Friday I’m in Love: The Cure at Wythenshawe Park Review
- Natasha Judge
- Aug 23
- 3 min read
The Cure delivered an enthralling evening of eerie enchantment to a sold out crowd of 35,000 this weekend at Wythenshawe Park.
The show was the penultimate gig of the band's summer show tour, and the first time back performing in Manchester since 2016.
In true The Cure Style, the distinctive spellbinding ambience was instant right from frontman Robert Smith’s entry to stage. Greeting the crowd from left to right, he joined bandmates - Simon Gallop (bass), Roger O’Donnell (keys), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), and Jason Cooper (drums).
Performing beloved hits such as ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, ‘Inbetween Days’, and ‘Close to Me’, it was a multigenre masterclass spanning two and a half hours.
The crowd weren’t missing a word, to the point where the eruption of the Manchester crowd singing back to the band made Smith miss the start of a line in ‘Just Like Heaven’.
Robert Smith, said: “I like hearing people sing the words back, it makes me feel like I could get away with stopping if I wanted to.”
A particular highlight was hearing the tune - ‘A Forest’. The impeccable guitar riff matched with the illuminated trees to stage left, and the crowd clapping in time to the coda was magical.
Contrary to some people’s beliefs, the evening was not a night of ‘music and despair’ (if you know, you know), the change of song pace interchanged throughout. The guitarists were joyfully riffing together, Smith was whimsically dancing and even did the lullaby spider routine, as well as play a soprano recorder.
Smith had previously stated he was changing up the setlist for each summer show, and it’s definitely fair to say Manchester had a stellar line up of tracks both new and old.
He stated “we don’t play this one often” before breaking into the track ‘Treasure’, from their 1996 album - Wild Mood Swings.
‘A Night Like This’ was another stunning addition to the set, especially as it featured Gabriel Cooper (son of drummer) on the saxophone.
The audience were transfixed on ‘Fascination Street’ and there were big smiles from stage to crowd during the “hello” duration of ‘Wrong Number’.
Before the nine song encore, Robert Smith addressed the crowd in explaining why he does not feel the need to recurrently address the audience between songs.
He said: “The reason why I am still up here is singing, that's what I am doing here.
“It’s like I really don't have very much to say - it's in the songs. That's why I’m a singer.”
Hearing ‘Friday I’m in Love’ on the intended day, and ‘Lovesong’ with powerful vocals as the sun set was almost as special as seeing the indisputable gratitude on Smith’s face across the night.
The evening of music launched with Manchester’s own - The Slow Readers Club, who had many dedicated fans at the front, notably replicating lead singer Aaron Starkie’s hand movements during song ‘Lunatic’.
A great pairing to The Cure was the talented shoegaze grunge group - slowdive. Their discography expertly began the entrancing musical journey the South Manchester crowd were taken on.
Fan favourites ‘When The Sun Hits’ and ‘40 Days’ were superb, and the sun certainly followed suit as it shone down on the Manchester crowd as the beat hit.
The final UK tour date for The Cure takes place in Edinburgh on August 23.
For further updates on The Cure, visit their site here, and for more events at Wythenshawe Park, visit here.
Setlist
Alone
Pictures of You
High
Lovesong
Burn
Fascination Street
Alt.end
Push
Inbetween Days
Just Like Heaven
Treasure
Want
A Night Like This
Secrets
Play for Today
A Forest
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Endsong
Lullaby
Wrong Number
The Walk
Mint Car
The Lovecats
Friday I’m in Love
Close to Me
Why Can’t I Be You?
Boys Don’t Cry
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