from Jim
I went to the 29/7/80 , 2nd show (can't remember a 1st show but possible) at Mainstreet. , Auckland and the 30/7/80 show (don't know if there was a first show) the next night. I paid for the first show I saw , and then BFM student radio announced they were free the next night, so I went again , it was packed both nights.
On the 2nd night they announced they had just hit the top of the pops/charts or whatever back in england , and here they were playing for free in NZ . They said they were cutting the tour short and heading home so they could appear next Saturday on top of the pop , so maybe they were just taking the piss. After that they played Chistchurch at least.
New Zealand was the first place we had a No 1, but that wasn't why we came down there. Chris Parry, who ran our record company, was from Wellington, and he'd always say ‘New Zealand is a very important market' so he'd get a free trip home to see his family. But we had a fantastic time. We ended up playing in loads of basements and garages. People would come up to us after shows and we'd go drinking, then we'd end up back at some local band's house, playing in their shed or whatever. It was very convivial.
Robert Smith, the leader and only constant in The Cure since the band formed in Britain in 1976, had his first tab of LSD while on tour in New Zealand in 1980. The Cure smashed up an Auckland hotel room while they were here too.
