It took 27 years, but The Cure finally returned to perform during the summertime in Pasadena, where back in 1992, the Rose Bowl was the local stop on the Wish tour. That show built on the breakthrough of another of the “Holy Trinity” of L.A.’s favorite British alternative acts, Depeche Mode’s 1988 Music for the Masses tour (captured as the 101 live album and documentary) which established that these dark pop bands–with huge local radio support from KROQ–could reasonably fill the massive venue. (Smiths, as the third act of the Trinity, it’s your move–a massive reunion Rose Bowl show to put them all to shame?)

It’s testament to the deep and growing legacy of The Cure that this year’s return, as the curators of their own Pasadena Daydream festival, this past Saturday, featuring two stages of hand-picked bands, was too large to be contained within the Bowl itself. The one-day festival brought out a massive multigenerational, multiethnic (and multi-styled–goths, representing in full black regalia, of course–but not just so) crowds across surrounding Brookside golf course on a blindingly sunny late summer day. Though not without some infrastructure issues (long, slow lines to enter, a relatively unremarkable VIP area, a lack of stage views from some spots) a largely a positive, feel good energy surrounded the grounds.

[Review continues below. . .]