The Cure: Apeldoorn, Netherlands 1980

I suppose I was due. Every few years or so I find myself spending some quality time with the Cure, but rarely the same iteration of the group, as there have been many. If memory serves, our last tête-à-tête largely concerned itself with the dark psychedelia of the Pornography and Disintegration albums. Not this time, though – this time it’s the early, comparatively primal, Cure that have drawn my attention. In contrast to the aforementioned albums, this an era that scratches an entirely different sort of itch, as this Dutch television broadcast from 1980 neatly illustrates.

Here, captured while on tour mid-summer in Europe, we find a nascent, if not potent, form of the group — one both informed by and contributing to the conversation of post-punk. Touring in support of their recently released Seventeen Seconds lp, this was the Cure in transition, having recently augmented its core with the addition of Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (synths). Whereas the group’s sound, and presentation, would soon morph and evolve, this VHS rip finds them perfectly suspended in Dutch time.

1. In Your House 2. M 3. Jumping Someone Else’s Train 4. Another Journey By Train 5. A Forest 6. A Reflection 7. Play For Today

For heads by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page.