Back in February, The Cure announced ambitious plans for 2014, including the release of a new album — the companion to 2008′s 4:13 Dream — as well as a third round of “Trilogy” shows worldwide, which would find the band performing The Top, The Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
As Robert Smith first teased last summer, The Cure will return to South America for the first time in 17 years this April, mounting its first-ever large-scale tour of the continent, performing seven concerts in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Colombia — followed by a one-off show in Mexico City to end the trek.
The Cure’s set at Spain’s Bilbao BBK Live got off to a rocky start tonight — but was all the more memorable for it. As the band’s crew worked on keyboard problems, Robert Smith took the stage by himself and treated the crowd to a rare solo-acoustic set , performing “Three Imaginary Boys,” “Fire in Cairo” and “Boys Don’t Cry.”
The Cure tonight played the first of at least 19 European festival dates on the books this summer, and Robert Smith had a little secret to reveal at Holland’s famed Pinkpop Festival: new guitarist Reeves Gabrels, a former David Bowie collaborator who previously recorded with Smith in the late ’90s.
The Cure this morning confirmed headlining slots at three European festival performances this summer — Hultsfred Festival in Sweden and Hurricane and Southside festivals, both in Germany over the same weekend — with a promise of ‘lots more to come,’ according to the band’s official site.
The Cure won’t be going back into hibernation following last year’s sudden burst of activity, as Robert Smith tonight announced on the band’s website that, ‘The Cure will be headlining a series of major European music festivals this summer.’ The first 3 will be announced Monday.
The Cure will release a 2CD live recording next month of its full, 32-song set at the U.K.’s Bestival this past September, marking the first official live album from Robert Smith and Co. since 1993’s back-to-back ‘Show’ and ‘Paris’ releases recorded during the ‘Wish’ tour — and the first time ever the band has released a complete concert on disc.
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