To commemorate their 40th anniversary, The Cure headlined a day-long festival in London’s Hyde Park and performed a number of songs from their earlier years. (Slicing Up Eyeballs posted the full setlist, as well as a number of videos.)
Footage from that show will now be released as Anniversary 1978 – 2018, a concert film — does anyone use the word “rockumentary” anymore? — directed by long-time Cure collaborator Tim Pope.
The performance Tim Pope filmed that perfect summer evening was one of the most memorable concerts of The Cure’s long career; as giant sized screens danced, glitched and fizzled with images of raging seas, shimmering webs and broken hearts, The Cure flowed, floated, pushed, pounded and powered their way through a 29 song 135 minute spectacular, on a spellbinding trip through four decades of alternative popular music.
Says Pope: “I went to rehearsals in a very cramped studio just the day before the show, and sat in the group’s midst as they ran through the songs. I knew as the set list unfolded that the only way to show people the real Cure was to capture not only the grand, epic dimension of their stage show, but also the close, intimate side of this band simply making music together. Never has Robert sung so well, nor has The Cure played more passionately, more tightly, more powerfully.”
As the film was edited together across the ensuing months, Smith and Pope working closely together, Cure… sound man Paul Corkett, who had mixed the show live on the night, was brought in to help Robert create the accompanying soundscape. Mixing took place at Brighton Electric Studios in late 2018, final tweaks to the theatrical 5.1 audio being carried out at Abbey Road studios in early 2019. As with the 4K visuals Pope had snared with his cameras, the aim was to create a totally immersive experience for cinema-goers.
Anniversary 1978 – 2018 will be released into theaters around the world for a limited screening later this summer; click here to see if there will be any showings in your city.
Between Anniversary 1978 – 2018 and the recently streamed performance of Disintegration, as well as the possibility of a new Cure album before the year’s end, it’s a good time to be a Cure fan.