The Cure took the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony stage as they always have: with searing riffs cutting through the smoke. The stage was dark when the band kicked things off with The Top’s hard-hitting “Shake Dog Shake”; the band members’ silhouettes dancing behind them. Then the angular array of lights turned green, and an eerie keyboard part signaled the start of “A Forest,” off their Seventeen Seconds album from 1980. Negative black and white footage of a woods scene played behind the group as Smith’s guitar wooshed to the beat. By the end of the song, Smith was pushing high up the neck of his guitar for its squeakiest notes. Then the sound of his instrument changed to a jangly echo, and his drummer cued the beat to Disintegration’s “Lovesong.” Smith’s voice rang out, “I will always love you,” as the final chord wrung out. They then kicked up the tempo for “Just Like Heaven,” and the stage washed blue over the group. Women were doing wild dances between expensive tables on the dance floor and the cheap seats bellowed along with Smith. “I think we’ve got time for about one more,” Smith told the crowd as he strummed a black guitar with a white star on its face. The crowd cheered and a springy lead guitar signaled the start of “Boys Don’t Cry.” As the screen behind them showed photos from throughout their career, you could feel an emotional swell in the audience that suggested the song’s title wasn’t really true. And with a sweet thank you and a coy bite of his lip, Smith & Co. left the stage. In an interview with Rolling Stone following news of the Cure’s Rock Hall induction, the band’s former drummer-keyboardist Lol Tolhurst said he was hopeful to rejoin Smith onstage. “The jury is out about what might happen at the actual ceremony, but I’m looking for some surprises,” he said. “I always hear from people how much the Cure touched their lives,” Tolhurst added. “Obviously it’s nice for people to say that something you’ve done has meant something to them, but on a personal level it’s humbling if you take it in the right way because otherwise you can let your ego go completely ridiculous. That’s not really what I want to experience.” The Cure’s victory lap will continue this summer with a slot at the 2019 Glastonbury festival. The band is also reportedly finishing work on their new album, their first since 2008’s 4:13 Dream.<doc-sep>NEW YORK, New York -- The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted its seven newest members on Friday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The ceremony, which lasted for just over five hours, featured impressive performances by The Cure, Stevie Nicks and Def Leppard. Notable speeches were given by Trent Reznor, Harry Styles and Janet Jackson. Other moments weren’t so sweet. Here are the highs and lows of the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Stevie Nicks gives powerful start Stevie Nicks became the first female musician to be inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Friday night when she was inducted for her solo career. She kicked the entire night off, playing “Stand Back,” “Leather And Lace,” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Edge Of Seventeen.” Then, she launched into a rambling acceptance speech, talking about everything from her days in Fleetwood Mac to her current success. At the end, she made a joke about the scatterbrained speech. “If you ever need a keynote speaker, somebody to talk to a group of people, I am your girl,” said Nicks. Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks show off friendship Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks brought their friendship to the stage during Nicks’ performance of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” “I’d like to introduce to you somebody I’ve become really good friends with over the years,” Nicks said, before introducing Styles. “Tonight, standing in for Tom Petty, is Mr. Harry Styles.” Styles emerged wearing a bright blue suit and white shoes -- his first appearance of the night, since the singer had skipped the red carpet ahead of the show. The song, which followed Nicks’ performance of “Stand Back” and her and Don Henley’s warm performance of “Leather and Lace” was one of the most anticipated duets of the night. Radiohead’s induction was underwhelming Radiohead band members Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway were in Barclays Center to accept their Rock Hall induction, but the event was underwhelming without the presence of frontman Thom Yorke. Presenter David Byrne quipped a couple of jokes during his speech, and the band members provided some background during their acceptance speeches. However, the moment felt lacking for a band as influential as Radiohead, especially without a performance. Roxy Music reunion The Roxy Music performance was an exciting event for fans on Friday night. The semi-reunion with Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, and Phil Manzanera was the first time the band took the stage together since 2014. In total, the rock band shared five songs, including their hits “Love Is The Drug” and “Avalon.” Roxy Music’s influence on other acts was outlined by Duran Duran members Simon Le Ban and John Taylor, who inducted the band together. “They influenced the life choices of everyone who came into contact with them,” said Le Bon. “[Without] Roxy Music there really would be no Duran Duran.” Rock Hall Singles was a snooze Presenter Steven Van Zandt’s speech created confusion over how the Rock Hall makes decisions for its new Singles category when he said, “We don’t always choose the original versions. Instead, we chose the most iconic versions.” If that is true, why did they honor the Isley Brothers’ version of “Twist And Shout” instead of The Beatles’ catchy cover? Why did they honor The Shadows Of Knight’s version of “Gloria,” and not Van Morrison’s? With Van Zandt meandering through the six songs chosen in the honor, and the sound cutting out during the induction of The Shangri-Las’ “Leader Of The Pack,” the segment ended up being the biggest snoozer of the night. The Cure sounded as sharp as ever The best performance of the night was by The Cure. The British goth rockers cruised through “Shake Dog Shake,” “Just Like Heaven” and “Boys Don’t Cry” sounding in tip-top shape. It all made sense for a band that already has a summer schedule packed with festival headlining dates. The show followed a touching speech from Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who talked about the band’s influence on his own musicality. “Immediately, this band struck a deep chord with me,” Reznor continued. “I’ve struggled my whole life feeling like I don’t fit in or belong anywhere. Hearing this, suddenly I felt connected.” Janet Jackson shines Janet Jackson didn’t perform, but she didn’t have to. Her star power was enough. The pop star’s moving speech went from her childhood to her present success. She didn’t shy away from talking about family, despite controversy surrounding her brother Michael. “In 1997, my brothers were recognized for their musical passion by being Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Jackson said. “I witnessed, along with the rest of the world, my family’s extraordinary impact on popular culture. Not just in America, but all around the globe. “As the youngest in the family, I was determined to make it on my own. But never in a million years, did I expect to follow in their footsteps. Tonight, your baby sister has made it.” At the end of her speech, Jackson called on the Rock Hall to induct more women in 2020. Janelle Monae, who inducted Jackson, shared her own appreciation for the musician. “Our fearless leader is one of the biggest selling artists in music history,” Monae said of Jackson. “This gifted singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actress is an icon. She’s a bold visionary, a rule breaker, a risk taker and a boundless visual artist. Quite simply, there is only one Janet.” The Zombies’ sound suffered The Zombies had the longest wait of anyone to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame -- the band had been eligible since 1990. So, they deserved their moment. However, while the band’s induction was well-deserved, the performance was lacking. Colin Blunstone’s voice felt labored right from the beginning, making the opening rendition of “Time of the Season” unbearable. Even Argent’s brilliant keyboard work on the latter part of the song couldn’t save the day. But, considering that the song reached No. 1 in the United States exactly 50 years ago on the night of the induction ceremony, the band’s aged sound was somewhat understandable. Def Leppard brings the hits Def Leppard proved a proper headliner for the 2019 ceremony. Frontman Joe Elliott honored fans, family and his bandmates with a speech that spanned the band’s entire career. Def Leppard followed that up with a set list of its biggest songs, including “Rock of Ages,” “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” which had fans standing on their feet as the five hour ceremony drew to a close.<doc-sep>
The Cure performed five songs last night after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in New York. Robert Smith and co took to the stage and performed ‘Shake Dog Shake,’ ‘A Forest’, ‘Love Song’, ‘Just Like Heaven’, and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ following their induction, which was preceded by a moving speech from Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor. In his speech, Reznor said: “Despite making challenging music that deals with the biggest themes, their impact has been gigantic. They’ve sold the best part of who gives a shit how many million records and been an essential touchstone in the genres of post-punk, New Wave, goth, alternative, shoegaze and post-rock. “They’ve been in and out of fashion so many times in the last four decades that they ended up transcending fashion itself. Though they might be a hip name to drop in 2019, this wasn’t always the case. Their dedication to pushing sonic and artistic boundaries while making music for the ages wasn’t always rewarded with glowing reviews in the press.” He continued: “But they never failed to attract a passionate, intelligent and loyal fanbase who always knew the truth: The Cure are one of the most unique, most brilliant, most heartbreakingly excellent rock bands the world has ever known.” In his acceptance speech, Smith thanked all those who had been a part of The Cure’s story, “for better or worse” and paid tribute to the “much missed” former drummer Andy Anderson, who died recently after a battle with cancer. You can see footage and images from their performance here: Trent Reznor is inducting The Cure into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and somewhere my 6th grade self is screaming on a school bus. pic.twitter.com/D2jxefOo0w — Jada Yuan (@jadabird) March 30, 2019 The Cure kicks off #RockHall2019 set with “Shake Dog Shake.” pic.twitter.com/dXDSEWSFTT — Patrick Ryan (@PatRyanWrites) March 30, 2019 Congratulations @thecure on being inducted into Rock n Roll Hall of Fame 2019. Part 2 from red carpet interview CR x @CraigatCoF #RRHOF2019 pic.twitter.com/9ZwBAGQt4Y — Oh Meursault! (@crawleyrocket) March 30, 2019 @thecure induction speech at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame https://t.co/l4BZVv8m0e — The X Phil (@The_X_Phil) March 30, 2019 Recently, Smith confirmed that The Cure have finished recording their new album. The record, which is as-yet-untitled and has no release date, will be the band’s first studio release in over 10 years and their 14th studio album. Speaking on The John Maytham Show on Cape Town radio station Cape Talk, Smith said of their recent shows: “We’ve enjoyed it and we’ve just recorded a new album for the first time in 10 years.” He added that he was “still doing this for the right reasons” and that, while the group might cover different styles of music, but “because it’s us doing it, it sounds us.” The Cure were also confirmed to be headlining this year’s Glastonbury Festival earlier this month (March 15). They join Stormzy and The Killers at the top of a bill that also includes the likes of Janelle Monáe, Liam Gallagher, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Bastille, Billie Eilish, and more.