On Friday, November 1, 2024, The Cure released Songs of a Lost World. That same evening, they performed the entire record at London’s Troxy for 3,000 fans and over a million more through a free global stream. The brief liner notes bill The Show of a Lost World as a “recut / remixed / remastered film of all thirty-one songs” performed that night. The Cure’s website states that Nick Wickham directed the film and Robert Smith created a new surround sound mix (Smith is also credited with “Sisyphean Tasks” in the video’s end credits). The audio specs are listed as “2.0 Uncompressed LPCM Stereo [48k/16b]” and “5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.” The Blu-ray incudes an additional Dolby Atmos mix. Total runtime is two hours and forty-seven minutes. In addition to cornerstone Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Jason Cooper, Roger O’Donnell, Reeves Gabrels, and Perry Bamonte complete the performing lineup.
There is a “Full Show” option that begins with Smith already onstage and a “Full Show and ‘More Alone’ Intro” option that starts a few minutes earlier for fans who want the feeling of being in the crowd, knowing the band is about to take the stage, and anticipating that first electric second of seeing them appear. The Blu-ray divides the concert into four self-identifying segments that it categorizes as sets, should you wish to skip to a particular section of the show.
Set 1: “Songs of a Lost World” (played in order and in its entirety)
Alone
And Nothing Is Forever
A Fragile Thing
Warsong
Drone:Nodrone
I Can Never Say Goodbye
All I Ever Am
Endsong
Set 2: “Other Songs”
Plainsong
Pictures of You
High
Lovesong
Burn
Fascination Street
A Night Like This
Push
In Between Days
Just Like Heaven
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Disintegration
Set 3: “Seventeen Seconds Songs”
At Night
M
Secrets
Play for Today
A Forest
Set 4: “Encore Songs”
Lullaby
The Walk
Friday I’m in Love
Close to Me
Why Can’t I Be You?
Boys Don’t Cry
Since Songs of a Lost World constitutes slightly over a fourth of the show, how much you enjoy The Show of a Lost World may depend upon how much you enjoy its namesake album (I really enjoyed Songs of a Lost World and its accompanying tour as you can read about elsewhere on this site). Interestingly, after the first set, the most current song, “Burn,” dates from 1994. On this night, it’s as if the last thirty years don’t exist. In a sense they don’t as The Cure sound timeless and untouched by the intervening years between “Burn” and Songs of a Lost World.
Smith’s singing has not acquired the age-related encumbrances common to lead singers of his generation. The fullness, timbre, tone, and power seem the same as always. The Cure’s sound is great, unmistakably live but not like hearing your neighbor’s muffled television through the wall. The instruments and Smith’s voice are full, separated, and crisp. As best I can tell, the band is not lowering the pitch and/or tempo of the songs like some of their contemporaries. You’ll hear a few new things placed in here and there—for example, the solo of “A Night Like This” shreds a bit more and has a slightly different tone—but largely the live renditions follow the same arrangements as their studio counterparts. Part of the fun is comparing and finding the small differences between the recorded and live versions. As with any live show, there are a couple of quick missteps. For example, something goes kerflunky in “Friday I’m In Love” as everyone onstage looks momentarily bewildered, smiles at one another, and gets back on track. Such ripples reassure us that recut, remixed, and remastered doesn’t also mean “rerecorded and redone in the studio.”
The camera work gives viewers multiple perspectives without feeling too disorienting and it’s never jumpy or shaky. There are closeups, long shots over and occasionally out to the audience, wide angles, views looking down on the stage, views looking up at the stage, and various shots that slowly pan left, right, out, or in. The video quality is clear and grain-free.
If you want more breadth, you’ll have to look to something like 2019’s 40 LIVE (Curætion-25 + Anniversary), which captures two complete shows and fifty-seven songs, or the rough and roughly-reviewed Festival 2005. And I’m still holding out hope for an update and rerelease of the 1993 Show video on Blu-ray (like all their pre-2000 live video catalog, Show is unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray).
There is an extra feeling of melancholy hovering around Show of a Lost World. I proposed this review on December 22 and watched the show for the first time on December 29. In between, Perry Bamonte passed and some version of the world with him. Show of a Lost World is an excellent concert and has now become more: tribute, celebration, remembrance, and reminder of how quickly and unexpectedly time and people pass.