The Cure closed out Isle Of Wight Festival 2026 with a career-spanning set last night – check out fan-shot footage and the full setlist below.
- READ MORE: The Cure – ‘Songs Of A Lost World’: a masterful reflection on loss
The annual festival took place over the weekend at Seaclose Park, with Robert Smith and co. wrapping things up with Sunday’s (June 21) headline slot.
Their first UK performance of the year saw them open with ‘Songs of a Lost World‘ cut ‘Alone’, which gave way to a series of classics including ‘Pictures of You’, ‘High’, ‘Lovesong’, ‘A Forest’, ‘In Between Days’, ‘Just Like Heaven’, ‘Push’, and more.
Several of their rarer tracks got an outing for Isle of Wight, including ‘Mint Car’, which comes after the ‘Wild Mood Swings’ track was played for the first time in over a decade at their Primavera Sound set. There was also the surprise addition of ‘Let’s Go To Bed’.
Former NME Cover star Luvcat was spotted in the crowd as they played 1983’s ‘The Lovecats’, the track she took her name from. Closing with a run of hits, The Cure rounded off their set by performing ‘Friday I’m In Love’, ‘Close To Me’, ‘Why Can’t I Be You?’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’.
Robert Smith. Met de moed der wanhoop houden de laatste geverfde en getoupeerde haren stand. De ogen zwart, de lippen rood. Maar het plectrum mist nooit en zijn uiterst herkenbare, soms huilerige zang staat fier overeind. The Cure, een mooi einde aan een hete dag. pic.twitter.com/6fLZbQrVZ5
— zij van de Blij (@blij_e) June 20, 2026
The Cure’s Isle of Wight festival setlist was:
‘Alone’
‘Pictures Of You’
‘High’
‘Lovesong’
‘Burn’
‘Fascination Street’
‘A Night Like This’
‘The Last Day Of Summer’
‘Push’
‘Inbetween Days’
‘Just Like Heaven’
‘Play For Today’
‘A Forest’
‘Trust’
‘Edge Of Deep Green Sea’
‘Endsong’
‘Lullaby’
‘Wrong Number’
‘The Walk’
‘Let’s Go To Bed’
‘The Lovecats’
‘Mint Car’
‘Friday I’m In Love’
‘Close To Me’
‘Why Can’t I Be You?’
‘Boys Don’t Cry’
Their current run of gigs mark The Cure’s first time on stage together since their show at London’s Troxy last November. That gig was in front of just 3,000 fans – including Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, Radiohead‘s Ed O’Brien, Boy George, Mogwai‘s Stuart Braithwaite, and Pedro Pascal in the crowd.
The Cure’s 2026 UK and Ireland headline shows are:
JUNE
26 – Marlay Park, Dublin
28 – Belsonic, Belfast
AUGUST
21 – Live From Wythenshawe Park, Manchester
23 – Edinburgh Summer Sessions, Royal Highland Showgrounds, Edinburgh
Sunday night’s date came after Smith confirmed the band’s next two albums are “done”, with a third more “poppy” record also in the works.
The goth legends are working on their first new music since 2024’s ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, which was quietly announced on their official bio last October. The 13-track album is one of three releases on the way, something that was expanded on in an interview Smith gave to BBC 6 Music earlier this month.
“We did record three albums’ worth of songs, so the second one is done, so that’s about to be delivered to Universal,” the frontman said.
Speaking on the album set for release soon, he said he felt people might perceive it as being influenced by his recent collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, which debuted at Primavera Sound.
“The third one is weird, actually,” he explained. “Now I’ve been doing this, people think, ‘Ah, it’s because he’s been working with Olivia, because the third one is actually really upbeat. It’s really poppy, but it doesn’t compare melodically to the stuff that Olivia does, but it’s my idea of Cure Pop. It’s probably 20 BPM slower than anything she does, but [compared to] what we’ve done in last couple of years, it’s really rocking. It’s banging.”
However, the upcoming LP will not be as upbeat. “The next one, if anything, it’s more dismal than ‘Songs Of A Lost World’,” he said. “I mean dismal is a horrible word to use, but it’s quite dark, it’s related to ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, but it’s a different perspective on things.”
Last October, band member Roger O’Donnell shared with NME that Smith handles much of the album process. “You’d have to ask [Smith] about that,” he said when asked about new music.
“I didn’t know that ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ was finished until he sent the songs to us to learn for the Troxy show! I don’t know what’s going on. I know that Jason [Cooper] did a lot of drum tracks in about April, and there was talk of us getting together to play but I haven’t heard much lately. I think Robert is in one of his very deep creative modes, because he’s pretty quiet at the moment.”
In a five-star review of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, NME concluded: “Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest.
“The frontman suggested that another two records may be arriving at some point, but ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ feels sufficient enough for the wait we’ve endured, just for being arguably the most personal album of Smith’s career. Mortality may loom, but there’s colour in the black and flowers on the grave.”
