Pitchfork

Photos/notes by Kyle Gustafson

The Cure launched their spring North American tour with a bang on Friday night, playing a 38-song, three-hour marathon gig at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia (just outside Washington, D.C.). A taciturn Robert Smith lead the quartet, which features recently returned guitarist Porl Thompson, through a set that included lots of old favorites and only three new songs: "The Perfect Boy", "The Only One", and "Freakshow".

"The Only One" and "Freakshow" are slated to be released as singles on May 13 and June 13, respectively, leading up to a brand new Cure album September 13 on Suretone/Geffen.

The deliberately paced concert started slow, picked up a bit after "Lovesong", and really gained steam with a lively, funky version of "Lullaby". The band was visibly having fun performing it. After that they segued into poppy hits like "Hot Hot Hot!!!", "Friday I'm in Love" and "Just Like Heaven" before closing the main set with some of their more drawn-out, jammy material.

During the first of three encores, a long, dramatic intro led into "A Forest"; the band slowed to a crawl, gradually gaining speed until the crowd recognized the riff, and went nuts. Before the second encore, Smith said, "This being Friday and the first night of the tour, we're going to play some pop stuff. Bear with us and sing along." "Lovecats", "Let's Go to Bed", "Close to Me", and "Why Can't I Be You" followed.

The Cure hit Boston tonight, and continue on the road until late June, when they end their tour with a pair of dates in New York City. The English post-rock band 65daysofstatic opens every show.

Tour dates, setlist, and more photos below!

Setlist:

01 Plainsong
02 Prayers for Rain
03 A Strange Day
04 alt.end
05 The Walk
06 The End of the World
07 Lovesong
08 To Wish Impossible Things
09 Pictures of You
10 Lullaby
11 The Perfect Boy
12 From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
13 Hot Hot Hot!!!
14 The Only One
15 Push
16 Friday I'm in Love
17 In Between Days
18 Just Like Heaven
19 Primary
20 Shake Dog Shake
21 Never Enough
22 Wrong Number
23 One Hundred Years
24 Disintegration
***encore***
25 At Night
26 M
27 Play for Today
28 A Forest
***encore***
29 Lovecats
30 Let's Go to Bed
31 Freakshow
32 Close to Me
33 Why Can't I Be You
***encore***
34 Boys Don't Cry
35 Jumping Someone Else's Train
36 Grinding Halt
37 10:15 Saturday Night
38 Killing an Arab

Cure dates:

05-12 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena *
05-14 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre *
05-15 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre *
05-17 Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena *
05-19 Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre *
05-21 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
05-23 Salt Lake City, UT - E Center *
05-25 George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Festival) *
05-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place *
05-28 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
05-29 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl *
05-31 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl *
06-01 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium *
06-03 San Diego, CA - Cox Arena *
06-04 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre *
06-06 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center *
06-08 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall *
06-09 Houston, TX - Toyota Center *
06-11 Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum *
06-13 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Bank Atlantic Center *
06-15 Atlanta, GA - Gwinnett Center *
06-16 Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Bobcats Arena *
06-18 Cleveland, OH - Wolstein Center (Cleveland State University) *
06-20 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden *
06-21 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall *

* with 65daysofstatic