The Cure Brings Timeless Classics to First North American Tour Performance: Video + Setlist

The Cure began their North American tour with a show at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana with a set list full of timeless classics such as 'Just Like Heaven', 'Alone', And Nothing Is Forever, as well as 'A Thousand Hours' and 'Different Ways', the latter being played for the first time in 27 years.

The band, led by Robert Smith, performed a 29 song set list at the concert, which will be the first of over 30 tour dates on their first North American tour in 8 years, supported by the indie act The Twilight Sad.

While the tour's ticketing was a significant debacle, some tickets are still available at https://www.ticketmaster.com/the-cure-tickets/artist/915776. Tickets are priced at $35 and above.

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The Cure performs A Thousand Hours for the first time in 28 years

The highlight of the The Cure's first tour performance was undoubtedly the first ever performance of the songs 'A Thousand Hours' from the album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss, and 'Six Different Ways' from The Head on the Door.

A Thousand Hours is a calm melodic song set to the dulcet tones of keyboard and piano which hints at the evolution of the band's sound from their early days to their more mature sound in the following albums. The song is a lament of the narrator's lost love and the pain of it.

'Six Different Ways' is a song that traces its influence to the late David Bowie's 80s era disco-pop, with a piano tune that was previously used by Robert Smith Siouxsie and the Banshees's song 'Swimming Horses.'

The full set list for the concert is given below:

• Alone
• Pictures of You
• A Night Like This
• Lovesong
• And Nothing Is Forever
• The Last Day of Summer
• A Fragile Thing
• Cold
• Burn
• Fascination Street
• Push
• Play for Today
• Shake Dog Shake
• From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
• Endsong

Encore:

• I Can Never Say Goodbye
• Want
• A Thousand Hours (First time live since 1987)
• At Night
• A Forest

Encore #2:

• Lullaby
• Six Different Ways (first performance since 1987)
• The Walk
• Friday I’m in Love
• Doing the Unstuck
• Close to Me
• In Between Days
• Just Like Heaven
• Boys Don’t Cry

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More about The Cure and their music

The Cure is considered to be one of the foundational acts of the goth-rock genre, with their lyrics often being dark and filled with literary despair, such as with the 1981 album, Faith, and its title track.

However, The Cure's lead singer has often rejected the categorization of the band, stating in an interview with Reuters Copenhagen that he found the type-casting of the band to be "pitiful":

"It's so pitiful when 'goth' is still tagged onto the name The Cure. We're not categorisable. I suppose we were post-punk when we came out, but in total it's impossible. How can you describe a band that put out an album like Pornography and also Greatest Hits where every single song was top 10 around the world? I just play Cure music, whatever that is."

The band has been the inspiration for a number of bands, including Interpol and The Smashing Pumpkins. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, five years after their first nomination in 2012. The Cure has sold more than 30 million album copies worldwide in their more than 20 years of being a music band.