The Cure took the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony stage as they always have: with searing riffs cutting through the smoke. The stage was dark when the band kicked things off with The Top’s hard-hitting “Shake Dog Shake”; the band members’ silhouettes dancing behind them.
Then the angular array of lights turned green, and an eerie keyboard part signaled the start of “A Forest,” off their Seventeen Seconds album from 1980. Negative black and white footage of a woods scene played behind the group as Smith’s guitar wooshed to the beat. By the end of the song, Smith was pushing high up the neck of his guitar for its squeakiest notes.
Then the sound of his instrument changed to a jangly echo, and his drummer cued the beat to Disintegration’s “Lovesong.” Smith’s voice rang out, “I will always love you,” as the final chord wrung out. They then kicked up the tempo for “Just Like Heaven,” and the stage washed blue over the group. Women were doing wild dances between expensive tables on the dance floor and the cheap seats bellowed along with Smith.
“I think we’ve got time for about one more,” Smith told the crowd as he strummed a black guitar with a white star on its face. The crowd cheered and a springy lead guitar signaled the start of “Boys Don’t Cry.” As the screen behind them showed photos from throughout their career, you could feel an emotional swell in the audience that suggested the song’s title wasn’t really true. And with a sweet thank you and a coy bite of his lip, Smith & Co. left the stage.
In an interview with Rolling Stone following news of the Cure’s Rock Hall induction, the band’s former drummer-keyboardist Lol Tolhurst said he was hopeful to rejoin Smith onstage. “The jury is out about what might happen at the actual ceremony, but I’m looking for some surprises,” he said.
“I always hear from people how much the Cure touched their lives,” Tolhurst added. “Obviously it’s nice for people to say that something you’ve done has meant something to them, but on a personal level it’s humbling if you take it in the right way because otherwise you can let your ego go completely ridiculous. That’s not really what I want to experience.”
The Cure’s victory lap will continue this summer with a slot at the 2019 Glastonbury festival. The band is also reportedly finishing work on their new album, their first since 2008’s 4:13 Dream.