Show
Two nights of music and film: The Cure at their most volatile, vulnerable, and victorious.
Show is a live album and concert video by The Cure, capturing the band's performance during their 1993 Wish Tour. Released in 1993, it documents a pivotal era for the group, showcasing their blend of gothic rock, post-punk, and pop sensibilities in a live setting. The album serves as a companion to the studio album Wish, offering fans a snapshot of the band's dynamic stage presence and the energy of their early 1990s concerts.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- the Cure
- Released
- 13 September 1993
- Recorded
- 18–19 July 1992
- Venue
- The Palace of Auburn Hills (Auburn Hills, Michigan)
- Label
- Fiction; Elektra
- Producer
- Robert Smith
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Show captures The Cure at a peak of commercial and creative success, following the release of Wish in 1992. The album features performances from the band's core lineup of that era: Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, and Perry Bamonte. The setlist draws heavily from Wish, but also includes classics from earlier albums like Disintegration and The Head on the Door, creating a comprehensive overview of their career up to that point. The performances and video were recorded over two nights at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. The concert was later released as a home video, making it a visual document of the band's theatrical stage show, complete with Smith's iconic spiderweb guitar and dramatic lighting.
Reader's Guide
Released as a double CD and a concert video, 'Show' captures The Cure on the Wish Tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan—a venue better known for basketball than brooding. The 14-song setlist is a calculated gambit: it leans heavily on 'Wish' (the shimmering 'From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea', the sardonic 'Wendy Time'), but also resurrects older ghosts like 'The Walk' and 'One Hundred Years', creating a career-spanning mixtape for the converted. Critical reception was split—some hailed the raw, room-shaking mix; others mourned the absence of 'A Forest' or 'Pictures of You'. Chart-wise, it peaked modestly (Top 50 in both the UK and US), but its real legacy is as a time capsule of the band's pivot from gothic gloom to a more expansive, almost pop-friendly darkness. Production by the band and David M. Allen keeps the arena's reverb intact without drowning Smith's vocals. The video, directed by Aubrey Powell, adds backstage grit—Smith adjusting his eyeliner, the crew taping setlists to monitors—that grounds the myth in human sweat.
Did You Know?
- The album's cover art features a stylized image of Robert Smith's face, a common motif in The Cure's visual identity.
- The setlist includes 'A Letter to Elise', a single from Wish, which had been performed live before the Wish Tour.
More in Albums & EPs
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