Plainsong, Labyrinth, Fascination Street, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, A Strange Day, The End of the
World, Lovesong, Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, Pictures of You, Lullaby, Before Three, M, alt.end, One
Hundred Years, Never, The Promise

Encore: Play for Today, A Forest (short version), Boys Don't Cry.

(Thanks to Alex Meehan, Andreas and u-a-b-f for the setlist)
 

Seeing The Cure in Ireland for the first time since 1996 was always going to be strange, seeing them in front off
40,000 people headlining our major festival was going to be even stranger! Us Cure fans living in Ireland have had
to be content with trips to England sometimes even further to satisfy our thirst for seeing The Cure live so you can
imagine that this was an unexpected treat.

It was a very long day leading up to The Cure, there were some fine acts such as the Divine Comedy and The
Strokes and indeed their king words about The Cure did bring a warm glow, however you just wanted the day to
quicken up so that Robert and the boys could do their stuff!

By 11.30 I had made it to the very front and Robert had made his entrance. I was delighted that they started with
Plainsong. Its just the perfect opening track for any Cure gig. Robert was his usual enigmatic self and the slow
wander at the front of the stage was sheer bliss. I don't know what kind of set I was expecting although I knew the
new album would be heavily represented. I have to say the new album sounds absolutely fantastic live. I really
cannot find any fault and the tracks chosen sounded so perfect in the open air. The dip into the back catalogue and
the likes of the hundred years and a strange day being performed did surprise me. I think they're both amazing
live completely atmospheric.

Much has been said of the set some feel it was too 'obscure' for the audience. There maybe truth in this however
the band should not be criticised for their performance because it was one of the best. Okay one could argue that
this was a mixed audience not made up exclusively of Cure fans, perhaps a 'greatest hits' set with a chirpy Robert
may have placated some, but the fact remains that they put on a superb show. The band performed great and they
looked great.

I hope The Cure do come back to our shores. I would love to see them play two nights in The Olympia in Dublin
as opposed to the warehouse that is The Point Depot!

Thanks again guys for a wonderful evening.

- Justin Sinnott
 
 

Nice to see the band back in Ireland again. I had to go to London to catch the Dream Tour (what a night!) and I
missed the Hyde Park gig in 2002 because one of my deeply inconsiderate friends got married that day. I haven’t
been to a festival in 20-some years, but we were well-prepared with fleeces, windcheaters and folding chairs. A lot
of the youngies at the gig were looking indulgently at the two middle-aged blokes hunkered down behind the sound
desk - until the sun went down and it got really cold. Then they started looking at us enviously ...

11.20 start for the Cure. Wonderful swirling version of Plainsong, with near-perfect sound from the outset. One
thing about the humid Irish climate – it does make for lovely sound at outdoor gigs. I was surprised at the number
of people who were watching the Cure, seeing as the Chemical Brothers and Massive Attack were both on other
stages at the same time. I was also a little surprised at the very strong reaction to some of the older material,
seeing as most of the audience would still have been in nappies/diapers when Disintegration was released. A very
pleasing 5 songs from Disintegration, including a marvellously tongue-in-cheek performance of Lullaby.

I saw a review in the Irish Times in which some pimply scut was complaining that Robert didn’t engage with the
audience much – no asshole, he ripped through the set with barely enough time for Jason to count out the beat on
his drumsticks in between songs, so as to cram more tracks in. What would this dolt have preferred? “It’s great
to back in Dublin (actually we were in Kildare) You’re the best crowd in the whoooole wide world”? Clown! Go
back to Britney and Justin where you’ll feel more loved.

Interesting set - only a couple of obvious crowd-pleasers - but what really struck me was how tight the boys were
and how much they were obviously enjoying it. Roger’s head was thumping in time with the music for the whole
gig and I have never seen him look so engaged. Jason has just got better and better. I first saw him in Dublin in
96 at the abysmally attended Swing Tour gig (which some rocket scientist had scheduled for the night before the
commencement of all public examinations in Ireland) and he seemed hesitant and tentative filling Boris’ chair.
There was no sense of that in 2000 in Wembley and he was very much in the driver’s seat with Simon on this cold
night in county Kildare.

Plainsong - such a great opener. Perry and Simon were great.
Labyrinth - was good, building well to a strong climax and setting the tone for the new material. I like this track –
it reminds me a little of Snakepit.
Fascination Street - was excellently rendered: throbbing and relentless with the sound washing over us in waves.
EOTDGS was stunning. This has always been a little disappointing against the album version for me, but they
absolutely clicked on Saturday and Robert’s voice was very powerful.
Strange Day - great to hear it, cool, clear and crisp.
EOTW - Better live than on the album, but for me, not exactly one of Robert’s masterpieces.
Lovesong - beautifully done with lovely rolling variations on the vocal by Robert
In Between Days - nice to see the youngies in the crowd enjoying the music from the Fiat ad
Just Like Heaven - sublime version, best I’ve ever heard. The perfect pop song and lovely to see the band still
enjoying the energy of the crowd when they play it after all these years.
Pictures of You - tight, tight version. Great counterpoint between Robert and Perry on the guitars. This was the
only track in which I noticed Roger’s keyboards as being wrong in the mix.
Lullaby - Great to hear it live again. God, Robert really enjoys hamming it up ...
Before Three - lovely live, with Perry really on the money with the lead. This one has a feel of the HOTD album
for me and somehow brings me back even though it’s new...
M - fabulous. They did this acoustically in Ireland in 1989, but this was even better.
alt.end - even better than I had hoped for live.
Never - showed the Strokes a thing or two about angry, jangly, guitar-based rock.
100 Years - Big. Intense. Simon going completely berserk.
The Promise - Wow! Great song. Great live. Fabulously delivered. Could only have been improved if they
immediately segued into The Kiss at the end.

Unfortunately, the bus-drivers who were taking the day-trippers back to Dublin put their feet down at this point
and we got a very abbreviated encore. Robert joked about having to cut off the “second half” of the set. Kidding
aside, I would say we would have got a couple of much longer encores as the band were so obviously enjoying
themselves, but c’est la vie.

Play For Today - the band showing just how tight they can be. Marvellous clean version.
Short Forest - still nice to hear it. I will always prefer the full-on version, but Robert was certainly giving it his all
on guitar.
Boys Don’t Cry - flat-out fabulous.

I got the feeling that the crowd was slightly bewildered apart from the poppy recognisable stuff, but still gave a
good response which the band fed off. Pity the day ran long and the Cure had to cut it short. Did anyone see the
official setlist from the stage to see what they intended to play? I would love to have heard Charlotte Sometimes
(that slightly slower tempo version from the Zillo festival in 2002 was extraordinary), Going Nowhere, Trust
(always!), Same Deep Water, and maybe something from Bloodflowers.

Great great night.

- Rowan
 
 

This was without doubt the worst crowd I have ever had the misfortune to experience at a Cure show. It was of
course the first time (and the last!) I had seen The Cure in Ireland, and granted, their first appearence there in
almost 10 years, but its no excuse. The Cure gave their all for this concert but I don't know if it was appreciated
or not. There was just no movement at all...
After standing through sets by the woeful Kings of Leon and a much better Strokes while enduring ignortant
comments like "oh look at those people, they must have just come for The Cure haha"  the band came onstage
late as usual, about 11.35pm. They must have been pretty cold as Roger was wearing a rather suave black leather
jacket while Robert was wearing a hoody over his familiar black shirt! I was hoping for a Lost opener but as
Robert immediately walked over to the left of the stage we knew it was to be Plainsong. There was an enthusiastic
response by the fourty-odd thousand crowd as Robert wandered slowly across the lip of the stage, occasionally
stopping to look into the crowd. I say enthusiastic, half of the crowd looked as bemused as Robert...Labyrinth
was up next, complete with Roberts first lyrical cock-ups of the night, wether it detracted from the perfomance i'm
not sure but maybe he should revise the words to the new songs before Curiosa! It was no surpise to hear
Fascination Street next, a staple of the tour(s) so far, it was performed well, however it was at this point I started
worrying about the static, lifeless crowd. As you can imagine I was then horrified to notice the crowd staying static
during the openiong of FTEOTDGS, so powerful live and such a good song to jump around and dance too, I noticed
the sound quality was much better than the previous night in Manchester, louder and cleaer, and the guys had
really hit their stride by this song. A Strange Day was nice to hear, yet its still played too slow these days, its a
song that loses its edge live, rather like Charlotte Sometimes does. End of the World was next and is fast turning
into a live favourite of mine, I never tire of hearing it, similarly with Before Three...despite more lyrical
improvisation from Robert, had he drunk too much on the Ferry over here?! The next 5 songs were for the casual
fans who's Cure knowledge does not extend beyond the Greatest Hits cd. I have no problem hearing these songs
live, infact I really enjoy the pop side of The Cure, but again the crowd remained unmoved by the whole thing.
Must have been disheartening for the band. At this point of the concert I knew that the crowd was not going to be
bought to life. Lullaby, with the extra extended mix sounds, got the biggest cheer. It was cool to get Perrys
attention after this song and he gave a wave over to us.

M was the biggest surprise of the main set, I don't recall this being played aside from encores for a good few
years, after this song Robert said something about the next song being similar yet more up to date (obviously
referring to the similarities between the next song and In Your House) before going into Alt.End which has become
my favourite of the new songs live. Great to hear it again although they might aswell have been playing Same
Deep Water judging by the crowds reactions to it.  Not even 100 Years and Never shook them out of their coma,
both were fantastic. It seems Never is a song you either love or hate but I defy anyone not to enjoy hearing it live!
What with the band coming on stage late and considering we had heard it last night I was slightly disappointed to be
getting another Promise, however once it gets going its a song you can only stand back and admire. It is already a
Cure classic in my opinion, the best way to finish the main set (bar End and Pornography!)

The Cure could have been forgiven by fucking off back to their hotel by this point, however they came out for just
one encore due to the time Curfew. Play For Today had a few of us drowning out the keyboards and A Forest a few
of us clapping along to the final bass. Boys Don't Cry finally provoked an ecstatic reaction from the Irish crowd but
it was too little, too late...the concert was over.

So a good performance by the band, sound was perfectly clear and precise, afterall, they had praticed this setlist
the night before in Manchester too. Despite the positives that came from this performance, this is without doubt
my least favourite Cure concert of them all...bitterly disappointed by the dullest crowd you could ever imagine. I
hope I never have to experience this at a future Cure concert. No wonder the Irish don't get any Cure dates!
Shame. The European tour in the winter should be much more fun :)

- Tom (Cureboy)
 
 

I've been a fan for over eight years and Oxegen marks the first time that i've seen them perform live. After a
horrible day of god awful bands, rain and not being able to locate friends, i fought my way to 3rd row, directly in
front of where Robert would be standing.
The band recieved a surprisingly loud and enthusiastic welcome as they walked on stage to begin Plainsong.
Overall the band played remarkably well, blowing away the repetitive Strokes with great ease. Highlight of the
night was the greatest live version of 100 Years i've ever heard and my all-time favourite, In Between Days. Of
the new songs, Before 3 sounded dead and maybe should be dropped from the set, Labyrinth and The Promise
were amazing, the latter getting the loudest response of the night. Arguably the star of the night was Simon, who
ripped through 100 years and A Forest, brilliant!
My first time seeing the Cure was not a disappointment.....here's to another 100 years..

- Paul J.
 
 

The Cure headlined a day which included excellent performances from Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, and PJ
Harvey. The Strokes were on the Main stage just before The Cure and while they were mildly entertaining, they
grew tiresome as their set progressed but that was probably due of my impatience waiting for our boys to take the
stage.  Their lead singer kept saying how privileged they were to be sharing the stage with The Cure and how cool
it was going to be to see them (Kings of Leon said the same !). He also said he was glad they weren’t playing after
them because they would be such a hard act to follow and he would find the pressure very hard.

So at 11.20pm approx The Cure finally took the stage starting with Plainsong, majestic as ever, as swathes of
keyboards rolled out over the massed crowd. It was a beautiful opening as Robert did his stage stroll from left to
right smiling and gesticulating at the crowd…he was pulling some very strange faces and doing feline like
impressions stage left which was quite funny. I wondered would we see a new song next and was proved right as the
opening strains of Labyrinth echoed from the guitars. I’m not a great fan of this song but it sounded better live than
on the album. Next up was Fascination street which was nice and punchy as Simons bass growled through the notes
and the band started to look relaxed. The 12 string was then picked up by Robert for a blistering Edge of the deep
green sea. While it was mostly a Non Cure audience, I think they began to appreciate the musicianship and song
writing ability of the band. EOTDGS sounded beautiful. A nice surprise then as the opening keyboard notes of A
Strange Day started. It was good to hear this again as it’s a while since I’ve heard it live. EOTW was nice and
jaunty and got a bit of a cheer. It was nice to see a lot of teenagers walking around in freshly purchased (at ˆ25
each) teeshirts, maybe it was them cheering. A couple of singles next, played with vigour and greeted to loud
cheers as the non Cure fans finally recognised something. Then came Before 3 which I thought was awful…It was
barely recognisable and it took about 30 secs before I even knew what it was. I was wondering were we being
treated to something very rare that they hadn’t played before until I finally recognised it when Robert started
singing. Alt.End was excellent…a really nice version but then this is one of my favourites of the new album. It was
followed perfectly by M and the two songs fit very well together. Never, despite my initial reservations about it on
the album sounded really good live and full of passion.  Next up was the highlight of the gig for me, a blistering
version of 100 years, so full of angst, the band were all really into it and seemed to be hitting their stride just as it
was drawing close to the inevitable end of the gig. They finished the main set with The Promise which was good but
is not as good as the praise it’s getting on these boards I feel. They have done this type of song so much better
before (End, Fight, Watching me Fall). Nonetheless, it was quite powerful, but I think some of the non believers
started to drift at this stage. The band came back for a quick encore with Robert saying “ I was told we don’t have
much time left , so bang goes the second half of the set” which was funny. If only they had been able to play for
another hour or so, that would have been amazing.

They finished off with an excellent version of Play for Today, a shortened version of A forest (which got a big
cheer) and Boys Don’t Cry, which inevitably, got the biggest cheer of the night. I think the non fans were probably
disappointed not to hear those regular student disco favourites, Lovecats and Close to me but still probably left
with an admiration and new found respect for The Cure.

It was my ninth time seeing them and I would rate it very high for performance and especially for the fact that
Robert didn’t succumb to pressure to play a greatest hits show. Its 8 years since The Cure played Ireland and he
could easily have felt it would be easier to just play the hits to an audience, a lot of whom knew very little about
the band or their back catalogue. At the end he said “See you soon” which is kinda hopeful on my part but it would
be great to see them again on their own on the European leg of the tour later in the year

A friend of mine met Robert backstage (he won a competition on the local radio). I asked him to ask “why do you
never play Give me it anymore”  (it’s one of my favourite Cure songs and I have never heard it live). Robert
replied “When Porl left we had no one to play sax and it sounds crap without sax”

Apparently some of Roberts’s family arrived with him on the ferry to Ireland so I guess they’re holidaying here
for a week or so, before the band head off to Spain. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled and hopefully will have some
Curespottings for you !!!

- Keith Redmond
 
 

Just thought I'd write to gloat! A friend and I got to meet Robert about 10 minutes before they went on stage
(Today FM Pet Sounds competition to meet him). Apparently the band had arrived earlier in the day but the ferry
that Robert (and "15" of his family and friends) were on from the UK was delayed by bad weather. This is why
they were late on stage and the reason for the "bang goes the second half of the set" comment by Robert during
the gig - they only went on stage at 11.15 and there was a curfew.
I have dreamt of meeting Robert since I was 16 (literally!) and I am glad to say, the "never meet your heros"
saying is bullshit - he was really friendly, answered all our questions (eg. will you play Drowning Man? "depends
on the audience reaction really", why dont you play Give Me It? "cause after Porl left it didn't sound any good
without the sax" etc) and didn't mind photos being taken.

Anyway.. he made it to the stage before we made it to the audience to enjoy a brilliant gig. This is my fifth time to
see them and I was hoping for a few oldies and less of the greatest hits.. as you can see from the reviews - a great
mix of songs. The new material sounded fantastic and they were most animated I've ever seen them on stage
(exept for Robert maybe).

All I need now is Robert to love the CD I gave him of my band and for him to invite us to play on the Curiousa
line-up! Still dreaming..

- Jeff Murphy
 
 

I won a radio competition in Ireland to meet Robert Smith back stage before the show on July 10. Band were late
getting to venue as their ferry was delayed. As a result meeting with Robert was short, and he had to rush off to
go on stage. Got a photo with him and a quick chat. A great moment. The band played a great show after.

- Dave
 
 

One of the best cure gigs that I have ever seen .  Have seen the cure in concert since the prayer tour  and this is
the first time at an out door gig .  The whole atmosphere really suits  there songs .   Anyway  I though they played
a blistering set, especially  ' a forest  and' from the edge of a deep green sea '.

Over all it was an excellent set , Cure fan or no Cure fan everybody walked away happy .

Lead singer from the Strokes just kept praising the Cure and said how he couldn't wait to see them ( him and
45,000 other people) .   Robert did mention at the end how they hoped to be back soon .  So it looks good for the
future .

- Ray .C
 
 

I've finally recovered enough to give a quick review from the oxegen festival in Ireland last night. This was my
seventh time to see the Cure live and my second outdoor venue viewing of the band. Ive always thought that the
Cure are much more powerful when playing indoor venues with their own touring production team and lights etc.
This concert however confirmed for me that the Cure are without a doubt the best live band there is either indoor
or out. The only disappointment for me was the band opening with Plainsong. Not that theres anything wrong with
Plainsong but I was so looking forward to hearing Lost as the opener. Without going through a track by track
review I got an overall impression that the guys were received very well by an eager and intrested audience.
There was a brilliant set list mix with Labyrinth and The Promise the highlights from the new recording (The
Promise is fucking excellent live). They played songs from Disintegration,Wish,Pornography,HOTD, Seventeen
Seconds and The Top which included the crowd pleasers In Between Days, Just Like Heaven and Boys Dont Cry.
My own personal highlight from the show was hearing M played live for the first time. WHAT A CLASSIC.
Overall an excellent concert from a line up that seems to get better and better at producing solid performances.
They all looked so relaxed and you could feel that they were enjoying themselves.I look forward to seeing them
later on in the year somewhere in Europe. Im sure I will hear Lost then.

- Mike B.
 
 

Just a quick note about Oxegen before I head to bed. It's three thirty in the morning, and I've just gotten back
from Oxegen - easily one of the best Cure concerts I've been to. The last time The Cure played Dublin in 1996, a
pitiful 4,000 turned out at the Point Depot - tonight, easily 40,000 people stayed around after The Strokes to watch
The Cure headline. All the other headline acts finished at 12.30 so loads more people arrived out to watch the end
of The Cure's set. Robert looked and sounded fantastic - he looks like he has lost weight. In fact, they all look
great and this was a very different band to the guys I saw at Hyde Park a few years ago - they were much more
animated, much more dancing and guiter heroics going on - it looked great and was much more engaging to watch.

The stage set up was great and despite the huge crowd we were able to get with in 10 metres of the stage without
being squashed. The guys came on at around 11.20 in the pitch dark - so the lights looked great. The set was really
excellent - in particular Labyrinth and Before 3 sounded excellent live - much better than on the album. Overall,
the keys sounded a little low in the mix, but this seemed to improve as the night went on. Other notable stuff
included Roger getting seriously caught out by the sudden start to A Forest, and not managing to get back to his
keyboard in time to get the keys going : ) Robert also fluffed his lines a few times - most notably in alt.end most of
which he ad libbed! I've been to seven Cure gigs and this was easily one of the best.

- Alex Meehan