At 10:40 pm, the stage lights on the third day of the North Festival, in Cidade Desportiva da Maia, turn off and the screams of the audience that sold out the Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Stadium on Sunday night begin to overlap the ambient music. And it is with an irony that is difficult to ignore that The Cure set the tone for the beginning of a concert that will last two and a half hours: “This is the end”, sings Robert Smith in the first verse of Aloneas if confirming what the vocalist and undisputed leader of the English band had already said in 2024, anticipating that the end of this 50-year career will come sooner or later. But not for now, almost asked the many spectators from different generations who filled a 40,000-seat stadium and which, before the night’s headliners, also welcomed the Portuguese Linda Martini and the Scottish Mogwai. “My father was already a fan, so he was always very present in my life”, said one of the young women hours before the concert. “We have been fans since they existed – since we existed, in fact”, said a group of friends in their 50s.
To themes from the most recent album, Songs of a Lost World (already in 2024 and the first studio album after 16 years), an avalanche of classics followed that resulted in a session of karaoke joint on the North Festival stage. Smith’s performing voice did not seem to disappoint the desire for nostalgia of those waiting Just like heaven, The forest, The lovecats, Friday I’m in love, Close to me or Why can’t I be you. And when the first chords of Boys don’t cry Practically no one in the stands is sitting anymore. Clapping, whistling and humming in unison accompany the song until the end, followed by a long standing ovation that makes the floor vibrate. “Thank you. I’ll see you again”, says Robert Smith. It’s a sign of hope for those who have seen Smith live several times and confess to PÚBLICO: “I always try to go back to one of their concerts. We never know when it’s going to be the last one.”
Text by Joana Araújo Cardoso edited by Maria Paula Barreiros
