The Cure’s guitarist Reeves Gabrels recently opened up to Ultimate Classic Rock about the band’s approach to ticket pricing for their upcoming North American tour. In a surprising revelation, Gabrels explained that the person most invested in ensuring affordable access to their concerts is none other than the band’s frontman Robert Smith.
The Cure recently announced their expansive 30-date North American tour set to take place in May, June, and July. The announcement, however, wasn’t the only thing that caught the attention of fans. Amid the constant complaints about Ticketmaster’s high pricing, The Cure made a move to make their concerts more accessible to their fanbase.
Reeves Gabrels, who is fairly new to the band, recently shared his insights about the band’s ticket pricing in an interview. According to him, he didn’t have much influence over the pricing, but he acknowledged that the band has always been keen on keeping ticket prices low.
The one driving this initiative, Gabrels revealed, is Robert Smith, who he described as ‘the biggest Cure fan in the world.’ According to Gabrels, Smith’s dedication to the fans has always led him to advocate for lower ticket prices.
In the interview, Gabrels said:
“It is something that I stepped back from — and this is not me being evasive, this is just me telling you what I do because I’m the new guy. We discuss it, and we are essentially self-managed. I mean, we do it all ourselves, which means that Robert [is] The Guy. Everything goes through him.
For as long as I have been in the band, it has been an issue about how tickets were handled in terms of just scalping and what people were willing to pay to see us, and we’ve been fighting for years to make the ticket prices as low as possible. But ever since I joined — and this doesn’t have to do with me joining, but it’s when I became aware of [it] — since 2012, the band has always tried to have tickets that were under $50.
So we’ve been taking that approach for a long time, and we’ve kind of stuck to our guns. And if there’s one thing about Robert that I have found to be consistently true, [it’s] his ‘stick to it’-ness. … What he’s comfortable with, he will definitely fight for. And what’s nice about that is it’s all about the fans. There’s no bigger Cure fan in the world other than Robert. He thinks about it like a fan.”
The Cure’s decision to lower their ticket prices demonstrates a commendable commitment to their fans. This move, largely driven by Robert Smith, embodies the band’s connection with their fans. It’s refreshing to see a band like The Cure putting their music but also their fans first.
