2023.09.17 Chicago (IL) - Douglass Park (USA) 'Riot Fest'

[dsanchez]

The band will return to the USA for a show at Riot Festival in Chicago. In the bill with The Cure on 17th September are other excellent groups such as Ride, GYBE and The Mars Volta:

🚨 ICYMI🚨
Lineups for @RiotFest are now available!#RiotFest #BowlingForSoup #GettingOldSucksTour

Head to https://t.co/Z2sao0YrZm for more info! pic.twitter.com/jvs1s6JJKS

— Bowling For Soup (@bfsrocks) June 19, 2023

[Ulrich]

Setlist from this festival headlining spot:

Alone, Pictures of You, High, Lovesong, And Nothing is Forever, Cold, Burn, Fascination Street, A Night Like This, Push, In Between Days, Just Like Heaven, At Night, Play for Today, A Forest, Shake Dog Shake, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Endsong

Lullaby, The Walk, Friday I'm in Love, Close to Me, Why Can't I Be You?, Boys Don't Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab


First review's already online:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/9/17/23878163/the-cure-review-riot-fest-2023-best-headlining-set-chicago

On the last day of the rock music festival, it was clear attendees were there for The Cure — and they did not disappoint. The marathon performance deserves the title of the best headlining set of Chicago's summer festival season.

"Hello ... again," Robert Smith, wearing an Amy Winehouse T-shirt, cheekily addressed the crowd after the band ripped through "Alone." It was just three months ago that the six-piece was in Chicago, playing an epic 31-song, three-plus-hour set at the United Center — not that anyone minded the repeat.

[Ulrich]

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/riot-fest-2023-day-3-pics-the-cure-gorilla-biscuits-afi-ride-balance-and-composure-more/

[dsanchez]

Full show available on YouTube:

[Ulrich]

Andy Bell (from Ride) with Robert (+unknown person) at Riot Fest:



https://www.instagram.com/andybebop/

Another review:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimryan1/2023/09/19/the-cure-dresden-dolls-ride-afi-shine-as-riot-fest-wraps-up-in-chicago/

Despite the amended schedule, an unopposed festival closing set by The Cure went off without a hitch, taking place over the course of nearly two and a half hours on the Riot stage.

Four hours earlier, Oxford shoegazers Ride appeared on the same stage, performing at Riot Fest for the first time since 2019.

"I saw The B-52s here last time. And I was really pleased with that. I enjoyed that. It made my day - made my year," said Ride singer and guitarist Andy Bell backstage prior to the group's set. "The Cure of course," he said with a smile when asked what artists he looked forward to seeing this time around.

As Cure frontman Robert Smith continues his battle to rein in prices, the group undercut just about everyone else on the three day bill, once again selling t-shirts for just $25.

Clad in an Amy Winehouse tee Sunday, Smith kept banter to a minimum in Chicago, letting the music do the talking as the group continues their most profitable tour yet (even after lowering ticket prices).

Following a jubilant U.S. arena run which found the group shaking up the setlist each night amidst three hour plus performances, The Cure put a slightly greater emphasis on the hits Sunday amidst a shortened festival set - but still worked in a trio of new tracks from the forthcoming studio album Songs of a Lost World, the group's first since 2008.