The Cure currently have 3 concert films out of print. The well known wig snatching masterpiece that is “The Cure in Orange,” the 1993 concert film “Show”—which was oddly released on CD-i, and the lesser known 90-minute “Live in Japan”—the first concert film the band ever produced.
Live in Japan documents the October 17th, 1984, performance in Tokyo and received a release the following year in Japan on VHS and Betamax.
The Japanese concert film was not widely available in the US and has never been released on DVD. A used copy chas been known to cost over $499 via Discogs. For those not flush with cash, the film had been frustratingly removed from YouTube several times. Now, however, it has been uploaded by none other than drummer Andy Anderson, who was a member of The Cure during the filming of this concert.
Andy had joined Robert Smith, along with guitarist Porl Thompson, keyboardist Lol Tolhurst and bassist Phil Thornalley who comprised this short lived lineup during promotion of The Cure’s fifth studio album The Top. That album–incidentally, did not see originally see a release in the US—possibly due to it’s experimental nature and departure from the pop sound featured on the singles that make up the compilation Japanese Whispers.
Setlist:
- Shake Dog Shake
- Play For Today
- Primary
- Wailing Wall
- The Empty World
- The Hanging Garden
- The Walk
- One Hundred Years
- Give Me It
- A Forest
- The Top
- Charlotte Sometimes
- Let’s Go To Bed
- The Caterpillar
- Boys Don’t Cry
- 10:15 Saturday Night
- Killing An Arab
- The Lovecats
