“As we said yesterday”, must have thought the majority of the 17,200 devotees attending the concert that The Cure offered yesterday in a crowded Palau Sant Jordi. Because the magic that existed with the legendary British band since that last one offered on the same stage six years ago was palpable. At last the musical fast is over for whom the rock of the British is an indispensable vital shot.
After the intense prolegomenon offered by The Twilight Sad, when they appeared on the stage of the Palau Sant Jordi at nine o'clock at night, that was tremendous. And that the vehicle with which they entered was not particularly well-known: the song Alone, one of the hitherto unreleased songs in the Barcelona arena, and which they will include on their much-heralded next album Song of a lost world. At the end of it, Robert Smith said in British style “hello again”, to remember that six years have passed since his last visit. The years do not pass in vain but the image is still there. And, above all, the attitude displayed by him (voice and guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Reeves Gabrels (guitar) or that machine gun of rhythm that is Jason Cooper (drums). As the canon dictates, the presence of Smith at the microphone with his unique look was counterbalanced by the always restless walk and in the front row of the Gallup bassist, all this on a stage without excesses and all focused on the sound and the fantastic task of this band of music workers. A generous concert offered in an impeccable, effective and authentic way, come on, like they are.
They began with that song, which was world-premiered last October 6 in Latvia, within the framework of this European tour a few weeks ago, and from there they offered an authentic cataract of memories, hymns and music, where melancholy, rock, pop, gothic and psychedelia. An avalanche whose second installment was the always unbeatable Pictures of you, and from there the script was followed as planned, that is, the official part ended with another of the premieres, Endsong. In between, a bit of everything, like Burn with Smith playing a piccolo in the middle of a sound storm or the guitar developments of A forest. Then there would be two blocks of encores that lasted up to ten, filling almost three hours with authentic pleasure.
In those almost thirty songs that could be heard, there were incursions into a large part of their discography, giving the evening an anthological dimension according to their criteria (they included the song Trust from the 1992 album Wish, and they barely play it live). And in which other unreleased songs were interspersed such as And nothing is forever (a ballad with a long instrumental introduction and that many continued to wave the light from their cell phones), I can never say goodbye or the brand new A fragile thing. In general, you go for long developments and instrumental introductions and more melodic harmonies.
In the end, a forceful and clamorous end to the party that brought out smiles, hugs, choreos, memories, tears and, above all, happy faces. And with good reason: Friday I'm in love, Close to me, In between days, Just like heaven and -with 17,000 throats yelling- Boys don't cry.
