The Cure Summer Tour 2012

Lore & Background

The 2012 Summer Tour emerged as a fan-centric celebration, with Robert Smith promising and delivering unusually long shows. The setlists were carefully curated to include songs rarely performed live, such as 'The Funeral Party,' alongside staples like 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Boys Don't Cry.' This approach reflected the band's desire to reward their dedicated audience with a unique experience each night. The tour did not coincide with the release of any album; the 'Bestival Live 2011' album had been released in December 2011, before the tour began.

In Their Own Story

The humid July night clung to the crowd like a second skin as the first crystalline notes of 'Plainsong' drifted from the stage, shivering through the haze of smoke and the glow of a thousand phone lights. For three hours, the setlist twisted through decades like a fever dream—'The Figurehead' with its raw, bleeding anguish, then the giddy sugar-rush of 'Friday I'm in Love'—a whiplash only The Cure could make feel inevitable. When '10:15 Saturday Night' closed the encore, the crowd didn't cheer; they just stood there, unwilling to break the silence, as if the night itself had been borrowed from some darker, more beautiful world.

Reader's Guide

The tour kicked off in early June in North America, with dates spanning the US and Canada. Setlists evolved nightly, like a living organism—the band often swapped out the gothic thrum of 'The Hanging Garden' for the aching tenderness of 'A Night Like This,' keeping even diehards on their toes. Venues ranged from the Hollywood Bowl's starlit grandeur to intimate sheds where the sweat from the stage mixed with the rain. Memorable moments included a rare, snarling performance of 'The Top' in New York—its first airing in over two decades—and a three-hour marathon in Chicago that crammed in 30 songs, including a dusted-off 'The Drowning Man' that made grown fans weep. The European leg in late summer saw similar devotion, with fans crossing borders like pilgrims, trading bootlegs and stories of the night before. No major controversies marred the tour, though some fans grumbled about the absence of 'Lovecats' in favor of rarities—a debate that only proved how spoiled they were.

Did You Know?

• The first live performance of 'The Drowning Man' since 1984 occurred at Bestival 2011, not on this tour.
• Robert Smith often used a teleprompter for lyrics due to the vast number of songs performed.
• The tour was supported by a rotating cast of opening acts, including The Big Pink and The Joy Formidable.