The Setlist Draft: What Should The Cure Play At Their 2026 UK and Ireland Shows?
Thursday, 02 October 2025
Written by Matt Mills
Photo: Andy Vella
The Cure are returning for their first full-length tour since the release of 2024 comeback album ‘Songs of a Lost World’. Over the past few days, Robert Smith’s post-punk luminaries have announced multiple 2026 European festival dates, including headline spots at weekenders as huge as Primavera Sound, Isle Of Wigh, Rock en Seine, and Nova Rock.
Then, on the news was accompanied by the revelation of four headline gigs in the UK and Ireland, scheduled to take place in June and August with support from a gigantic, rotating lineup featuring Mogwai, The Twilight Sad, Slowdive, Just Mustard, Stella and the Dreaming, and The Slow Readers Club. Tickets go on general sale this Friday (October 3) at 9am for Manchester and Edinburgh, and 12pm for Dublin and Belfast.
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of The Cure, especially considering the only show they’ve played in the past year was an ultra-intimate affair at the Troxy in London. Hopefully, with their return, they’ll bring out a shaken-up setlist mixing classics, new songs and deep cuts. Speaking for ourselves, here are five tracks we’d kill to hear.
When the moment calls for…a bold opening
There’s plenty of hype around the new Cure tour, so now is not the time for them to play it safe. The band haven’t pulled out Open, the first track from their 1992 chart-topper ‘Wish’, since 2016, and, frankly, that’s a shame. With its clamouring percussion and sliding guitar line, it’s a distinctive, powerful moment, more than worthy of being re-introduced to the setlist. Kicking off the upcoming concerts with this wouldn’t just guarantee energy from the off; it would instantly tell the crowd that all bets are off and that anything could happen over the next few hours. Bonus points if the song that follows this one is High, but we’re just being greedy at this point.
When the moment calls for…something brand spanking new
The Cure were playing tracks from ‘Songs of a Lost World’ live long before the album was announced, and they definitely won’t disappear on the next tour. The most essential piece from the latest platter is Alone, which served as the first single from ‘Songs…’ and, by proxy, the first slice of Cure material in 16 years. It’s going to be the new song fans are most familiar with, so even if only one recent thing is played in 2026, it will be this. Mind you – with its crunching bass, quasi-orchestral synths and Robert Smith’s ageless voice – this still feels like a proper old-school experience. Anyone who complains about this coming out in lieu of a ‘greatest hit’ doesn’t understand: this is a greatest hit.
When the moment calls for…a bona fide crowd-pleaser
People unfamiliar with The Cure tend to characterise them as a dreary goth band fronted by a black-clad singer who doesn’t smile. And, yeah, that may be true a lot of the time, but it also undermines just how many feelgood hits this lot have under their belt as well. Case in point: Friday I’m in Love. An earnest pop number from the vibrant ‘Wish’ album, it cracked the top 10 on the UK charts in 1992 and has gone on to be a defining anthem. For live crowds, it’s a must-hear, not to mention incredibly easy to sing along to thanks to its days-of-the-week verse structure. It will be played, or else riots will break out, but we still want to hear it.
When the moment calls for…some goth rock gloom
The yang to Friday I’m in Love’s yin. The Cure spent the first era of their career at the forefront of the goth, post-punk and new wave genres, unloading moody milestone after moody milestone, especially the albums ‘Seventeen Seconds’ and ‘Pornography’. On paper, A Forest is far from a hit track, lingering for six minutes as Robert Smith sings what can only be described as a folk-horror story. Yet, the song has persisted as a fan-favourite, in no small part thanks to its iconic guitar part and enigmatic keyboards. If a show is going to capture the full breadth of The Cure, it needs to have this end of their sound in balance with the happy-go-lucky singles.
When the moment calls for…everybody to come alive
When you’re seeing a band as introverted and introspective as The Cure, crowd-popping interactions are few and far between. Robert’s yell of ‘put your hands in the sky!’ during From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea is one, but the most enduring is the keyboard melody in 1980’s Play for Today. Following the whoa-ing of the crowd as heard on 1993’s ‘Paris’ live album, audiences everywhere now vocalise in time with this ‘Seventeen Seconds’ highlight. It’s an enduring, special moment, to the point that Play… has made the setlist more than 850 times, despite not originally coming out as a single or enjoying much mainstream attention. Start warming your voice up now and you’ll be ready for this spectacle come next summer.
The Cure Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri June 26 2026 - DUBLIN Marlay Park
Sun June 28 2026 - BELFAST Ormeau Park
Fri August 21 2026 - MANCHESTER Wythenshawe Park
Sun August 23 2026 - EDINBURGH Royal Highland Centre
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