“We must’ve exchanged about a hundred emails with their [The Cure’s] agents,” says Big Concert International’s Attie van Wyk, who kindly walked out of a busy staff meeting to speak exclusively to Texx and the City’s contributor Graeme Raubenheimer.
“They’re [The Cure] very keen to come here… they just couldn’t fit South Africa in this year.”
The legendary English rock band just kicked off their first major US tour in eight years. The post-punk outfit, formed back in 1976, promise to “explore 37 years of Cure songs” on this tour, while surprising American crowds to a taste of their new material. So, sadly South Africa won’t be treated to a visit anytime soon.
But van Wyk is reasonably confident The Cure will aim for 2017.
“I definitely think they will look at South Africa next year. And it will also include markets like Japan and South East Asia,” van Wyk said and he agrees with us, that if metal gods Iron Maiden can come to South Africa, so can The Cure.
He says frontman Robert Smith has been very hands-on regarding the mails exchanged so far. “What I can tell you is that he [Smith] reads every e-mail… the agent copies him, but I don’t have direct conversations with him,” adds Big Concert’s Executive Chairman.
Expanding on how they do business, van Wyk tells us that the UK band doesn’t like the term “golden circle”, because they believe fans should be treated to same experience at the same price.
The Cure’s fantastic in that they appeal to both young and old audiences. Van Wyk says even though the band is massive in many parts of the globe, he doesn’t see them performing at Cape Town Stadium or FNB Stadium, but rather at an outdoor event or somewhere small and intimate. “Fingers crossed.”
The Cure aside, Big Concerts International is pretty busy. “We talk to a lot of artists all the time. At the moment my list is exactly 68 artists that we’ve approached to come tour here. But eventually most of these artists come through, even if it’s in the next three or four years, eventually we get them,” reveals van Wyk.
If you’re wondering which acts are on that list, we simply can’t tell you. “I’d rather choose not to,” laughs Attie.
The fact remains though – The Cure is interested in us. And baby, that’s something to scream about.
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Watch ”Push” live from 2005 below.
