Another photo of Robert Smith with Olivia Rodrigo and her band at Glastonbury.
Photo from her drummer jordiiimusic
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Olivia Rodrigo guitarist Arianna Powell on Robert
From Guitar World:
“Our MD told us, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but Robert Smith is going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying”: The moment Olivia Rodrigo guitarist Arianna Powell found out she’d be playing with a Cure legend
By Michael Astley-Brown
Smith had some words of wisdom for Rodrigo’s band ahead of his surprise guest spot at one of the most star-studded music festivals in the world
Olivia Rodrigo made headlines with their headline Glastonbury set – not just because it was a guitar-heavy rock show that won over the sceptics, but because it featured the biggest surprise of the entire festival: a guest performance from Robert Smith.
The Cure icon appeared onstage with Rodrigo and her band to perform Friday I’m In Love and Just Like Heaven. It was one of the highlights of the festival, but it was especially emotional for lead guitarist Arianna Powell.
“We found out in Nashville when we were rehearsing for Bonnaroo, which ended up getting canceled,” she tells Guitar World in a new interview. “Stacy [Jones], our music director, came and told us, and was like, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but he's going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying. Like, I started tearing up.
“Because I'm a huge fan, especially those guitar parts. I love, love, love, love, love, love, love the guitar parts, specifically in those songs, specifically Friday I'm in Love. So I was just so stoked to get to actually play that with the artist.”
A veteran session player with everyone from Halsey to Black Eyed Peas, Powell nailed both tracks, calling on a Kemper to make sure her tones were dead-on for the performance.
Although Rodrigo’s band was a well-oiled machine at this point, you’d be forgiven for feeling just a little bit nervous ahead of performing with your hero, but Smith had some reassuring words when he hung out with the group ahead of the show.
“He was so cool. He was leaving his dressing room door open for us to hang out. He wanted to talk and be social. Through conversations with him, he was just saying, ‘It's just another show.’ And he was talking about how much he enjoys performing, and he loves it every time.
That really inspired me and my energy for that night. Like, ‘Yeah, it's just another show – and I love doing this.’ The collective energy of the band that day was really infectious.”
Powell lent on her Gretsch Silver Falcon to handle the Cure classics’ lead lines, but heavier moments in the show saw her turning to Charvel and Jackson shred guitars – the latter of which was inspired by Rodrigo and her band’s love of hardcore darlings Turnstile.
Guitar World’s full interview with Ariana Powell will be published later this month.
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Reeves joins Stick Men for some shows
"Due to an ongoing medical issue, Tony Levin will be unable to perform at the upcoming Stick Men shows-for now. While we remain hopeful that Tony may rejoin the tour at a later date, we're grateful to have some remarkable guest artists stepping in during his absence.
Reeves Gabrels-acclaimed guitarist known for his fearless work with David Bowie, Tin Machine, and The Cure -will be joining Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto onstage beginning with our show at The Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA on July 17th.
Reeves is a risk-taker whose approach to the guitar mirrors our own spirit of innovation and improvisation. He brings a bold, expressive voice to the mix-perfectly in tune with the Stick Men vision. These will be unique and unforgettable performances, and we're thrilled to share this rare collaboration with you.
We know nothing can truly replace Tony's presence, but we're honored to have special guests, Janek Gwizdala (The Baked Potato), Tom Griesgraber (San Marcos), and now Reeves Gabrels, step in and help us deliver the kind of bold, genre-defying music you've come to expect. Thank you for your continued support and we'll see you on the road."
-Stick Men
July 13 - Los Angeles, CA (The Baked Potato)
July 15 - San Marcos, CA (The Bornemann Theater)
July 17-Stockton, CA (The Haggin Museum)
July 18 - Fresno, CA (Frank's Place)
July 19 - Santa Cruz, CA (UCSC Music Center Recital Hall)
July 20 - Petaluma, CA (Mystic Theatre)
July 23 - Arcata, CA (Playhouse Arts)
July 25 - Eugene, OR (WOW Hall)
July 26 - Corvallis, OR (Whiteside Theatre)
July 27 - Portland, OR (Star Theater)
July 29 - Vancouver, BC (Rickshaw Theatre)
July 30-Seattle, WA (The Triple Door)
Tickets are available at: www.stickmenband.com
Friday, July 11, 2025
Tim Pope talk at Wavelength on Aug. 2nd
From The Times:
Tim Pope: my golden age of music videos from Bowie to the Cure
Tickets: https://www.fringebythesea.com/tim-pope/
At Wavelength, a new music film festival at Fringe by the Sea, the director will talk about his 50 years at the cultural coalface.
One autumn afternoon in 1982, Tim Pope, a budding film director, had a life-changing meeting on the roof of an office block in Soho in London. A young goth by the name of Robert Smith had enjoyed a music video that Pope had made for the synth duo Soft Cell (for their single Bedsitter) and wanted some of that creative magic for his own band, the Cure.
Was there immediate chemistry? Undeniable sympatico? Not quite. “We were what I’d call shy bastards,” Pope recalls. “We rarely met eyes with each other, and he had a very quiet voice, so it was hard to hear him over the noise coming from the fruit market outside. I had no idea it would be the start of an almost 50-year relationship.”
Beginning with a promo for the Cure’s uncharacteristically upbeat single Let’s Go to Bed, that collaboration spawned more than 35 extraordinary videos (and counting) as part of Pope’s extensive career. He’ll be talking about these experiences, and many more, at Fringe by the Sea, in an event that’s a trail for his forthcoming memoir, which has the working title My Wonky Eye: The Tales of a Maverick Music Director, out next year.
“It follows the arc of my relationship with David Bowie via Iggy Pop,” Pope says about a book that’s going to be devoured by music fans. “That’s the main story, but along the way I work with lots of other bands.”
Those others include Neil Young, whose playful side Pope is good at teasing out, Talk Talk, Queen and The The, and what the films have in common is technical ambition (all done before the days of green screen), a sense of humour and a colourful disregard for authority. As he puts it: “I’ve got quite a rebellious streak and I think that’s what connected with the artists who also had one.”
Another common thread is the glee with which Pope playfully tortures his bands — from hanging them upside down and swinging cameras into their faces to trapping them in tight spaces — all for the perfect shot.
A great example is the claustrophobic masterpiece Close to Me, for which he got the Cure (who’d been “partying” for several hours beforehand) squashed up into a wardrobe, which he then flooded with water. For The Lovecats video he had the band dancing about in a woozy world of threadbare feline taxidermy; while for Lullaby Smith was cocooned by spider webs made from glue, had a micro camera in a medical probe inserted into his mouth, and was eventually swallowed up by a giant spider.
When the book comes out it will include some never-before-seen photos from these shoots, including a selfie of Pope and Smith just as they were finishing the Lullaby video — “Just at the end, when he called me a bastard,” the director says with a laugh.
In many ways it was a golden age of music videos, with — in Pope’s experience at least — the artists given artistic carte blanche, free from the constraints of corporate intervention. As a result boundaries weren’t so much pushed as blown up at times, as evidenced in the gory video for Soft Cell’s outrageous Sex Dwarf, which was, unsurprisingly, banned. (Word to the wise: do not watch this video in the workplace.)
Pope recently found the call sheet with a list of props for that shoot, which included a working chainsaw, raw meat and some maggots. “I can still smell that studio,” he recalls.
One of Pope’s early jobs, shortly after leaving television school, was making films to help train politicians, and he was often in Downing Street in the dying days of the 1970s Labour government. He would “borrow” equipment to film gigs in the evenings, and at one performance by the Specials some skinheads invaded the stage, headbutted him and grabbed the expensive camera.
These kinds of scuffles were a world away from his later success. He developed such a strong relationship with Bowie that the singer asked him to direct his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden, in New York, requesting that he be his “eyes and ears” on the day.
As well as working on the book, Pope is planning to make a feature film called The Beating of a Moth’s Wing, starring Béatrice Dalle, who graced many a student’s bedroom wall in the 1990s.
Also on the horizon is a 50th-anniversary film for the Cure, hopefully due out in 2028. “Robert’s got 50 boxes of film no one’s ever seen,” he says. “It’ll be amazing for fans.”
This Fringe by the Sea session, hosted by Vic Galloway, will also be a treat for music fans, with Pope more than happy to answer questions and share memories. Start revising those videos now to get the best out of it.
Aug 2, 2.45pm, the Dome, £12/6
Monday, July 7, 2025
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Photos from Olivia
From Olivia Rodrigo on Instagram:
glasto. best weekend there ever was. so happy and grateful
Monday, June 30, 2025
Roger on Lymphoma Voices podcast
"In this podcast Roger O’Donnell, who is the keyboard player of the band The Cure, talks about his diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He explains about the treatment he received and about coming to terms emotionally with his diagnosis."
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Robert joins Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury
Robert joined Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury tonight to do Friday I'm in Love and Just Like Heaven.
Friday, June 27, 2025
Gracie Abrams covering Just Like Heaven
Gracie Abrams covering Just Like Heaven at Glastonbury tonight. Video by the BBC, posted by gnationvideo.
Thursday, June 26, 2025
New band name and single for Reeves
BAND NAME CHANGE & RECORDING NEWS
GABRELS, KANE, PARKER WELLS is the NEW BAND NAME for the genre-free improv trio formerly known as "Doom Dogs." We have a single recording (self-titled) upcoming! And we joined the visionary artist platform TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS (TotE). Our single is part of a global relaunch of Tote (via Kickstarter) to include two dozen new experimental-music projects and revival of a fantastic back catalog.
PLEASE SIGN UP NOW for Kickstarter campaign info. You only provide an email at this point, to receive campaign emails including details of all music included. Find the page via the QR code (see image), or by searching Table of the Elements and Kickstarter together.
Deep thanks to all who've come out the past two years to hear us improvise in varied venues in New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. You made our single possible, plus further studio work in progress. Just last week, we played two improvisations for a pro-shot video to come out this fall on the Reverend Guitars channel on YouTube. Going forward, we'll book shows for late summer 2025 thru spring 2026.
First priority, meanwhile, is to share the Kickstarter link for Table of the Elements. Please sign up, and please share with friends!
With appreciation, Reeves, Jonathan and Jair-Rohm
GABRELS, KANE, PARKER WELLS
June 26, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
Win a signed MoaLW artcard
From The Cure:
ROBERT SIGNED A FEW “MIXES OF A LOST WORLD” ARTCARDS, AND WE ARE GIVING A HANDFUL AWAY TO 5 LUCKY FANS; ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ENTER YOUR DETAILS VIA THE FORM BELOW BEFORE 17: 00 ON 27TH JUNE 2025 FOR A CHANCE TO WIN ONE!
https://uk-umg.com/um-forms/48976-1234097.html
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Friday, June 20, 2025
How we remixed The Cure
From MusicTech:
How we remixed The Cure: Tips from Orbital, Trentmøller and more
The Cure just released their remix package, ‘Mixes Of A Lost World,’ with over 20 new tracks. Check out how five artists made their versions
Reeves interview on Friday
11am Eastern US time Fri Jun 20th — Reeves Gabrels chats live with Ken Haas, CEO of Reverend Guitars. Tune in at Reverend’s Facebook page, or their YouTube channel.
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