Robert Smith performed three of The Cure’s songs in a festive livestream last night (December 12th). Smith lent his iconic vocals for the 24 hour long Nine Lessons And Carols For Curious People charity livestream special.
The livestream event was broadcasted by the Cosmic Shambles Network. The entirety of the livestreams’ donations will be split equally between charities Doctors Without Borders, Turn2Us, Mind and Kings Place Music Foundation.
Established in France in 1971, Doctors Without Borders is an international humanitarian non-governmental organisation that executes charitable projects in conflict zones and countries affected by endemic diseases. Turn2Us fights UK poverty through donating financial hardship funds.
Mind is a British programme that reaches out to individuals suffering with mental health problems, meanwhile the Kings Place Music Foundation partners with music and arts organisations around the UK to deliver learning and participation activities to the local community.
Although the event took place last night, fans are still able to donate to the Nine Lessons and Carols For Curious People Crowdfunder page. More information about this can be found here.
Hosted by Robin Ince, Smith performed the songs M, Play for Today and In Your House for the charity livestream. M, Play for Today and In Your House are all taken from The Cures’ second studio album, Seventeen Seconds, which came out back in 1980.
A socially distanced performance, of course, Smith sits alone and barefoot in what looks like his home studio. Accompanied only by his drum machine, the Just Like Heaven hitmaker’s heavenly croon fills the studio as it would for an intimate Cure gig. Smith’s mesmerising performance was also shared to YouTube, the video in question obtaining over 13,000 views.
Meanwhile, The Cure have stood up and shown support for the struggling live music industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Taking part in the #ILoveLive campaign, Smith donated his beloved black UltraCure guitar.
The Cure announced their participation in the #ILoveLive campaign via a post to Instagram. Sharing a photograph of Smith playing the legendary guitar, The Cure wrote in a length caption: “Robert is giving away his schecter ‘fibonacci sequence’ black UltraCure guitar – played at every show in 2016 – to benefit UK music.” Fans were clearly happy with the news, as the post received over 49,000 likes.
Fans can enter the prize draw by following a link in the bio of The Cures’ official Instagram page. The #ILoveLive prize draw will take place tonight.
Back in September, Smith revealed that he had dedicated most of 2020 to “finishing off” a brand new album with The Cure, along with a solo record. When chatting to NME, Smith divulged that the band had been plugging hard on “two new albums and an hour of noise.” Hopefully, The Cure won’t keep us waiting too long for their next masterpieces!
