The Cure – 3Arena – Live Review – 1/12/22
by Killian Laher

The return of The Cure to Ireland after 3 years meant the sold-out signs went up some time ago for the 3Arena.  What you were met with on entering the venue were the sounds of pouring rain and thunder, evoking The Cure’s classic Disintegration album.  Those who arrived early were treated to Scottish support band The Twilight Sad who played a heavy, rocking set.  Opening with Kill It In The Morning, singer James Graham bellowed at the lyrics over the pounding music.  Songs like There’s A Girl In The Corner and a malevolent version of I/m Not Here were well received.  A heartfelt version of Frightened Rabbit’s Keep Yourself Warm featured fine drumming from former FR drummer Grant Hutchison before rounding off an intense support set with [10 Good Reasons for Modern Drugs].  The band is sounding as good now as they’ve ever sounded.

The Cure started with the as yet unreleased Alone before belting out Pictures of You and A Night Like This which made for a strong start to the night.  Playing songs from right across their back catalogue, highlights included Last Day of Summer, A Strange Day and a rocked-up At Night.  Robert Smith’s between song babble was largely unintelligible but this, and the at times muddy sound didn’t spoil the atmosphere.  The excitement ratcheted up with the glorious moan of The Hanging Garden, while Push saw the first outbreak of mass clapping in the audience.  The set was interspersed with newer songs like And Nothing Is Forever and A Fragile Thing alongside Cure classics Lovesong and Play for Today.

Their first encore started with I Can Never Say Goodbye which has the makings of an old-school Cure downer.  Like the rest of the new material, it started with a long instrumental build-up before Smith started to sing.  After a grinding version of Cold, Charlotte Sometimes and A Forest showed how The Cure are musically still at the top of their game.  Lullaby kicked off the second encore and had everybody dancing around before the obligatory Friday I’m In Love, Just Like Heaven and Boys Don’t Cry.  Playing for practically two and three-quarter hours with the briefest of breaks, the band certainly gave value for money.  While most of the audience was mainly here for the 80s classics, the new material showed there’s still plenty of life left in The Cure.

Setlist:

Alone
Pictures of You
A Night Like This
Lovesong
And Nothing Is Forever
The Last Day of Summer
Want
A Fragile Thing
Burn
At Night
A Strange Day
The Hanging Garden
Push
Play for Today
Shake Dog Shake
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Endsong

Encore:
I Can Never Say Goodbye
Cold
Charlotte Sometimes
A Forest

Encore 2:
Lullaby
The Walk
Friday I’m in Love
Close to Me
In Between Days
Just Like Heaven
Boys Don’t Cry