... and Goth royalty in the form of The Cure made a visitation in July 1980, performing to a crowd of 600 people.
Perhaps the most unusual and surprising act to play the Founders Theatre during this period of rapid pop flux was doomy English post-punkers The Cure. In July 1980 Robert Smith's group was in New Zealand on the back of the success of their first three albums and the brilliant single 'A Forest.' In the Waikato Times, Grant Hubbard found the English group "strange but superb" and – despite tickets being only $8 – he noted the theatre was only half full, the audience being mainly teenagers.
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.
thanks to Petr H.
