cure tour 1989

The Cure concerts in 1989 76 concerts

The Cure Live at Giants Stadium in 1989

It was 30 years ago today: On Aug. 20, 1989, The Cure launched the U.S. leg of the “Prayer” tour behind their phenomenal Disintegration album. Since everyone loves an anniversary, here’s a set of photographs I took on the day, which I’ve previously only shared with a few friends.

On the day, I drove down with two friends from Connecticut to Giants Stadium, a former sports arena located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands, having procured general admission tickets for us all to access the ground level. Marianne drove; I had gotten my license but wasn’t yet comfortable (or allowed?) to drive across state lines or at least roundabout greater New York City.

Streaming onto the football field — general admission territory — we made it to within maybe 50 feet of the stage. It was a sweltering summer day, and staff fired a water hose over us at multiple intervals. Shelleyan Orphan opened, followed by Love and Rockets, followed by the Pixies. I remember the Pixies, who I love, didn’t quite seem to fill the stadium. As if the sound system and setup were optimized for someone else.

As dusk fell, smoke filled the stage to the sound of wind chimes and The Cure’s “Plainsong.” Writing about it even 30 years later gives me chills, as does seeing The Cure perform live this year, via YouTube, at the Sydney Opera House and later at Glastonbury.

Performing at the Meadowlands, they were immense, capturing the “emotional intensity and depth” — to quote Q’s August 2019 feature on Disintegration’s 30th anniversary — that the record had achieved, yet also live. The Cure’s set, including two encores, ran for close to 3 hours (if I remember correctly), never flagging in intensity. The stadium was rapt, in a frenzy, delirious at their presence. The show remains one of the best I’ve ever attended.

Five Imaginary Boys

Thirty years later, I’m struck by how the wonderfully lit stage so often echoed the hues of the group’s album covers, including the screaming red of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the group’s seventh album. Most of my photographs feature frontman and singer Robert Smith, who was front and center, with keyboardist Roger O’Donnell a haunted-looking presence directly behind. Capturing bassist Simon Gallup was more difficult, though I have a great photograph of him — more of a silhouette, wearing a big, round hat — that I have yet to relocate. And only grainy photos of guitarist Porl Thompson, and little of drummer Boris Williams, who was largely outside my sight line.

For me, Disintegration represents the group’s apotheosis, for reasons not just of musicality but also the time and place of its debut, in my teenage years, pursuing every bit of Cure music that I could find, mixed with the relative shift into maturity and gravitas — but still, so much fun — that Robert Smith and company managed to achieve on the album.

I still remember the smell of the plastic wrapper on the cassette as I snapped it off and slid the tape into my Hyundai’s car stereo, and the first chimes of Plainsong as I read the accordion-folded liner notes, obeying the order therein:

“THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED  LOUD  SO TURN IT UP.”

—- Thanks to The Cure Concerts Guide for the ticket, poster and set list.

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The Cure Live - 1989-07-24 Wembley Arena, London, England

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• Pictures of You
• Piggy in the Mirror
• A Night Like This
• Just Like Heaven
• Fascination Street
• The Drowning Man
• Charlotte Sometimes
• In Between Days
• The Same Deep Water as You
• Prayers for Rain
• Disintegration
• Close to Me
• Let's Go to Bed
• Why Can't I Be You? [extended version]
• Shake Dog Shake
• Siamese Twins
• One Hundred Years
• Three Imaginary Boys
• Fire in Cairo
• Boys Don't Cry
• 10:15 Saturday Night
• Killing an Arab

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Vintage Video: Watch 30 minutes of The Cure’s rehearsals for The Prayer Tour in 1989

For this week’s installment of Vintage Video , we present a real treasure for fans of The Cure : about a half-hour’s worth of footage of the band rehearsing its Prayer Tour set at Bray Studios in Berkshire, England, in April of 1989, the month before Disintegration was released.

The rare footage, which surfaced last summer , shows Robert Smith and Co. running through then-new songs “Plainsong” (almost half of the footage is devoted to the album opener), “Pictures of You,” “Closedown,” “Last Dance” and “Fascination Street,” plus older track “A Night Like This.”

The Prayer Tour would keep The Cure on the road around the world for much of 1989, and saw the band playing arenas and even stadiums in the U.S., with Love and Rockets and the Pixies opening some of the larger concerts, as Disintegration became a hit in America.

Check out the rehearsal footage below via uploader  Hungry-Ghost .

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

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Cool lights.

Cool! It was my second Cure concert and I remember having only one day to listen to the album before the show in Stockholm early May 1989. Loved it nevertheless…

This line-up is untouchable.

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Disintigration Tour : The Cure, CNE Stadium, Toronto (CA) - Aug 28, 1989

That's The Ticket

Live, not memorex, 1989-08-23 | the cure.

Date:  23 August 1989 Artist: The Cure Support Act: Shelleyan Orphan Venue: The Spectrum Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Ticket Price (USD):  $18.50

Few will argue that The Cure’s 1989 album “Disintegration” is the pinnacle of the band’s career. Likewise, The Prayer Tour, which accompanied that album, has also been hailed as one of the group’s best live road trips. The tour schedule brought the band to Philadelphia on 23 August 1989, and I was very excited to see The Cure again. I purchased tickets as soon as I could and secured seats in the second level of The Spectrum.

The weekend prior to the concert, I had moved back to Penn State’s main campus at University Park for my junior year. Classes started that week, so getting back to Philadelphia (200 miles away) for a Wednesday night show wasn’t going to be easy or convenient—a factor I had not taken into consideration when acquiring tickets. My girlfriend at that time had a car and initially agreed to drive us to Philly for the show, after which we’d stay over at my house, then drive back to Penn State early the next morning. However, that meant we would have to miss a few classes, which my honor student girlfriend wasn’t keen to do.

As we drove off campus toward the highway home, she repeatedly expressed her concerns about missing class, and complained about how this trip wasn’t a good idea. After about 15 minutes, I caved in and told her to turn around. I decided that our relationship and her happiness were more important than seeing The Cure. However, missing that concert ranks high on my list of lifelong regrets.

Just to torture myself, I looked up the setlist for that Philly show—it’s pretty much perfect:

Setlist: 01 Plainsong 02 Pictures Of You 03 Closedown 04 Piggy In The Mirror 05 A Night Like This 06 Just Like Heaven 07 Last Dance 08 Fascination Street 09 Lovesong 10 Charlotte Sometimes 11 The Walk 12 A Forest 13 In Between Days 14 The Same Deep Water As You 15 Prayers For Rain 16 Disintegration      Encore 1 17 Lullaby 18 Close To Me 19 Let’s Go To Bed 20 Why Can’t I Be You?      Encore 2 21 Homesick 22 Untitled 23 A Strange Day 24 Hot Hot Hot!!! 25 Three Imaginary Boys 26 Boys Don’t Cry 27 10:15 Saturday Night 28 Killing An Arab

Any of my friends who went to the concert described it as one of the best live shows ever .

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• August 28, 1989 Setlist

The Cure Setlist at CNE Grandstand, Toronto, ON, Canada

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• Plainsong Play Video
• Pictures of You Play Video
• Closedown Play Video
• Piggy in the Mirror Play Video
• A Night Like This Play Video
• Just Like Heaven Play Video
• Last Dance Play Video
• Fascination Street Play Video
• Lovesong Play Video
• Charlotte Sometimes Play Video
• The Walk Play Video
• A Forest Play Video
• In Between Days Play Video
• The Same Deep Water as You Play Video
• Prayers for Rain Play Video
• Disintegration Play Video
• Lullaby Play Video
• Close to Me Play Video
• Let's Go to Bed Play Video
• Why Can't I Be You? Play Video
• Homesick Play Video
• Untitled Play Video
• A Strange Day Play Video
• Hot Hot Hot!!! Play Video
• Three Imaginary Boys Play Video
• Boys Don't Cry Play Video
• 10:15 Saturday Night Play Video
• Killing an Arab Play Video

Edits and Comments

12 activities (last edit by Lizards , 21 Dec 2011, 18:42 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Disintegration
• Fascination Street
• Pictures of You
• Prayers for Rain
• The Same Deep Water as You
• Hot Hot Hot!!!
• Just Like Heaven
• Why Can't I Be You?
• A Night Like This
• Close to Me
• In Between Days
• Boys Don't Cry
• Killing an Arab
• Let's Go to Bed
• 10:15 Saturday Night
• Three Imaginary Boys
• A Strange Day
• Piggy in the Mirror
• Charlotte Sometimes

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The Cure Gig Timeline

• Aug 25 1989 Forum de Montréal Montreal, QC, Canada Add time Add time
• Aug 26 1989 Grandstand at Lansdowne Park Ottawa, ON, Canada Add time Add time
• Aug 28 1989 CNE Grandstand This Setlist Toronto, ON, Canada Add time Add time
• Aug 29 1989 Richfield Coliseum Richfield, OH, USA Add time Add time
• Aug 30 1989 The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI, USA Add time Add time

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