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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
John Aizlewood's rating
Reader rating
Description: One-off London show by Robert Smith's hardy gothic rock perennials.
Godlike genius: Robert Smith leads The Cure in the NME concert at the O2
Almost 30 years since their debut album, The Cure remain the outsiders who have never quite fitted into the mainstream, despite almost 30 million album sales.
On Wednesday evening they received a Godlike Genius award from the NME and last night they almost filled the O2 Arena in the NME Awards Big Gig.
Most bands would celebrate a lifetime achievement award by cranking out the hits, but, for better and for worse, The Cure are not most bands.
Ever contrary, they unfurled much of last year’s 4:13 Dream; a track — and not always the track you might expect or want — from each of their other 12 studio albums and some crowd-pleasing early singles for an encore. For hardcore Cure fans and, judging by their unusually jaunty mood, The Cure themselves, this was a rare treat indeed.
For agnostics it proved to be more perplexing, but, as ever, almost everything was underpinned by leader Robert Smith’s yearning romanticism, while the invariably less heralded One Hundred Years, The Only One and The End Of The World proved hypnotic, surprisingly adept replacements for The Lovecats, Friday I’m In Love and Lullaby, their biggest hits, all pointedly unplayed.
Smith still cuts an incongruous figure. Now a sulky teenager of 49, he was a straggly haired lipsticked, eye-shadowed hoodie weighed down with bling, while his guitarist and brother-in-law Porl Thompson resembled Uncle Fester, albeit an Uncle Fester in gigantic platform shoes and splattered with tattoos.
Wisely, bassist Simon Gallup — so extravagantly quiffed Morrissey may one day hire him — and drummer Jason Cooper simply kept the engine running. Run it did, for almost two hours — brief by their standards — and if, with the exception of A Forest and In-Between Days, it wasn’t quite the anticipated lap of honour, this was a reminder that The Cure aren’t ready for their pipe and slippers just yet.
Earlier, Franz Ferdinand plumped for a mixture of hits and unfamiliar but almost identically paced new material. At one heroic moment during Outsiders, all of them were banging Paul Thomson’s drumkit. Yet, faced with a response from another band’s crowd that was more polite than rabid, they were cowed. They’ll have more crucial tests when they tour properly next month.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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It was an amazing gig with a great set list, which represents what the Cure is about. Quite a few people left after the main set, as the show was supposed to finish 11:00pm.
If you had been expecting a greatest hits set, well ...too bad.
- K, London
A test on what the audience thought would be, put tickets on sale now for another Cure night at the O2 and see how many there last week would come back..! Over two-thirds wouldn't, IMHO. We stayed to the bitter end - hardly anyone else in the far reaches of the 'upper tiers' did..!
I LOVE the Cure but it was shockingly disappointing!
- Derek, Barking
Is it just me or is Robert Smith slowly turning into Jo Brand?
- Bob, Cheam
Not contrary at all. The website said: "We'll play some new stuff, some old stuff and some stuff from in between." I think they hit that nail right on the head.
Great set at the O2, if a little on the short side ;0)
- Was, Reading, UK
a few thousand left did they? what utter tosh .. it was rammed till the end and the sound was amazing ... the only dissapointment was the short 2hr set
- Steve, manchester uk
I was there last night and it was a dissapointment. Poor accoustics and the lack of hits - contary to what they said on their website when they were selling the tickets!
We left early - and so did a few thousand other people.
- Koala, London
