Los Angeles Times - 29.08.2019

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019E3

POP & HISS

latimes.com/pophiss

SATURDAY

Laurel Halo

1720, 1720 E. 16th St.

$20, 9 p.m.

FRIDAY

Korn

FivePoint Amphitheatre,

14800 Chinon,

Irvine

$44-$173, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY

Adam Friedland

Lodge Room,

104 N. Ave. 56, 2nd floor

Highland Park

$20, 4 p.m., 7:30 p.m.,

9:30 p.m. (separate tickets)

SUNDAY

Pepe Aguilar

Honda Center,

2695 E. Katella Ave.,

Anaheim

$41-$181, 7:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

King Crimson

The Greek,

2700 N. Vermont Ave.

$45-$165, 7:30 p.m.

5 NIGHTS

OUT

A curated calendar of live

music not to be missed

Smashing Pumpkins

and Noel Gallagher’s

High Flying Birds

Two ’90s greats convene this
week for an evening of muscular
alt-rock hits. Fans can look for-
ward to a rundown of genre-defin-
ing hits as well as a selection from
the Pumpkins’ 10th studio album.
Tickets start at $35. FivePoint
Amphitheatre, 14800 Chinon,
Irvine. 7 p.m. Thursday.

Burna Boy

Buzz-worthy Afro-fusion artist
Burna Boy hits the Wiltern with
this week’s most joyous dance
party, the African Giant Returns
tour. Born Damini Ogulu, Burna
has quickly ascended to become
one of the most distinct and recog-
nized voices in the Nigerian music
industry and beyond.
Tickets start at $35. The
Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.
7 p.m. Thursday.

Bryan Ferry

Glam pop innovator Bryan
Ferry is enjoying quite the victory
lap since his Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame induction in March. This
week, he’ll bring his current world
tour to the Greek Theatre.
Tickets start at $49.50. Greek
Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., L.A.
7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Ambient Church

with Steve Roach

Ambient music artist Steve
Roach reflects on his influential
40-year career with a transcendent
one-off audiovisual performance
at Pasadena’s First United Meth-
odist Church. The seated event
will span two hours, featuring a
selection of the Grammy winner’s
work.
Tickets start at $30. First
United Methodist Church, 500 E.
Colorado Blvd. 7 p.m. Friday.

Made in LA Fest

Golden Road Brewing’s popu-
lar Labor Day Weekend fest re-
turns for an outdoor celebration of
local food, music and art. This
year’s two-day event features
performances by L.A. favorites
Cold War Kids, Phantom Planet,
Donavon Frankenreiter and more.
Advance tickets cost $25 for a
single day and $40 for two days,
and include one beer per day. $30
door tickets are available the day
of the show. Golden Road Brew-
ing, 5410 W. San Fernando Road,
L.A. 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sun-
day.

Massive Attack

Trip-hop godfathers Massive
Attack come to L.A. at long last,
hitting the Palladium for a three-
night run following a slate of can-
celed shows this spring.
The show is sold out. Holly-
wood Palladium, 6215 Sunset
Blvd., L.A. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday.

LIVE MUSIC

BILLY CORGANof the band
Smashing Pumpkins will per-
form in Irvine on Thursday.

Lawrence K. HoLos Angeles Times

Have a

rocking

holiday

By Andrea Domanick

If you’ve been holding off on live
music this summer, this Labor
Day weekend is the time to get out
and get your fix, as festivals, rare
performances and A-list acts
abound.

What satisfaction do you get as the curator

of a music festival?

Last year’s annual Meltdown Festival in

London was 10 days and three venues, be-

tween six and 10 bands on every night. And I

picked them all. It’s like a teenage dream,

isn’t it? I’m trying to achieve — it’s very old-

fashioned, I suppose — a sense of communi-

ty.

Do you still identify with the original punk

and post-punk movements that first in-

spired you?

I still feel the same kind of frustrations as I

did when I was at that age about how things

are done, not just in the music business but

the world in general. The ’80s were particu-

larly awful, and yet we flourished in it be-

cause we represented an alternative. Corpo-

rate greed became rampant in the ’80s. I still

feel angry about that kind of stuff, which is

kind of odd because most of the people my

age that I was growing up with don’t seem to

care that much anymore.

At the Cure’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

induction, Trent Reznor talked about how

important your band was to him as a teen-

ager growing up in small-town Pennsylva-

nia. Do you feel part of a continuum of art-

ists with a certain point of view?

One of the most gratifying things is when

another artist that you admire turns around

and says they like what you do. When Bowie

told me that he liked what I did, that was it

for me. I could have stopped. Quite often it’s

not about the music. It’s about how we’ve

managed to do what we’ve done in the way

we’ve done it. That gives hope to people that

there isn’t just one way of doing things. I had

heroes like Bowie, Nick Drake and Alex Har-

vey. I wanted to be distinctive and individual.

So if I am part of that continuum, I’m very

happy to be.

How far along are you on a new Cure al-

bum?

We’re going back in [the studio] three

days after we get back from Pasadena for me

to try and finish the vocals, which is, as ever,

what’s holding up the album. I keep going

back over and redoing them, which is silly. At

some point, I have to say that’s it.

Has this been in the works for a long time or

did you suddenly get to a point where it all

came out at once?

I was offered the chance to curate the

Meltdown Festival [in London] and I said

yes. And then I realized I didn’t really listen

to very much new music anymore. So I threw

myself headlong into it and started listening

to bands again and meeting kids who were in

bands, and something clicked inside my

head: I want to do this again. It came as a bit

of a shock to me, to be honest. No one really

believed me until we started recording.

Is there anything from your history that

you would compare this new album to?

It’s very much on the darker side of the

spectrum. I lost my mother and my father

and my brother recently, and obviously it had

an effect on me. It’s not relentlessly doom

and gloom. It has soundscapes on it, like

“Disintegration,” I suppose. I was trying to

create a big palette, a big wash of sound.

Do you have a title?

The working title was “Live From the

Moon,” because I was enthralled by the 50th

anniversary of the Apollo landing in the

summer. We had a big moon hanging in the

studio and lunar-related stuff lying around.

I’ve always been a stargazer.

In the past, when the Cure released an

album, you’ve said the band was going to

retire. How are you feeling this time?

Being the contrarian that I am, I’d be very

unhappy if it was the last one. We’ll be on-

stage tomorrow and I’ll be saying to them,

“This is the last time in Paris,” and they’ll

look at me and shrug their shoulders. At

some point, I will be proved right.

THE CURE’SRobert Smith is not only headlining Saturday’s Pasadena Daydream Festival with his band, he’s its curator too.

James McCauleyShutterstock

Cure’s curator

The band’s Robert Smith is festival’s Daydream believer

By Steve Appleford

Pasadena Daydream

Festival

Who:The Cure, with the Pixies, Deftones,

Mogwai, Throwing Muses, the Joy

Formidable, Chelsea Wolfe, the Twilight Sad,

Emma Ruth Rundle and Kaelan Mikla

When:1 p.m. Saturday

Where:Brookside at the Rose Bowl,

Pasadena

Cost:Ticket prices vary

Info:pasadenadaydream.com

Few years have been as confounding to

the Cure’s Robert Smith as 2019. The British

alt-rocker often jokes that the band’s four-

decade career has come in spite of his best

efforts to be dark and contrarian. But the ac-

colades have only accelerated, including the

Cure’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall

of Fame in March.

“Sometimes when you’re feeling misera-

ble and you listen to miserable music, it com-

forts you, because you feel there’s someone

who understands. You’re not alone,” says

Smith, who turned 60 in April.

In smeared lipstick, eyeliner and an erup-

tion of unkempt black hair, Smith has been

rewarded with a career of platinum record

sales and stadium crowds for music of playful

melodies (“The Love Cats”) and angsty,

gothic gloom (“Disintegration”). That his-

tory is being celebrated on the Cure’s sum-

mer tour, which ends Saturday with the

Pasadena Daydream Festival, curated by

Smith himself.

The Cure will be joined at Brookside at

the Rose Bowl by an eclectic lineup of “fan-

tastic live bands,” he says, including the Pix-

ies, Deftones, Throwing Muses and Chelsea

Wolfe, among others.

Smith spoke with The Times from his

home near Brighton, England.

“The best part about playing live is seeing

how weird the audience has become,” he

says. “The less-mobile people with gray hair

in the back, and down in front the people

with glitter on their faces.”