The Cure have made their first stop on their 2026 UK and Ireland headline tour in Cardiff – see the setlist and highlights down below.
Robert Smith and co. have officially kicked off their huge 2026 hedline tour, which will see them traverse through Dublin, Belfast, Manchester and Edinburgh for this summer.
Yesterday (Wednesday June 24), the band stopped by Blackweir Fields in Cardiff, where they performed on the hottest day of the year – Bute Park recorded a historic June high of 33 degrees (via BBC News).
During their set, The Cure played a roster of their biggest hits, including ‘Lovesong’, ‘Lullaby’, ‘Close To Me’, ‘Friday I’m In Love’. They also played some more fitting tracks for the weather, including ‘Hot Hot Hot!!!’, ‘Burn’ and ‘Prayers For Rain’.
The Twilight Sad and The Joy Formidable were hand-picked by Smith to support the band on the day, with the former posting after the show: “That was a hot one, Cardiff! Thank you to everyone who braved the temps to come down early and catch us.”
Some fans were impressed by Smith’s commitment to a full goth-black outfit despite the weather. However, some fans bemoaned the intense temperatures, with one sharing a video of “all the goths burning to a crisp in this heat”.
Take a look at fan-filmed footage, high-quality photos and the full setlist for The Cure’s Blackweir show below:
@jasonmrebolos Big Robbo’s still got it! #thecure #cardiff #music #justlikeheaven #robertsmith
@meetmefrontleft Blackweir was a Cure show for the books @The Cure #thecure #lullaby #robertsmith #blackweir
@meetmefrontleft A big fan of Robert’s dance moves 🕺 @The Cure #thecure #robertsmith #blackweir #cardiff
@meetmefrontleft Can’t say the man doesn’t commit to the bit for goths 🖤 @The Cure #robertsmith #heatwave #thecure #plainsong #cardiff
@grace_2834 Best thing I’ve ever done #thecure #robertsmith #cardiff #thecure2026 @Jamie
The Cure’s 2026 Cardiff show setlist is:
‘Plainsong’
‘Pictures of You’
‘High’
‘A Night Like This’
‘Lovesong’
‘The Last Day of Summer’
‘In Your House’
‘Secrets’
‘Push’
‘In Between Days’
‘Just Like Heaven’
‘Treasure’
‘Want’
‘Burn’
‘A Forest’
‘From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea’
‘Prayers for Rain’
‘Disintegration’
Encore:
‘Lullaby’
‘Hot Hot Hot!!!’
‘Wrong Number’
‘The Walk’
‘The Lovecats’
‘Let’s Go to Bed’
‘Friday I’m in Love’
‘Close to Me’
‘Why Can’t I Be You?’
‘Boys Don’t Cry’
Tomorrow (June 26), The Cure continue with their trek with a slot at Marlay Park in Dublin, before performing on Sunday June 28 with a stop at Belsonic in Belfast.
On August 21 they’ll play a show in Manchester as part of the Live From Wythenshawe Park summer series, and this will be followed by a gig at the Royal Highland Showgrounds on Sunday August 23 as part of the Edinburgh Summer Sessions.
No London dates have been announced so far, but it’s rumoured the band will play a huge show at the Royal Albert Hall.
You can purchase any remaining tickets here.
Earlier this month, Robert Smith announced The Cure’s new album was “done”, with a “really poppy” and “upbeat” separate album also on the way. These new albums will serve as the follow-up to their 2024 record ‘Songs Of A Lost World’.
Smith said people may interpret the third album he’s recorded as influenced by his recent collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, who he duetted with on her recent album ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’.
“The third one is weird, actually,” he explained. “Now I’ve been doing this, people think, ‘Ah, it’s because he’s been working with Olivia, because the third one is actually really upbeat. It’s really poppy, but it doesn’t compare melodically to the stuff that Olivia does, but it’s my idea of Cure Pop. It’s probably 20 BPM slower than anything she does, but [compared to] what we’ve done in last couple of years, it’s really rocking. It’s banging.”
However, the newest album on the way will be “dismal”, according to Smith. “It’s quite dark, it’s related to ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, but it’s a different perspective on things.”
In a five-star review of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, NME concluded: “Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest. The frontman suggested that another two records may be arriving at some point, but ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ feels sufficient enough for the wait we’ve endured, just for being arguably the most personal album of Smith’s career. Mortality may loom, but there’s colour in the black and flowers on the grave.”