Robert Smith, front man of the Cure, performing to a packed house last night. Photo / Richard Robinson
The last time the Cure played in New Zealand in 1992 I cried. It wasn't a full-blown blub, more a tear-to-the-eye moment when they played their 1981 single Charlotte Sometimes. I named my dog after that song and, adding to the emotion, was the fact the Cure were
the first band I ever really loved.
So I'm a Cure fan and I'm biased. To be honest, the epic nature of the three-hour Auckland concert - that's around 35 songs, including three encores - means only pure Cure fans can really cherish it.
But there's many watery eyes glistening with anticipation as the Cure take the stage with leader Robert Smith, as usual, looking like a walking bird's nest with his chaotic hair and camo-pants.
Fittingly they start with Open, from 1992's Wish, and then it's straight into the mighty Cure boogie of Fascination Street from Disintegration, one of the band's most popular albums thanks to the creepy pop of songs such as Lullaby.
As they play that song Smith wanders around with a cheeky glint in his eye and pouting those lipstick-smeared lips.
The show is a lolly scramble of songs from the band's many different eras over 30 years, during which they played everything from post punk, goth, pop and rock.
So there's seething angst (The Kiss, Blood and a rousing Shake Dog Shake); the dark and dour (most notably Faith, which Smith says they never play, and One Hundred Years off 1982's Pornography); the psycho quick fix of Shiver and Shake; and the often-maligned fluffy pop songs such as Friday I'm In Love.
The Cure have got their 13th studio album coming out this year but this tour is all about Smith and the lads getting on with giving the people what they want - all the best songs from one of the world's most enduring bands.
The second-to-last encore is a whip through their very earliest songs - Jumping Someone Else's Train, Boys Don't Cry, Grinding Halt and Killing Arab. And the closer is A Forest - 10 minutes-plus of pulsing bliss.
And no, I didn't cry. Boys don't cry, remember.
