The Cure is still not back to its usual line-up with bassist Simon Gallup recovering from illness. Robert Smith confirmed the long-serving bassist would be out of action for the Berlin, Germany shows. The Cure performed three shows in Berlin earlier this month and has since journeyed to Athens, Greece, for a show at the Olympic Complex. While the band performed 27 songs in total, they were down a bassist, with Eden Gallup covering the show.
The Cure has not yet announced the return of Gallup to the stage and it is believed he missed out on the Athens performance last night (July 15). Whether he returns later in the tour is yet to be seen but The Cure’s official Instagram page made a note of when Gallup’s first absence came about. He has not yet been announced as returning to the stage. A statement posted to the band’s stage has noted he is close to being back on stage, but for now would be resting.
The post reads: “And although SG [Simon Gallup] is on the mend and close to match fitness, Prudence says this will be another quintet show and she has a loud voice.”
A full setlist for The Cure’s show in Athens, Greece, can be found below.
- Plainsong
- Pictures of You
- High
- Lovesong
- Catch
- Burn
- Fascination Street
- alt.end
- Push
- In Between Days
- Just Like Heaven
- The Last Days of Summer
- A Night Like This
- Charlotte Sometimes
- Play for Today
- A Forest
- Shake Dog Shake
- From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
- Disintegration
- Lullaby
- Hot Hot Hot!!!
- The Walk
- The Lovecats
- Friday I’m in Love
- Close to Me
- Why Can’t I Be You?
- Boys Don’t Cry
Despite Gallup’s absence, the band has still performed songs they have not played for the first time in years. Smith and the band have constantly changed the setlist on this tour. The Cure performed Catch, from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me for the first time since 2016.
The band has often dipped into their backlog and into the works of others, with a performance of The Kinks’ You Really Got Me once featuring in The Cure’s set. An upload of the performance to YouTube saw people highlight the strength Smith and the band brought to the song, with many considering the soundcheck a brilliant example of The Cure cutting loose on stage. Soundcheck performances from the band were apparently open to the public, according to the person who uploaded the video.
They wrote: “In 1996, many soundchecks were opened for fans. Next to me, there were about thirty other Cure fans. However, the gig as such was strange: the last of the Swing tour with very poor attendance. The England 1996 tour was a disaster for the band. Not to compare with Germany or France.”
Another fan who attended the doomed 1996 tour agreed that the shows were poorly attended. They wrote: “You’re lucky to have been there. I still think Wild Mood Swings was a fine album – nowhere near as bad as people say it is (I really liked 4:13 Dream too).
“There were poorly attended shows in France as well – during the Swings tour and the Dream Tour. I’ve heard that the Toulouse show had something like a nine-hundred-person crowd. I just don’t get it – why The Cure had to go through a low point in their career when they were still a phenomenal live band, playing three-hour sets with rarities.”
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