The finishing line may have been in sight for THE CURE on their summer long tour of European festivals, but they showed no-signs of taking it easy for a sold-out Royal Highland Showground in Edinburgh.
There is many a hot ticket to be had in Edinburgh in August. But for all the talented comedians and performers plying their trade around the city, it is doubtful that there was a hotter one this year than that at the Royal Highland Showground on 23rd August. Take THE CURE, one of the most significant bands to come from these shores, add in Glasgow’s finest post-rockers MOGWAI, shoegaze legends SLOWDIVE and Irish noise merchants JUST MUSTARD all as support and you have a line-up that is Hot, Hot, Hot (sorry!). With attendees from all over the world (Danes, Germans, South Koreans and Aussies were all encountered alongside those more local) this is clearly THE place to be.
Hailing from Dundalk, Ireland, JUST MUSTARD are the relative youngsters on the line-up, though with three albums under their collective belt, including last year’s excellent ‘We Were Just Here‘ which features heavily in the set, they are seasoned hands at this sort of thing. Their dark, at times claustrophobic, sound is a bit of a paradox in the large open space under blue Scottish skies but is well-received by the early arrivals.
SLOWDIVE should need no introduction to readers of RESOUND. Having last appeared on these pages for their sold-out headline show at Brixton Academy last year, this is a rare UK appearance as they navigate global festivals at the tail-end of the album cycle for 2023’s excellent ‘Everything is Alive’. With a set confined to “The Hits”, they are clearly relishing the occasion, none more so than singer/guitarist Rachel Goswell with newly dyed peach pink hair and a couture kilt of Witches of Scotland tartan. With a leftie in their midst in Christian Savill, it’s a touching moment when the sparkle guitar of the late Perry Bamonte (a long standing member of THE CURE and fellow leftie) is bought out for use on ‘Alison’ by Perry’s wife, Donna. In Savill’s hands, the guitar sings and raises their set to an even greater height before the inevitable ‘When the Sun Hits’ closes their short time on stage.
As the showgrounds near capacity, and with the bar raised high from the two openers, it’s fortunate that the final support are more than up to the task in the form of Scottish post-rockers, MOGWAI. On home turf, they do not mess about with an opening one/two from ‘The Bad Fire’ , their recent eleventh album, giving competition to the jet planes taking off from the adjacent Edinburgh Airport. With niceties out the way, the rest of their set draws across the back catalogue – who doesn’t like eating their tea to the sound of a song called ‘Remurdered’? – before an epic ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ wraps up their hour long slot.
With the sun fading over the crowd as night slides in from the east, it’s perfect timing for THE CURE, a band who deftly navigate between light and dark, to take to the stage. As his bandmates launch into ‘Plainsong’, frontman Robert Smith takes in the view from the extremes, inspecting the crowd from under the big screens each side of the stage. Having deemed himself satisfied, he takes up position behind his mic and that ageless voice is unleashed. Despite being a Sunday, there is an end of summer party vibe around the showground, and although it is the 29th of 31 festival stops, THE CURE are clearly up for it – no going through the motions here.
With the powerhouse that is Jason Cooper behind the kit laying down the foundations with long time bassist Simon Gallup, the songs fleshed out by the effortless guitar playing of Reeves Gabrels entwining with that of Smith, the first half of the set digs deep in the nigh on 50 year back catalogue. Flanking the stage, keyboard player Roger O’Donnell has the long distance stare of a man wondering where he parked his car (an issue for many a punter later on), whilst on the opposite side, Eden Gallup adroitly switches between keys and guitar as the set dictates.
It’s a a joy of THE CURE that they have such a wealth of material to dig into. For every hit single, there is a lesser known cut that matches its more familiar counterpart and then some. The likes of ‘Burn’, ‘Push’, ‘Never Enough’ and the ever sublime ‘Lovesong’ all get greeted like old friends by the sold-out crowd, for whom these songs have soundtracked large chunks of their lives. But to assume this is an audience of 50 somethings would be a mistake. As with their support, SLOWDIVE, THE CURE have cross generational appeal, with plenty of 20-somethings joining their older peers in appreciate such a special band.
And the narrowing age gap is seen on stage as well with Gabriel Cooper, the 17 year old son of Jason, joining the band to deliver a perfect performance on saxophone for ‘A Night Like This’, a song experienced by your reviewer from the ferris wheel at the back of the showground, the clear notes ringing out into the Edinburgh night.
With this being their first show in Edinburgh since 1992, its striking that the entire set pre-dates this year (with one exception, the aforementioned ‘Burn’). The first part of the set concluded with an epic ‘Disintegration’, the subsequent eight song encore of classics is unleashed. Beautifully lit from the stage with the big screens projecting to the furthest parts of the Showground, ‘Lullaby’, ‘The Lovecats’, ‘Friday I’m in Love’ and set closer ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ showcase the sublime songwriting from the unique mind of Robert Smith. As witnessed by the 35,000 present, THE CURE remain one of the best bands out there. Long may they prevail.
Words and pictures: Geoff Shaw https://www.instagram.com/gsmusicphotos/
Merch from all the Summer 2026 Festival shows by THE CURE can be found at https://shopuk.thecure.com/?utm_source=the+cure&utm_medium=socials&utm_campaign=EU+Festival+Summer
This includes a fantastic poster for Edinburgh by Pete Dunlop (https://www.instagram.com/pete.dunlop.art/) with profits going to the Firefighters Charity.
Witches of Scotland is a campaign for justice; a legal pardon, an apology and memorial for the thousands of people – mostly women – convicted of witchcraft and executed between 1563 and 1736 in Scotland. The tartan produced by Prickly Thistle and worn by Rachel Goswell of SLOWDIVE at Summer Sessions symbolises and honours the victims and can be found at https://witchesofscotland.myshopify.com/
