The Cureheads

Lore & Background

The Cureheads were formed in 1990 in London by Gary Clarke, then lead singer of Nosferatu. The name derives from Irish slang for someone with the '1980s mop-haired Gothic look'. Their first show was in Stockholm in July 1990, and they appeared on ZTV that same year. Their first large headline show was at WGT in 1995.

The band has toured the UK, US, continental Europe, and South America, playing venues including The Vic Theater in Chicago, Camden Palace in London, CBGB in New York, and Razzmatazz in Barcelona. In 2010, they played to 10,000 people in Chile at Teatro Caupolicán, recorded for national television. In 2012, they performed in Paraguay and Argentina ahead of The Cure's 2013 shows there. Since 2018, they have toured with a double-headline tribute show titled The Story of Goth, featuring a Siouxsie and the Banshees set under the name Siouxsie and the Budgies, followed by a Cureheads set.

Line-ups have included members from Gothic rock bands such as Nosferatu, Killing Miranda, and The Essence. Ron Howe, original saxophonist on The Cure's Head on the Door album, frequently guests. Jeremy Hayward, guitar technician for The Cure, was also a member.

Reader's Guide

The Cureheads hold significance as the longest-running tribute band to The Cure, maintaining a presence for over three decades. Their longevity and global touring—including South America, where The Cure had not performed until 2013—underscore their role in sustaining and expanding the band's fanbase. The group's adaptation to a double-headline format with Siouxsie and the Budgies demonstrates their engagement with broader Gothic subculture. Their inclusion in Record Collector magazine's special edition and the 2023 book Curepedia: An A-Z of The Cure by Simon Price highlights their recognition within music journalism and fan communities. The involvement of former Cure members and associates, such as Andy Anderson and Ron Howe, adds a layer of authenticity. The band's history, including the name change and the anecdote about Charlie Simpson falling offstage, contributes to their lore. Their legacy lies in faithfully recreating The Cure's live experience for audiences worldwide, often in regions where the original band had limited presence.

Origins and Identity

The Cureheads emerged in London in 1990, founded by Gary Clarke, who at the time fronted the gothic rock group Nosferatu and would later go on to sing with The Hiram Key. From the outset, the project was conceived as a faithful recreation of The Cure's live sound and stage presence, a mission that would make them the longest-running and arguably the most recognized tribute act dedicated to the band. The name itself carries a playful nod to subculture: it derives from an Irish slang expression used to describe anyone sporting the distinctive mop-haired, gothic aesthetic of the 1980s. For the first decade of their existence, the group performed under the longer moniker "Fat Bob & The Cureheads." It was not until 2000 that they shortened the name, a change prompted by Ita Martin of Fiction Records, who felt the original title risked offending The Cure themselves. This early decision to tread carefully around the band they emulated set the tone for a career built on deep respect for the source material.

A Decade of Global Touring

The Cureheads' very first gig took place in July 1990 at Frietzfronten, a basement bar on St. Eriksgatan 89 in Stockholm that was owned by a Swedish political party. Within the same year they appeared on ZTV, a Swedish music television channel, performing live during the Stockholm Water Festival. Their first major headline date came in 1995 at the WGT festival, still under the Fat Bob & The Cureheads banner. Over the following decades their route stretched across the UK, the United States, continental Europe, and South America, with stops at iconic venues such as CBGB in New York, The Vic Theater in Chicago, Camden Palace in London, Temple Bar in Dublin, and Razzmatazz in Barcelona. A particularly memorable night arrived in 2007 when Charlie Simpson of Busted booked the group as a wedding gift for the bassist of Fightstar; Simpson joined them onstage for "Inbetween Days" and, by the band's account, tumbled off the stage and lost consciousness during the final verse. In 2010 they played to ten thousand fans at Santiago's Teatro Caupolicán, a former national basketball arena, in a performance broadcast on Chilean national television.

Ties to The Cure and the Gothic Rock Family

The Cureheads have maintained an unusually close orbit around The Cure's own personnel and the wider gothic rock community. Gary Clarke performs in the role of Robert Smith, while the rest of the lineup mirrors the band's classic configuration: Philip Mayor channels Porl Thompson (or John McGeoch during the Siouxsie set), Nigel Gorman takes on Simon Gallup (or Steven Severin), Calum Ward embodies Boris Williams (or Budgie), and Vlad Ivanov steps into Roger O'Donnell's keyboard seat. The band's roster has also drawn heavily from the gothic rock scene, with past members hailing from Nosferatu, Killing Miranda, and The Essence. Perhaps the most striking connection came in August 2012, when Andy Anderson, the original drummer on The Cure's early recordings, joined the group. His tenure ended abruptly when he failed to show up at the airport for the start of their South American tour that November, and the band reported they had not heard from him since. Ron Howe, who played saxophone on The Cure's Head on the Door, has been a frequent guest, and Jeremy Hayward, Robert Smith's long-time guitar technician, was a member from 2001 to 2005.

Legacy and The Story of Goth

Since 2018, The Cureheads have expanded their live offering into a double-headline tribute evening called The Story of Goth. The first half of the show is devoted to Siouxsie and the Banshees, performed under the playful name Siouxsie and the Budgies with vocalist Ceri Anne Gregory fronting the band. After an interval, the same musicians return as The Cureheads, with Gary Clarke resuming his role as Robert Smith for a set dedicated entirely to The Cure's catalogue. This dual format has allowed them to book larger festival slots, including the Isle of Wight Festival in 2016, 2017, and 2021, Glastonbudget in 2017 and 2019, Glastonbarry in 2022, and Denmark's Roskilde Festival. They have also opened for acts such as Echo and The Bunnymen, The Pretenders, and Depeche Mode at Bilbao BBK Live. Their cultural standing was affirmed in 2021 when Record Collector magazine featured Gary Clarke in a special edition devoted to The Cure, and again in 2023 when music journalist Simon Price highlighted the group in Curepedia: An A-Z of The Cure, describing them as a fixture of the subculture that has grown around the band over more than three decades.