The Cure Do Indeed Know the Way to San Jose
During their recent stop at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, the veteran .alt-rockers pulled over three hours of material from their catalog that now spans three decades and ranges from self-loathing, anxious intensity to blissful, starry-eyed pop infection.
Watching them perform both hits and fan favorites from beside the stage, I was reminded of seeing them 3,000 miles away, at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1992. It was amazing how reminiscent the setlist was of what I remember of that show from 16 years ago. Heavy doses of tunes from Disintegration and Wish were spread among classics throughout the engaging and finely-tuned set.
In terms of technical prowess, The Cure were at the top of their game Wednesday night. Robert’s voice hardly cracked at all as he stretched out the whole notes at higher registers than most people could ever hope to sing in, Jason’s drumming was steady minus one barely noticeable hiccup toward the end of the main set, Simon’s bass playing was as rhythmic and punchy as ever and Porl proved yet again why he has such a reputation as such a great guitar player.
His skills shone through the most during a Wish track that Robert Smith pointed out that they haven’t played live in a long time, Doing the Unstuck. Just as in The Cure’s live film Show, Porl’s guitar solo on the song borders on the unbelievable.
I recall around the earlier 90s, how people would refer to The Cure’s material at the time as “the newer stuff,” which seems so strange in retrospect. When one looks at the thirty year history of The Cure, it seems like the most natural split between “new Cure” and “old Cure” would fall immediately after the Wish tour that supported the album of the same name.
Since the end of the Wish Tour, The Cure has settled into something of a pattern, releasing a full length album of new material every four years, and finding an audience and critics who question the legitimacy of The Cure’s extended career. The new material is always held up to the mirror of best of The Cure’s fabled past.
A few years back Robert Smith decided to shake up the lineup that was The Cure from the mid-90s to the mid 2000s and welcomed Porl Thompson back into the fold, who had departed following the successful Wish Tour. Porl’s return has been welcome among fans, who have felt that The Cure’s efforts since his departure had been noticeably missing his lush and textured guitar parts. Porl was admittedly a lot of fun to watch strut around stage in his high heels and outfit that would have fit in well were he a member of Marilyn Manson. Since he’s been back in the band Porl’s stage person has evolved to the point of perhaps even surpassing Robert Smith’s notorious appearance in its ability to turn heads.
Somehow the material that’s emerged thus far from the upcoming album gives the impression of having a renewed vitality and relevance, an impression which was strengthened by the fact that the newest material played Wednesday night mostly held up to the large number of classics on display. Besides, hearing unreleased material is always a highlight for a lot of fans at a live show regardless of critical opinion of said songs.
Highlights of the evening included the blisteringly intense closer Killing an Arab, the energy that always takes over the crowd during Just Like Heaven, and hearing fresh versions of old tracks now performed with guitar lines where there once synths.
One thing that distracted me a bit was the fact that some songs still had synth lines being played even though there was no keyboard present on stage. A small matter indeed, if not a little disheartening to think of The Cure using backing tracks. I recall The Cure performing Never Enough at the 1991 Brit Awards and famously being the only performers to not use any backing tracks.
Ah, why lament? Probably best to appreciate that The Cure can still put on as strong a show as they do after thirty years.
Unsung Media 