The Cure Serve Up A Treat In Manchester

As the rays of the descending late summer sun shone over Manchester's Wythenshawe Park, the atmosphere had been perfectly set for the arrival of The Cure.

The band rarely plays concerts in the north, so naturally the anticipation of the 35,000-strong audience was at fever pitch — though of course The Cure had the remedy at hand, with a back catalogue that has influenced bands from The Smashing Pumpkins to Nine Inch Nails.

Lead singer and guitarist Robert Smith, the only original member of the band, is a man of few words, as he readily admitted: "The reason I am up here is singing, I really don't have much to say. It's all in the songs," he confessed to a audience many of whom were not born when the band arrived on the music scene in the late seventies.

A twenty-seven-song set list meant the band arrived on stage early for a two-hour résumé of their career — and what a delight it was to hear some of the best songs of the alternative rock genre. Smith wasted no time making his presence felt, launching into the dark, brooding power of Alone, his unmistakable vocals rising effortlessly above the sprawling outdoor setting. There was barely a trace of age in that legendary voice, it still possesses the warmth and depth to draw thousands into the moment.

With darkness settling over the park, the band embrace their darker side, breathing fresh life into Play for Today and A Forest, before From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea and the mesmerising Endsong bring the main set to a spellbinding conclusion.

The Cure were regular visitors to the singles chart, and they reminded the sold-out crowd of that with The Lovecats, Friday I'm in Love and Why Can't I Be You?, before the unmistakable opening guitar of Boys Don't Cry sparked an instant surge of euphoria — the Manchester crowd singing the song back in unison, as though the sun was yet to set over the band.