The Cure have confirmed an Irish date.

And guess what? It's on the same day as Metallica are due to tread the boards in Slane Castle, as already announced on hotpress.com.

This remarkable state of affairs was confirmed earlier today by The Cure, who announced that they will be playing Dublin on June 8, 2019. The likelihood is that the band will play the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, though this has yet to be announced. While the audiences for Metallica and The Cure are very different, in terms of musical category, there is no doubt that some level of crossover exists at the centre – where fans of great music tend to congregate.

“I think there is an audience for both,” one music business insider told Hot Press. “The clash isn’t ideal, that's for sure. The Gardaí, amongst others, won’t exactly be thrilled. But Metallica and The Cure are playing to a very different demographic at this stage of the game. Sure, there’s enthusiasts who recognise the important contribution that both bands have made to rock ’n’ roll history. But you won’t find too many boys in heavy make-up at the Metallica gig!"

The Cure were headliners on the Saturday night at Electric Picnic, in 2014. That was after a significant hiatus, during which the band were relatively inactive. They had been regular visitors to Ireland over the years, playing here nine times overall during their career to date. Lead singer and songwriter Robert Smith lived in Ireland for a period. His own background is Irish, and there is no doubt that he has a particular affinity with the place.

The Cure’s most recent album 4:13 Dream was released in 2008 and peaked at No.33 in the UK charts. The biggest selling albums of their career were Disintegration (1989), which reached No.2 in Germany, No.3 in the UK and No. 12 in the US; and Wish, which gave them their first UK No.1. The latter topped the charts also in Australia and went to No.2 in the Billboard charts in the US. It went gold in the UK, Canada and Switzerland and was a platinum best-seller in the US and Australia.

The Cure’s biggest hit single in the US was with ‘Loving’ which reached No.2; in the UK, ‘Lullaby’ (No.5) barely outstripped the magnificent ‘Friday I’m In Love’ (No.6). The band’s only No.1 hit singles have been in Spain, where ‘The Only One’, ‘Freakshow’ and ‘Sleep When I’m Dead’ all topped the charts in 2008.

Emerging in the post-punk era, The Cure released their first album Three Imaginary Boys in 1979. They have sold approximately 30 million albums during their career to date. They were voted Best British Band at the Brit Awards in 1991 and they won the Q Inspiration Award in 2003.