The Cure marked their 40th anniversary in 2018 with a pair of unique shows in London: One where they went through their catalogue chronologically for a small audience of die-hards, and another where they played a lengthy, career-spanning set to a massive crowd in Hyde Park. Both concerts were filmed and will be released this fall as 40 Live – Curætion-25 + Anniversary, a box set that will come in a variety of configurations.
The former concert, dubbed Curætion-25: From There to Here / From Here to There, features the band playing a spiraling set list that starts with one of their earliest songs and boasts a song from each album up through their most current release, 2008’s 4:13 Dream. The Cure also played a pair of previously unreleased songs and then worked their way backwards to “Boys Don’t Cry.” The performance was part of the 25th annual Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall last June. The video features HD picture and 5.1 surround sound.
The Hyde Park show, which Rolling Stone reviewed last July, is branded Anniversary: 1978-2018. It features the Cure playing 29 songs to a crowd of 65,000 concertgoers. The band’s longtime film collaborator, Tim Pope, who directed several videos as well as the group’s In Orange film, helmed the release. The film also screened in movie theaters earlier this year.
A limited-edition deluxe box set will include either two Blu-Rays or two DVDs along with four CDs and a 40-page book, while a more standard “hardbook” edition will contain the same video content and a 16-page booklet. Both concerts will also be available as digital releases. All editions arrive on October 18th.
Speaking with Rolling Stone this year, ahead of the Anniversary screening, Cure frontman Robert Smith said he was pleased with how it came out. “It’s actually quite an overwhelming experience,” he said. “I thought that I’d be a bit blasé, but I was actually quite taken aback with the whole thing. I’m really pleased we did it because it turned into probably one of the best days we’ve ever had through a combination of just great weather and England’s football team was doing remarkably well in the World Cup. And I picked the bill for the whole day at Hyde Park. … It was just, like, a huge celebration of music.”
Curætion-25: From There to Here / From Here to There track list:
1. “Three Imaginary Boys”
2. “At Night”
3. “Other Voices”
4. “A Strange Day”
5. “Bananafishbones”
6. “A Night Like This”
7. “Like Cockatoos”
8. “Pictures of You”
9. “High”
10. “Jupiter Crash”
11. “39”
12. “Us or Them”
13. “It’s Over”
14. “It Can Never Be the Same”
15. “Step Into the Light”
16. “The Hungry Ghost”
17. “Alt.End”
18. “The Last Day of Summer”
19. “Want”
20. “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea”
21. “Disintegration”
22. “If Only Tonight We Could Sleep”
23. “Sinking”
24. “Shake Dog Shake”
25. “One Hundred Years”
26. “Primary”
27. “A Forest”
28. “Boys Don’t Cry”
Anniversary: 1978-2018 track list:
1. “Plainsong”
2. “Pictures of You”
3. “High”
4. “A Night Like This”
5. “The Walk”
6. “The End of the World”
7. “Lovesong”
8. “Push”
9. “Inbetween Days”
10. “Just Like Heaven”
11. “If Only Tonight”
12. “Play for Today”
13. “A Forest”
14. “Shake Dog Shake”
15. “Burn”
16. “Fascination Street”
17. “Never Enough”
18. “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea”
19. “Disintegration”
20. “Lullaby”
21. “Caterpillar”
22. “Friday I’m in Love”
23. “Close to Me”
24. “Why Can’t I Be You”
25. “Boys Don’t Cry”
26. “Jumping Someone Else’s Train”
27. “Grinding Halt”
28. “10:15 Saturday Night”
29. “KAA”