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The Cure and Dogstar close out a weekend of magic and mayhem at Electric Castle 2026
The Cure headlined the final night of Electric Castle 2026 in Romania, capping a four-day festival that also featured sets from Twenty One Pilots, Sleaford Mods, Teddy Swims and Yung Lean. Organisers offered attendees a choice between the band's set and the World Cup final, screened elsewhere at the site, but frontman Robert Smith showed little interest in the football, dismissing the match's half-time show and letting the band's music take centre stage instead.
The Cure played a two-hour set spanning their catalogue, opening to piped-in rainfall sound effects and drawing heavily on 1985's "The Head On The Door" and 1989's "Disintegration". It was only the band's second-ever Romanian show and first since 2019, allowing them to dust off rarities such as "Secrets" and "alt.end" alongside crowd favourites including "Just Like Heaven". Bassist Simon Gallup returned to the stage after recent illness, joined by his son Eden, and the band closed with an encore of "The Lovecats", "Friday I'm In Love" and "Close To Me".
In short
- The Cure closed Electric Castle 2026 with a two-hour set in Romania
- Fans chose the band's set over the World Cup final
- Bassist Simon Gallup returned after illness, joined by son Eden on stage
Explained simply
Electric Castle is a four-day music festival held in Romania that brings together established and emerging international rock and pop artists. The festival attracts music fans from across Europe and features diverse line-ups spanning multiple genres.
The Cure are one of the most influential rock bands of the past four decades, having formed in the late 1970s and shaped the sound of post-punk, new wave and alternative music throughout the 1980s. Their albums from that era, particularly "The Head On The Door" and "Disintegration", are considered classics and remain widely popular today.
The Cure have rarely performed in Romania, making festival appearances there particularly significant for fans in Eastern Europe. Their concerts typically attract large audiences and often feature a mix of well-known hits and deeper album cuts, making each performance distinctive.
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