The marquee band of MTV's alternative-rock show "120 Minutes" and late-night tortured dorm-room poetry writing sessions in the late-1980s, the Cure has announced its first Twin Cities concert in 20 years, a June 7 date at Xcel Energy Center. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and the arena box office for $25-$85. Scottish band the Twilight Sad will open.
Although not the arty British rock band that Minnesota fans were most hoping to see after a two-decade wait (come on already, Radiohead!), the "Just Like Heaven" hitmakers still generate a lot of excitement from Gen-X musicheads, and it should also bring out a lot of curious millennial indie-rock fans who have never had the chance to see them. The band has already sold out Madison Square Garden for three nights later in June.
In addition to makeup-smeared, spider-haired frontman Robert Smith, the Cure's modern-day lineup includes two other heyday era members, bassist Simon Gallup and keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. Its lead guitarist is now Reeves Gabrels, who performed with David Bowie in Tin Machine. There is no new album to promote. A press release for the tour instead promises "37 years of Cure songs, mixing hits, rarities, favourites, and as yet unreleased tracks in a brand new stage production."
