The David Bowie gig that broke Robert Smith’s heart: “It taught me to never underestimate”
To this day, Robert Smith would never be caught going on stage and giving less than 100 per cent. And while this is standard for many musicians from his era, his commitment stems from a harsh truth he once learned from a certain musical legend.
Considering how prominent Smith still is in today’s musical landscape, it’s no surprise that he draws from a variety of influences, marrying the core principles of traditional rock with the more melodically infectious styles and structures of modern pop. However, someone he saw as the pinnacle of the very definition of musical genius was none other than the ‘Starman’ himself, David Bowie.
Bowie was to someone like Robert Smith a sort of divine figure, someone whose existence felt entirely impossible and yet whose success proved that dreams could come true. He has also been part of Smith’s musical journey since day one, with Ziggy Stardust being the first record he ever bought, and the first artist he ever truly “felt was mine”.
When reflecting on the influence of the shape-shifting artist on The Cure, Smith recognises just how much of these “echoes” can be detected in their own music, like the gritty atmospheres he delivered in his Berlin trilogy (he also believes Low was the greatest record ever made), and how he blends upbeat elements with themes of melancholy.
However, he also carries another lesson he gained from Bowie, something that’s not quite so positive, and relates to the kind of artist he’d like to be remembered for. Whenever he goes out on stage, Smith makes sure that, no matter what, he pushes to make sure his audience never leaves his shows unsatisfied.
Smith first fell in love with Bowie after he appeared on Top of the Pops to perform ‘Starman’ in 1972, unable to quite believe what he’d seen, and the image of Bowie’s pale, otherworldly features stayed in his mind long after. He even went on holiday afterwards, but the whole time, images of Bowie stuck in his head, as he longed to follow in his footsteps, constantly thinking to himself, ‘It must be so good to be David Bowie’.
From then on, Smith made it his mission to see Bowie live for himself, saving up his dinner money with his friends to buy a ticket, but the performance wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped it would be, leaving him feeling a little out of sorts. It was incredible, there was no doubt about that, but that was also the problem. What really broke Smith’s heart was spending all that money to see his favourite artist perform, only for Bowie to deliver an offensively short set, but he didn’t hold it against the singer, of course, instead leaving the show with an understanding of the value of giving dedicated fans an experience worth their time and money.
As he later reflected, “It taught me to never underestimate how much this means to the people that come to see you.” Elsewhere, he also told The Times that he’d “hate not to be able to justify myself to that 19-year-old”.
Still, Smith continued to worship the ground Bowie walked on and even managed to survive another dream come true when he got the opportunity to sing with him during his 50th birthday celebrations in New York in 1997. A completely “unreal” experience, Smith went away with some of his favourite memories ever, no doubt temporarily forgetting about how he’d previously been let down by his hero.
