The Cure is spending the remainder of 2016 on an extensive world tour.

On Wednesday May 10th, The Cure kicked off their expedition with a New Orleans gig at the Uno Lakefront Arena. To longstanding fans, the initiating date is crucial to determining what's to be expected in these next eight months of The Cure Tour 2016. Here’s what happened:

The band presented a 28-song performance, fully equipped with four encores. Though a 13 album career (thus far) gives a large amount of ground to cover, pulling off a setlist of such length and breadth so as to please fans from across more than three decades is a challenging task. But apparently, it doesn’t pose as an issue to Robert Smith and co. - Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (Keys) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar), as they're intending to replicate the performance in over seventy future shows.

Stand out songs include the fittingly titled opening track “Open”, and three tracks that have remained dormant in recent years - "All I Want” received its first performance since 1987, “A Letter to Elise” since 2008, and “At Night” since 2011. While worldwide hits including “Friday I’m In Love” did not make the cut, two entirely new songs were debuted. According to fan footage and further speculation, the first new single is supposedly titled “Step Into the Light”, and the second – which also served as the outro, during encore #4 – is believed to be “It Can Never Be The Same”. Watch the recordings below.

The Cure Tour 2016 will continue through its North American leg in the upcoming months. Upon its conclusion, the band will head straight to their oversees dates - which include performances in Italy, Australia, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Spain. The official tour announcement stated the experience brings “[the exploration of] 37 years of Cure songs, mixing hits, rarities, favorites and as yet unreleased tracks in a brand new stage production that promises to be one of the 'must see' shows of the year.”

"Step Into The Light"

"It Can Never Be The Same" 

Setlist: 
Open, alt.end, All I Want, Push, In Between Days, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Step Into the Light, Sleep When I’m Dead, A Letter to Elise, High, The Walk, Lovesong, Just Like Heaven, Trust, Want, The Hanging Garden, One Hundred Years, End

Encore:
At Night, M, Play for Today, A Forest

Encore 2:
Dressing Up, Piggy in the Mirror, Shake Dog Shake, Give Me It

Encore 3:
Burn

Encore 4:
It Can Never Be the Same

"The Cure Tour 2016" North American Dates: 

05/10-11 : New Orleans, LA / U.N.O. Lakefront Arena *
05/13 : Austin, TX / Frank Erwin Center *
05/14 : Houston, TX / Toyota Center *
05/15 : Dallas, TX / American Airlines Center *
05/17 : El Paso, TX / Don Haskins Center *
05/19 : Las Vegas, NV / The Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan *
05/20 : Chula Vista, CA / Sleep Train Amphitheater *
05/22-24 : Los Angeles, CA / Hollywood Bowl *
05/26 : Mountain View, CA / Shorline Amphitheatre *
05/28 : Ridgefield, WA / Sunlight Supply Amphitheater *
05/29 : George, WA / Sasquatch! Music Festival
05/31 : Vancouver, BC / Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park *
06/02 : Boise, ID / Century Link Arena *
06/03 : Salt Lake City, UT / Maverik Center *
06/05 : Denver, CO / Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre *
06/07 : Saint Paul, MN / Xcel Energy Center *
06/08 : Kansas City, MO / Starlight Theatre *
06/10-11 : Chicago, IL / UIC Pavilion *
06/12 : Toronto, ON / Bestival Toronto
06/14 : Montreal, QC / Bell Centre *
06/16 : Boston, MA / Agganis Arena *
06/18-20 : New York, NY / Madison Square Garden *
06/22 : Columbia, MD / Merriweather Post Pavilion *
06/23 : Charlotte, NC / PNC Music Pavilion *
06/24 : Atlanta, GA / Aaron’s Amphitheater Lakewood *
06/26-27 : Miami, FL / Bayfront Park Amphitheater *
07/16-17 : Honolulu, HI / Neal S Blaisdell Arena

Full list of tour dates can be found on here.

Image: Nova.ie