Watch Doctor Who and The Thick Of It legend Peter Capaldi perform a surprise cover of one of The Cure's best-loved songs at his first ever solo show

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Watch former punk rocker and acting legend Peter Capaldi channel his inner Robert Smith at hometown gig in Glasgow

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 15: Peter Capaldi attends the BAFTA Gala 2024, supported by Bulgari at The Peninsula Hotel on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Carlo Paloni/BAFTA via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Carlo Paloni/BAFTA via Getty Images)

In an alternative universe, one in which Glaswegian art school student Peter Capaldi realised his teenage ambition of becoming a punk rock anti-hero with his David Bowie / Talking Heads-influenced band The Dreamboys in 1977, the world might have tragically deprived of one of the greatest characters ever to grace British television screens, the foul-mouthed, short-tempered and largely terrifying spin doctor Malcolm Tucker who stole every scene written for him in Armando Iannucci's brilliant BBC political satire The Thick Of It. Oh, and the 12th incarnation of time lord Doctor Who would have looked and acted rather differently too.

But Capaldi's hugely successful and much-acclaimed acting career didn't completely erase his musical aspirations, and earlier this year the 67-year-old star released his second album, Sweet Illusions, the follow-up to his 2021 debut record St Christopher.

Last night, July 29, the actor played his first ever solo headline show, and as an unexpected treat for those packed into Glasgow's Stereo club, he threw in a rather decent cover of The Cure's 1992 hit single Friday I'm In Love.

Watch him channel his inner Robert Smith below.

The Cure's leader Robert Smith revealed a surprise of his own last month when he joined US singer-songwriter superstar Olivia Rodrigo onstage during her headline set at Glastonbury festival on June 29 for a collaborative performance of Friday I'm In Love, and an abbreviated Just Like Heaven.

You can judge for yourself how the duets stacked up against Capaldi's cover.

2025 06 29 Olivia Rodriga / Robert Smith Friday I’m In Love & Just Like Heaven Pyramid Glastonbury - YouTube 2025 06 29 Olivia Rodriga / Robert Smith Friday I’m In Love & Just Like Heaven Pyramid Glastonbury - YouTube
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Reflecting on his short-lived and ill-fated punk rock past in an April interview with The Guardian, a relaxed Capaldi expressed no regrets at the hand life has dealt him.

"We tried and tried but we weren’t getting anywhere," he admitted. "Eventually you run out of steam because you have no money and you’re eating Pot Noodles on Christmas Day. It seemed like everybody else in Glasgow was getting signed or doing a Peel Session and we weren’t. I would get the coach down to London and go round all the record labels but nothing ever happened."

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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