Pitchfork

Most folks who plunk down the cash to see a band nearly three decades in the making have no trouble watching them run through the hits, but try telling that to the Cure. Following their first dates in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in a billion years, the Cure realized that they couldn't just bring the same old show to their legions of devoted North American fans.

"We want to remodel/rework the live show for North America," they wrote by way of excuse on their website. "Change things around, incorporate new songs... and we need time and focus to do this." Time taken up by their previously announced string of North American tour dates, nearly all of which will sit on the back burner until the spring.

Boys, don't cry! Until the dates are properly rescheduled, they're holding onto their headlining spot at Mountain View, CA's Download Festival. What's more, the trio of Mexico City outings the Cure recently tacked on to the end of the now-axed dates will go on. They'll also perform at the same venue October 18 for MTV's Latin American Awards. Apparently Mexico City is better equipped to deal with Bloodflowers than Seattle. Who knew?

All tickets held for the cancelled shows will be valid for the updated dates in April and May of 2008, with refunds available to those who'd like to go that route.

In addition to reworking the live set, the Cure also want more time to put the wraps on their forthcoming double album-- the release date for which is now, according to Billboard.com, doing a similar hop from this fall to next spring. It's still sans title, but a few track names have emerged: "Lusting Here in Your Mind", "The Hungry Ghost", "The Perfect Boy", "Christmas Without You" and "Please Come Home".

Cure:

09-13 Tampa, FL - St. Petersburg Times Forum
09-15 Atlanta, GA - Gwinnett Civic Center
09-17 Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Bobcats Arena
09-19 Washington, DC - Patriot Center
09-21 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
09-23 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
09-25 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
09-26 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Center
09-27 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
09-29 Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
10-02 Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
10-04 Salt Lake City, UT - E Center
10-06 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater (Download Festival)
10-08 Seattle, WA - Key Arena
10-09 Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place
10-11 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
10-13 San Diego, CA - Cox Arena
10-14 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
10-16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
10-17 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
10-20 Mexico City, Mexico - Palacio de los Deportes
10-21 Mexico City, Mexico - Palacio de los Deportes
10-22 Mexico City, Mexico - Palacio de los Deportes