THE CURE: THE SHOW OF A LOST WORLD
THE CURE: THE SHOW OF A LOST WORLD
Directed by Nick Wickham
"This is the end of every song that we sing"
Those are the first words we hear sung out of legendary The Cure frontman Robert Smith's red painted lips. His trademark nest of unruly black hair and a face proudly showing his many many years under his belt, crooning to an intimate sold out crowd of about 3,000. Filmed last year as part of their new album, SONGS OF A LOST WORLD, their first since 2008(!), this epic 31 song marathon covers nearly everything you love from The Cure. If you're familiar with their live shows then this is like a warm blanket, time stops and for a few hours you're in their world.
The first set is the entire new album from start to finish, a dark heavy incredibly bleak collection of songs that somehow still make you feel like everything is going to be ok. From the opening shoegaze jam of "ALONE" to the soul crushing "I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE" (written after the death of Smith's brother, pretty sure you can see tears in his eyes during this part), it's many shades of black.
Captured in stunning 4K that never once veers into overtly crispy, there's still some texture to the picture. And director Nick Wickham keeps his camera movements simple and not too busy, with powerful closeups during key vital moments of songs. Seeing the bands face light up and chuckle when the audience starts cheering along to a synth line, or the handful of moments Robert Smith makes his goofy little faces. And oh yes, he dances. Of course he does!
The rest of the set is Classic Cure, giving us fan favorites like PLAINSONG and JUST LIKE HEAVEN, touching on decades of songs from one moment to the next. The rest of the band are seasoned pros with extra shout out to bass player Simon Gallup who doesn't stop bouncing around from end of the stage to the other.
Oasis is closing in just a few weeks and the weight has been starting to crush me. I'm not gonna lie, I cried for a good chunk of this concert. SONGS OF A LOST WORLD and it's companion film is a therapeutic experience for Cure fans, both new and old. By the time we get to the jump happy synth lines of THE WALK I had been reborn several times. 40+ years into their career and The Cure are more vital than ever. I DESPAIR
☆☆☆☆ out of 4
