30 years of News, rumors, minutiae about The Cure
Well, if Roger's comments, the promo photo for Rock en Seine, etc still left some doubt for you, Donna Bamonte confirms on her Facebook that Perry will not be with The Cure next year.
"Sadly not he is a bit poorly but we wish them well xxx ❤️ very blessed to see Perry play a second time and very cherished xxx"
All the best to you Perry! Hope you feel better asap! We all love you!
"Thursday morning 10-12 on Do.You radio with Charlie and Ian premiering my new album Projections. Dissecting the tracks playing some love Moog. What more could you ask for?????"
Update: interview is archived here:
Update 2: Tickets go on sale today at 5pm cet.
In the US that's...
11am eastern
10am central
9am mountain
8am pacific
5am Hawaii
Update: Roger says this is just the 1st one announced...
"First of the summer to announce... cant wait X"
And in a reply (on Bluesky) to a question about more shows:
"It's very unlikely we would only play one festival now isnt it!"
From The Cure:
THE CURE WILL RETURN TO FRANCE NEXT SUMMER TO HEADLINE ROCK EN SEINE ON SUNDAY 30 AUGUST 2026. TICKETS FOR THE FESTIVAL AT THE DOMAINE NATIONAL DE SAINT-CLOUD GO ON SALE WEDNESDAY AT 5PM CET VIA ROCKENSEINE.COM
From Roger:
Today is Lymphoma Giving day and if you can spare anything it will be very gratefully received. I was diagnosed in 2023 and thanks to research and some sci fi drugs I was back on stage a year later! Go to lymphoma.org/roger to donate and thanks X
So there are at least 2 color variants of this.
The one in Olivia's store is "on exclusive magenta and periwinkle transparent vinyl."
https://store.oliviarodrigo.com/products/live-from-glastonbury-a-bbc-recording-vinyl
From Olivia Rodrigo Daily:
First look at the Live From Glastonbury Light Blue + Cobalt Vinyl!
Coming to record stores on December 5th.
Update: Single is listed as sold out, but a new listing for a CD Wallet available on Dec. 5th is up for pre-order now.
https://polydor.co.uk/products/live-from-glastonbury-cd-wallet
There's also a CD single up for pre-order that's just Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith's performances of Just Like Heaven and Friday I'm In Love from Glastonbury 2025. Out on Dec. 12th.
https://polydor.co.uk/products/live-from-glastonbury-cd-single
From The Cure;
Robert's performance with @oliviarodrigo from this summer's Glastonbury Festival is available to pre-order and stream now on
https://store.oliviarodrigo.com/products/live-from-glastonbury-a-bbc-recording-vinyl
Artists’ net proceeds from “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven,” will benefit Doctors Without Borders
From The Cure:
We have recently seen an increase in scams, posts, and DMs from fake accounts pretending to be Robert, Simon, or The Cure's management. Please note that they do not use Facebook, and NO-ONE associated with the band would contact fans personally regarding meet-and-greets, gift cards, or personal appearances etc etc. Please report any suspected accounts to Facebook and block them.
From Heart Research UK:
Our Robert Smith Art Auction is NOW LIVE! 🎨
Join us from 1-10 August to bid on Robert’s signed artwork, created alongside some of the songs on @thecure’s 2024 album Songs Of A Lost World! All proceeds will fund our life-saving work. ❤️
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/heartresearchuk_shop
From The Times:
When Olivia Rodrigo met David, Lily and Rob — the art of the surprise guest
From the Glastonbury headliner to Sabrina Carpenter and Dua Lipa, why every pop diva needs a throwback cameo in summer 2025
Will Hodgkinson
One surprise appearance really was a big surprise at Glastonbury. While everyone knew about the so-called secret sets by Pulp, Haim and Lewis Capaldi, absolutely nobody suspected that Robert Smith was to join the American pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo during her Sunday night headline slot, for a rendition of the Cure’s Just Like Heaven and Friday I’m in Love.
“Nobody even spotted him driving in,” says Julian Stockton, earthly representative of Robert Smith and the Cure, who found out himself only when he was watching Rodrigo’s set at home on television. “Robert has no manager, so Olivia must have asked him directly. Her dad is a massive Cure fan, so it is a classic case of a parent’s record collection rubbing off on the child.”
It was quite a duet: a super-perky 22-year-old former Disney child star and the raven-haired 66-year-old godfather of the misunderstood. How did it happen? “We did make up a list of potential guest spots for Olivia, but Robert Smith wasn’t on it, so the request must have come from her,” a source close to Rodrigo confirms. “It made for a moment nobody expected but everyone will remember.”
Another photo of Robert Smith with Olivia Rodrigo and her band at Glastonbury.
Photo from her drummer jordiiimusic
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.
"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
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
