The Cure – KILBURN & THE BACKSTREETS (2CD) Compact Disc Double

Thirty-something years ago, many Cure fans were beside themselves with excitement for a very special Cure gig. Ahead of the full Wish Tour, the band announced a clutch of warm-up dates at club venues. Most shows that fans had seen up to that point had either been in enormous arenas, or outdoor venues. The Kilburn National Ballroom was a relatively tiny venue for The Cure, and that only added to the feeling of anticipation. Seeing your cult heroes live would be honour enough, but up-close-and-personal was even better.£10 tickets, as the face value was for those able and willing to queue-up on the relevant day, ended up costing £60 on the night for many, but being a Cure fan in the early 90s wasn’t a cheap option. People danced and sang along. There were promotional balloons! Happy the man, as the old B-side goes.The gig itself was a loud, joyous, sweaty sprint through the amazing new double album Wish plus several hits and many surprises. The crane camera swinging and floating above the crowd added a showbiz touch to proceedings, and from what some recall there was a fair bit of crowd-surfing going on during the faster numbers (this was ’92, the golden age of grunge…).