL-AFWfA
