Festival season peaks with The Cure closing Riot Fest, best headlining set of the summer
The Cure lead singer Robert Smith on the Riot Stage headlining day three of the rock music festival in Douglass Park.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The anticipation had been building all day for the grand finale to Riot Fest 2023. Bands from Cults to The Dresden Dolls waxed ecstatic about being able to even share the same stage as The Cure. Festivalgoers wore T-shirts from all eras of the legendary British gloom rockers — including the special design sold just for Sunday’s event.
The rain held off for the two-and-a-half-hour set (though a shower or two would’ve been a total vibe). And when it came time for the goth heroes to plug in for the first notes, they — unsurprisingly — did not disappoint in the marathon performance that deserves the title of the best headlining set in Chicago’s summer festival season as it comes to a glorious close.
“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.
The musicianship of Smith, bassist Simon Gallup, keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, guitarists Perry Bamonte and Reeves Gabrels and drummer Jason Cooper is unparalleled and best appreciated in the latest concert experience. Together they create a symphony for the solemn, kicking up a bevy of memories and emotions that fans packed with them like baggage for the night.
The 45-years-young band heightens feelings, not just the dark cloud of heartbreak the band is often chided as invoking but also a total celebration of requited love. The Cure is the master of puppets that pulls at the heartstrings of anyone with a beating pulse.
From the crowd favorite “Burn” (made popular in the soundtrack of “The Crow” from 1994) weaving into “Fascination Street,” additional hits like “Lovesong,” “Close yo Me” and “Just Like Heaven” and sonic sweepers such as “A Forest,” The Cure were instrumental perfection and perhaps the loudest set of the weekend. Whether that was acoustics or the fact that the attentive listeners held their breath and kept a silent lull over the park is up for debate.
Smith, too, was having a ball — making faces at the camera, cracking a few smiles and bringing all of his vocal register to play.
Like other shows on the tour, in which The Cure fought for fans by reimbursing ticket fees and keeping merch costs low, the musicians did what they could at Riot Fest; the special edition T-shirts were just $25, and there’s no doubt they sold plenty as a memento to remember the night.