The Cure /Slowdive/ The Slow Readers Club, Wythenshawe Park. 21st August 2026

The sun is struggling as it slowly drops amongst the looming clouds over Wythenshawe Park. Quite fitting for tonight’s bill, as local lads and one of my favourite bands, The Slow Readers Club take to the stage in regulation black. They’re in good company, there’s not much colour in the crowd, but can they win them over from what’s traditionally the toughest slot on the bill. An explosive ‘Technofear’ is a good start and some fancy new backdrop video doesn’t hurt either. The breakdown with Jim’s solo bassline gets the handclaps and there’s clearly Readers fans out in force. They’ve gone a bit more bright and optimistic on more recent records, but they’re playing to the crowd with doomy classics like ‘You Opened Up My Heart’. Everyone seems quite transfixed on ‘Plant The Seed’, Aaron looks happy with a little smile indicating he see’s he’s got us. They’ve even woke the sun up, which definantly punches through the clouds with a warm embrace. ‘Everything I Own’ is slower and more contemplative, but loses no one. Granted I’m dug in quite deep, there might be chatting at the back, but where I’m stood, everyone’s into it. ‘The Wait’ kicks the gear up, we really are “all the matters”. Fuck me they’re good, I’m even warming to ‘Boy So Blue’, only a bit though. I’ll forgive this when they follow with ‘Forever In Your Debt’, all these years later it’s still my favourite and sounds as magnificent as ever. They all sound brilliant, but Aaron soars on ‘Know This I Am’, his vocals are always on point, but this is stunning. They close with ‘I Saw a Ghost’ and ‘Build a Tower’, the die hards identifying themselves with single knife like arms raised on the later. It’s the most self assured opening act I think I’ve ever seen. They’ll be hard to follow.

Granted, I’m a bit further back for Slowdive, having grabbed food in the break, but the sound in Wythenshawe Park is pretty decent and deals with the wind that’s picking up well. I can’t name a single Slowdive song, they were never a big band for me, but I’ve got to admit they sound pretty great. Full of grand atmospheric riffs and haunting ethereal vocals. It’s peak shoegaze, which, if you’re stood in this park, should be right up your street. It’s not all drifting guitars and feedback laden riffs, there’s some real juggernaut stuff in this set, which leaves me feeling I really should’ve paid more attention. I will from now on. They’re cool and cold, ominously blissed out as the sun slowly gives up the day. The bpm never gets out of control and that’s no bad thing as they get me to close my eyes and float. Not bad at all.

After some readjustment in the crowd, I’m back in the middle of the field for The Cure. It’s been a couple of years since I saw them last, so to say I’m excited is to understate it. This could be dangerous, expectations too high, but I’m not worried, The Cure never disappoint. To screams of “oh my god” all around me, the slow swooning intro of ‘Alone’ unfurls. Layers of guitars, the monolithic rhythm section, it’s all there, but that voice. Fuck me, Smith sounds as beautiful as ever and people are seriously excited to see him. ‘Pictures of You’ follows and the park bursts into song. Not quite in tune, it’s packed and chaotic, just as it should be and it sounds fantastic. Much of the evening will continue this way. Dusk falls and we turn into a bobbing, swaying mass, people singing ‘Lovesong’s “I will always love you” into each other’s eyes. Every song is met with a cheer, but the tribal pummel of ‘Burn’ is a thunderous flex. The power from the speakers is immense and shocks the crowd into a glorious awe. It’s as if the band are saying, tonight’s set is for you, but this one, this one’s for us. I sometimes wonder where my love of the bass guitar comes from, it’s Gallup isn’t it. He just sounds so wonderfully and effortlessly cool and as ‘Fascination Street’ begins, we begin to bounce. The long intro on ‘Push’ is awesome but does seem to lose the mass crowd. The annoying woman behind me chats incessantly. Honestly if you want to talk at a gig, get to the back, or better still get the fuck out! Smith grabs an acoustic and bangs out ‘In Between Days’ bringing everyone’s attention screaming back and mercifully silencing the chatters. Then the really tall lad next to me gets his mate on his shoulders for ‘Just Like Heaven’, he must be 10 plus foot up there, with the best view in the house, or field. Sadly for him, his mate can only manage half the song, before they collapse in a comical heap. ‘Treasure’ slows things down and gives them time to regroup. Before ‘Want’ detonates in a vitriolic maelstrom. There’s a bit of a lull as they mix it up with ‘A Night Like This’, ‘Secrets’ and ‘Play for Today’, the later beautifully haunting and providing the perfect set up for ‘A Forest’ that rips through the crowd. Again it’s that bass. It’s the definition of classic, but it still sounds as vital as ever. ‘From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea’ is one of my favourites and as the lights from the stage rise to line “put your hands in the sky” I feel completely at peace. They close part one with ‘Endsong’, it’s long instrumental rudely punctuated, by annoying woman’s friend blowing a fucking kazoo! I shit you not, what the fuck is wrong with people. Regardless the song is majestic, it sprawls sublimely on record and live becomes utterly weightless. The encore starts with ‘Lullaby’ but is it really an encore. It’s followed by eight more songs, so is really just part two, with Smith writhing, grabbing his shirt, creeping his fingers up the mic stand to mimic the songs predatory spider. He’s very playful. I’ve not heard ‘Wrong Number’ in ages and had forgotten what a great song it is. There’s no set highlight, there’s just too many to single anything out, but this does feel like a treat. ‘The Walk’ is flawless, but ‘Mint Car’ feels out of place. It’s a good pop song, but it’s too breezy for this stage of the night. A thousand phones come out for ‘The Lovecats’ and even more for ‘Friday I’m in Love’, which with it being a Friday seems to whip up the now euphoric crowd even more. ‘Close To Me’ continues the hit parade. It’s quite frankly an embarrassing display of the dizzying array of classic songs they have to play with. ‘Why Can’t I Be You’ is played at a frenetic pace, as if they want to pack in as many songs as possible. This is the 26th, they’re doing pretty damn well! But all good things come to an end, although Smith seems reluctant to leave the stage once they’ve deployed ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. It’s not quite the three hour set you get when you see them headline, but it’s not far off and impressive for what’s essentially a festival headline slot. I was right, they never disappoint. I’ll be back in Wythenshawe Park twice more for gigs this week, but I’ve a feeling this will be hard to beat.