Robert Smith has unveiled the line-up for next year’s run of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts.
The Cure frontman has taken over from Roger Daltrey as the curator of the annual week of gigs at the Royal Albert Hall and the list for March 2026 is, well, very ‘Robert Smith’, shall we say.
Opening on Monday 23 March are Elbow. That’s followed by a night of comedy, featuring a startlingly good line-up that includes Maisie Adam, Bridget Christie, Jack Dee, Stewart Lee and Dara Dara Ó Briain amongst others.
The Wednesday night headliners are Mogwai, who have supported The Cure on many occasions. The Manic Street Preachers, who played at Smith’s Meltdown event in 2018, return to the Royal Albert Hall on the Thursday, with support from The Joy Formidable.
Another long time Smith favourite, My Bloody Valentine, will be testing the RAH’s in-house PA (and no doubt punters’ ears) to its very limit on the Friday. There’s a double header featuring Garbage and Placebo, with the latter performing a rare 'stripped back' performance on the Saturday before the week is brought to a close by Wolf Alice on Sunday 29 March.
“Teenage Cancer Trust does absolutely amazing work, and l am very proud they asked me to be ‘Cureator’ of their March 2026 concerts at the RAH,” Smith said in a statement. “I wanted to make it a truly unforgettable, unmissable week – a run of shows to dream about – and I am so grateful to all the artists who accepted my invitation to perform.”
“These will be very special events; every band, both headliners and special guests, and every comedian too, is either legendary or at the top of their game… indeed in most cases, they are both! It is going to be a fabulous seven nights, and I can hardly wait to experience it all. See you there!”
Of course, conspicuous by their absence on that list are The Cure themselves. Smith and co released their most recent album Songs From A Lost World last year, but the band have not played London since a show at the 3,000 capacity Troxy to launch the album in November 2024. They have announced a string of UK and Ireland shows for next summer, but the only dates confirmed so far are in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh and Manchester.
Smith has also been teasing a ‘sister’ album to Songs From A Lost World featuring tracks that were recorded at around the same time, but there’s no news yet on a definite release date for that album.
Tickets for all of the Teenage Cancer Trust shows go on sale this coming Friday (December 12) at 9am from the Ticketmaster website here.
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