The Cure‘s Robert Smith has revealed a stacked line-up for his curated run of Teenage Cancer Trust gigs for 2026 – featuring the likes of Garbage, Wolf Alice, Manic Street Preachers, Chvrches, My Bloody Valentine and loads more. Check out full dates and ticket details below.
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Earlier this year, it was announced that Smith would be stepping up as curator of the beloved charity gig series in 2026 in the place of The Who frontman and charity patron Roger Daltrey. The Cure have long been supporters of TCT, having played now-legendary fundraising gigs for the charity back in 2006 and 2014.
Now, Smith and TCT have shared the full bill of shows set to take over London’s Royal Albert Hall for a week in March next year. The run will open with Manchester indie veterans Elbow making their debut at the venue, where they’ll be joined by MRCY.
The Cure’s Robert Smith. Credit: Zoe McConnell at the BandLab NME Awards 2022
There will then the be traditional night of laughter with ‘Robert Smith’s Comedy Favourites’ inviting Maisie Adam, Bridget Christie, Jack Dee, Andy Hamilton, Dom Joly, Miles Jupp, Athena Kugblenu, Stewart Lee and Dara Ó Briain to the stage. The following night, it’s back to music as frequent The Cure support act and post-rock heroes Mogwai headline with Craven Faults and Annika Kilkenny.
After playing Smith’s Meltdown Festival back in 2018, Manic Street Preachers have once again been handpicked by the frontman to perform – this time along with The Joy Formidable – before noise rock royalty My Bloody Valentine headline a night with Chvrches performing a stripped-back performance in support. This follows the Scottish electro-pop trio’s 2022 Smith collab ‘How Not To Drown’ (that also saw them give the song its live debut with a duet at that year’s NME Awards) and also mark their first live show since 2023; one they promise will be “a little different than how we normally play”.
The weekend finale of the shows will see the iconic Garbage along fellow alt-rock legends Placebo (the latter delivering a rare, stripped back performance as part of their 2026 30th anniversary celebrations) before Wolf Alice close things out with an intimate night on their ‘The Clearing‘ tour with support from acclaimed singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya.
“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,” said Smith. “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!”
Manic Street Preachers’ frontman James Dean Bradfield meanwhile, thanked Smith for inviting them to play TCT for the first time as they make “a return to one of our favourite London venues” and promised “a couple of surprises up our sleeves for the night”.
Read More: The Cure – ‘Songs Of A Lost World’: a masterful reflection on loss
Garbage’s Shirley Manson added: “When Robert Smith reached out to us about the possibility of performing for Teenage Cancer Trust we were all utterly thrilled as he is a highly revered figure in our world.
“We are honoured to serve at his behest and look forward to helping raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, a cause very close to our own hearts. I hope our people will choose to come out in support. Should be a great night… In the Royal Albert Hall no less.”
See the full list of shows below. Tickets go on sale from 9am on Friday December 12 and will be available here.
The full list of shows for Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall 2026 is:
MARCH
Monday 23: Elbow and MRCY
Tuesday 24: Robert Smith’s Comedy Favourites – Maisie Adam, Bridget Christie, Jack Dee, Andy Hamilton, Dom Joly, Miles Jupp, Athena Kugblenu, Stewart Lee and Dara Ó Briain
Wednesday 25: Mogwai, Craven Faults and Annika Kilkenny
Thursday 26: Manic Street Preachers and The Joy Formidable
Friday 27: My Bloody Valentine and Chvrches (stripped back performance)
Saturday 28: Garbage and Placebo (rare, stripped back performance)
Sunday 29: Wolf Alice and Nilüfer Yanya
Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity providing specialised nursing care and support for young people with cancer – funding specialist nurses, youth workers and hospital units within the NHS, for anyone diagnosed with cancer aged 13-24, and their loved ones too.
The Robert Smith-curated line-up for the Teenage Cancer Trust gig series at London’s Royal Albert Hall for 2026. Credit: Press
Fans are still living in hope that The Cure will announce a London gig in 2026 as part of their summer tour of UK and European festival and huge outdoor headline gigs.
The band will be touring in support of 2024’s acclaimed ‘Songs Of A Lost World‘ – their first album in 16 years – with this week (Thursday December 11) seeing the cinematic release of The Show Of A Lost World: a new live movie capturing their stellar London Troxy gig in which they played their new album in full before a marathon set packed with greatest hits and fan favourites. Physical editions of the film will then arrive on Monday December 13.
It is also hoped that another new album will see the light of day before the summer shows, with Robert Smith and co having revealed that 13 new songs had been recorded, having long maintained that another, dark sister record follow-up for ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ and potentially a solo album had been “virtually finished” for quite some time.
Smith has also spoken of the band going out with a bang when they celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2029 – culminating in a farewell tour and the long-mooted release of a Tim Pope documentary about the band.
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