The Cure @ Sydney Opera House(31/5/11)

Fri 3rd Jun, 2011 in Gig Reviews

In terms of concerts surrounded by hype, most bands generally fail to live up to it. Occasionally, they are able to match it, but very rarely are they able to excel it. For a band as lauded as The Cure; outperforming their already established reputation as one of the world’s most influential and admired live acts is a rather intimidating task, however, from the opening notes of 10:15 Saturday Night to the rapturous applause following their closing song, The Lovecats, the Cure were able to do just this. The ‘Reflections’ performance was focused on, as its title suggests, reflecting on the early albums of the band; Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds and Faith. Though, it wasn’t as much a reflection for the band as it was for the audience.

This wasn’t a show for fans who enjoy the occasional single by the band, nor was the venue occupied by punters eager to check out the band in a live setting; the much sought after tickets had been acquired by those who were truly ‘fans’ of The Cure and the show was the bands love letter to the fans who’s support since these early albums has lead to the Cure’s extensive success and wide appeal, allowing the band to put on such ambitious shows in the first place.

The first portion of the show showcased the band’s first album Three Imaginary Boys. The Cure returned to their embryonic stage, reliving the start of one of the most varied and explorative musical careers. Between fan favourites and album highlights So What, Grinding Halt and Fire in Cairo the audience had little time to sit down with the majority of the venue, specifically the stalls, reliving their past. From watching the audience throughout the Three Imaginary Boys set, it’s hard to believe any of them really felt like they were standing in the Opera House but a small venue back in the late 70s.

While Robert Smith added his own commentary to songs throughout the set, in an often humorous fashion – “I never really liked that one very much” – the band’s bassist, Simon Gallup brought a youth like charisma to the stage. Despite being over 50, the band members managed to recreate the energy of a young punk band starting their lengthy career. Hunched over his instrument with a sense of cool, Gallup’s performance throughout the night continued to be one that was instrumental in helping the band’s recreation of a much earlier period of their career.

Three Imaginary Boys shows the band’s early Goth inklings, with the title track moving more towards the style that punctuated the two following albums and was a fitting end to the first set. The Cure are a band who have constantly undergone changes in style and sound, however, in a live setting these changes became all the more prevalent.

Returning to the stage with Roger O’ Donnell, initially not the keyboardist for Seventeen Seconds but a worthy substitute. The move from a trio to a quartet for the change in albums also marked the significant change in style. Seventeen Seconds is an almost that is draped in a unique sort of darkness, and the droning sounds of O’Donnell’s work on the keys made this distorted, Goth-defining sound all the more prominent. The Cure gave their audience a second stage in the metamorphosis from a youthful punk band into the defining band of Gothic rock.

The band moved through the album for an increasingly excited and impressed audience, however, the apogee of this was all the more noticeable in the audience reaction of album single A Forest. The track defined their more electronic-influenced, texture heavy sound at the time with a drum machine played underneath Jason Cooper’s chops. The track was adorned in live jams, washes of noise and easily the highlight of the set with the audience transported back to 1980, dancing as if they’d never left it. Seventeen Seconds marked the middle ground between the energetic and punk-influenced Three Imaginary Boys and the incredible dark, era defining album, Faith. A Forest stood out as such a highlight of the second album’s set as it was clear that it was about this time that the audience realized how apt the choice for these ‘Reflections’ shows were. The three albums go hand in hand with one another, and although it wasn’t something I thought of before the concert, the band changed my perception, and many other’s of the way the three albums should be looked at.

The band reached its climax with their performance of their third album, Faith. The addition of Laurence ‘Lol’ Tolhurst was easily the most noticeable of the night. Tolhurst brought a natural presence to the stage, as one of the band’s original members; he had a certain sense of authenticity that came across with his echoing cymbal washes and keyboard work. It was with Tolhurst’s appearance that the Cure had successfully been able to garnish the audience in nostalgia, with one of the loudest applauses of the night echoing throughout the recital marking his entry to the stage.

With the Cure quintet in full force the third section of band’s colossal show was near flawless. The noise-infused dark washes of sound of Faith seemed like they belonged in the hall of the Opera House, as both the album and the building define how artwork can be distorted, strange and confusing yet at the same time; unbelievably beautiful. Faith clearly possesses a certain panache that represented the pinnacle of a movement, and the crowd couldn’t have been more receptive. The dark final stage of the ‘Reflections’ trilogy was an experience that left the audience with a sense they had experienced something unique, and something unlikely to be played again. Compared to Three Imaginary Boys, Faith is a very different album, however, with the bridge of Seventeen Seconds in between the two albums; the audience was given a chance to trace the band’s progression with the three albums and to understand why the band took such a progression.

The band left the stage to a standing ovation, with no exceptions; and although it took several minutes the band returned, three times. Once again, demonstrating their position as one of the most lauded live bands in the world, the Cure played three encores taking their already extensive show just under the four hour mark. The Cure’s final ‘reflections’ moved through early b-sides and singles including Plastic Passion and crowd favourite Boys Don’t Cry, before moving into more recent territory with Pornography’s The Hanging Garden, the more pop-inspired Let’s Go to Bed and the set-closer The Lovecats. With a set bordering four hours, it was hard to leave the show without a sense of satisfaction, but the Cure had given the audience something more. The title ‘Reflections’ was an apt choice for the two concerts with the band and fans taking one another on a rare and special event likely to be remembered by both for the rest of their lives.