The Cure Whitley Bay Ice Rink 1985
By 1985 The Cure had graduated to playing at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, which was a cavernous (and cold!) venue which was frequented by bigger bands during the 80s, before Newcastle Arena was built. By 1985 The Cure had hit the single chart on several occasions, including the superb “Love Cats”. I went along to this gig with my mate Dave, and we were both quite into the band at the time. I seem to remember that we both liked “Love Cats”. Support came from Hard Corps, who were a French band. 
By the time of this gig, The Cure were centred very much around Robert Smith, as band leader and the focus of the live performance. The Cure in concert had become much more of a rock / pop show, and Smith was coming into his own as a front man. Setlist: The Baby Screams, Play For Today, A Night Like This, Primary, Kyoto Song, The Blood, The Hanging Garden, Charlotte Sometimes, Inbetween Days, Let’s Go To Bed, The Walk, Push, Screw, One Hundred Years, A Forest, Sinking. First Encore: Give Me It, Boys Don’t Cry. Second Encore: You Really Got Me, I Dig You. It was over 20 years till I saw The Cure again, when Laura, David and I went to see them at Wembley Arena.
10 Jul
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Gavin on January 19, 2023 at 12:42 am
Heh, Whitley Bay ice rink, I saw quite a few bands there, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Oasis spring immediately to mind, terrible acoustics and as you say cold! I was 12 when this gig took place so too young but my elder brother and his friends went. Anyway, the Cure have been a bucket list band for decades and I finally saw them in Glasgow last month, and they were superb I’ve got to say. They actually played the now gone Newcastle Mayfair in 1992 but couldn’t get tickets. A band I really loved as a teenager, Disintegration was the soundtrack to my adolescent gloom lol. Glad I finally got a chance to see them , and that they didn’t disappoint..
Posted by vintagerock on January 19, 2023 at 11:06 am
Hi Gavin
Whitley Bay Ice Rink was a terrible venue. Really cold! But it served a purpose at the time! The Cure are an amazing live band! Happy days Peter